As I’ve mentioned in a previous article, it’s extraordinarily difficult to make an intelligent assessment of a stallion’s likelihood of success until his first crop hits the yearling sales – and it’s challenging enough to do so then.
Sure, there are some of us who are really good judges of foals but the old adage of “fools and foals go together” has more than an element of truth about it. Nonetheless, breeders always look forward to the first crop of a stallion’s foals just in case the progeny of their favourite horse really do catch the eye. Leading the charge are, of course, the studmasters who have sweated blood to obtain the best possible book of mares for their new stallion the previous Spring.
In spite of the above comments, there is one prophecy I can make with the absolute certainty of being correct. No studmaster is going to be quoted as saying, “Well, I have to say that if this is the best that Bob’s Revenge can do in terms of siring foals, I might as well sell up now and move to Fiji.” What we do hear are comments like, “Bob’s Revenge has left a striking line of foals with excellent bone and amazing natural muscle.” Because breeders just have to be positive people in order to survive in the industry, we do tend to lap up this sort of report. We forget that judging bone in a foal is virtually impossible and that there’s no alternative to ”natural “ muscle. We also forget that published photographs of foals won’t be random. No-one is going to display an undersized foal with crooked legs. Besides, most foals are pretty cute anyway.
Now I’m not suggesting that studmasters are chronic liars. Anything but. When you’re running a business you’ve got to be positive about what you produce. However, what I am suggesting that if you are thinking of using a second-season sire, it’s really worthwhile to see as many of the horse’s early foals as you possibly can. If you have an empty mare or an early-foaling one, that’s going to be more than a tricky proposition. On the other hand, if you are thinking of breeding a later-foaling mare, then it does pay to get in the car and do your homework. You’ll need to remember that your research will be anything but conclusive but you will be able to make some sort of assessment about such variables as size, correctness and attitude.
In my opinion, it’s attitude that’s the crucial variable. A foal that has the confidence to cruise up to a stranger and say gidday is always preferable to one that uses its mother as a shield against a frightening world.
