If you have read my “About” page on this blog, you know that I have been involved with Arabian horses for most of m life. My great grandfather, R.B. Field, was among the first breeders of purebred Arabians in the US (Bent River Arabians), and a decade ago I took the reins (sorry) of one of the oldest Arabian breeding farms in the country, Gainey Arabians.
Breeding horses the way we have since 1938, one can expect a star to rise in the pasture about 10-15% of the time. That is, if you breed 100 mares a year (which we once did, but those days, thankfully, are long gone!) you can expect 10-15 of the resulting foals the next year to be better than average…maybe 2-5 of them being champion quality.
Now, I only breed 3-4 mares a year. And I choose the sires carefully.
They are all exceptional mares and I hope for one exceptional foal every couple of years.
Happily, each of the last two years has produced a star…at least in my book. Sometimes it takes awhile to recognize what you have. It took 18 months for a colt born in 2007 to burst into real potential, and it will be another 2-3 years before he is ready for the show ring as a mature stallion, but the shine is there:
And, this year a superior filly:
Just like wine, in horses it is rare to get great years back-to-back.
Life is good!
