This message is from: "Arthur Rivoire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.beaverdamfarm.com Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II R.R. 7 Pomquet, Nova Scotia B2G 2L4 Tel:(902) 386-2304 Fax:(902) 386-2149 Carole Rivoire, author of THE FJORDHORSE HANDBOOK, only book in English on the Fjord breed, available from Beaver Dam Farm, $36.95 US includes P&H http://www.beaverdamfarm.com/book.htm
Hello All from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia - > > Any opinions, anybody? > > Just mine. I'm happy, truly, that Titan is so nice. But you didn't get a > response from me, as far as purchasing, because I have absolutely NO desire > to own a stallion. Not with a child with special needs in the house. Just a > little more risk than I'm willing to take. Maybe not even more risk, but > more work, more everything. Hi Pam, You got that right! Stallions really are "more of everything", and I don't recommend anyone owning one who doesn't really need one. They take a lot of increased management, handling, and special facilities. I'm really happy with my mares, and maybe > someday another gelding. > > I'm also not interested in Titan at this point because of his age. When he's > up and running in a few years, I would possibly consider him as a candidate > to breed one of my mares. But right now there are several EXCELLENT > stallions that I haven't used yet, that I would love to breed to, but since I > only have a couple of mares, it's taking some time to get all the bloodlines > that I want. Yes, this is part of the problem. Titan is just a baby, BUT it's now that decisions have to be made as to his future. And it's also now when he (and other good colts) can be bought for reasonable prices as investments in the future. As I said in my original post, there are a lot of wonderful stallions breeding in NA -- stallions that could hold their own anywhere in Europe. However, as I also said, there are a lot of really poor stallions that would never be accepted in any European Fjord country. -- There are reasons for the situation and they're valid ones to a degree. We have problems they don't have in Europe, mainly the vast distances. And it can be argued that it's better to maintain a diverse gene pool by using a lot of different stallions, even if some are not the best quality, rather than get elitist about it, and shrink the gene pool. I do think that's a valid premise. However, be that as it may, we should still be always striving to recognize good quality and poor quality, and striving to improve the overall quality. Our experience with BDF Titan, and the lack of interest shown, got me thinking about other good colts and their owners, and what happens to those colts when there are no buyers. -- Well, we know what happens. For instance, Jennifer Johannson, recently posted about a 2002 colt they think is pretty special. -- I was very intriuged with the breeding on this colt so asked Jennifer to send me a video. The colt has three fabulous bloodlines - Astrix, Holunder & Flotren. -- He's a Flotren son, out of a Holunder daughter, and an Astrix granddaughter on the maternal side. -- Because I know these bloodlines, I was very intriuged to read about this colt. -- Beaver Dam Farm imported Holunder years ago for Skoal Farm, and I always liked the stallion. He was big and heavy, but had wonderful wonderful movement. He was rectangularly built very much like Gjest and Myrstein. -- Astrix is from Norway, but has been standing in Holland for many years. He's known as "the best Fjord stallion in the Netherlands", and the reason for "the best" status is that he consistently produces good (not necessarily great) offspring no matter what mare he's put to. -- All three of these stallions are big! -- Well, Jennifer sent me the video, and the colt was everything she said. He's really very very nice. She's offering him for sale either as a gelding or a stallion, and the stallion price is almost twice that of the gelding price - still very reasonable. This colt of Jennifer's is a good example of my concern about "good colts getting gelded". You don't often get so many really good bloodlines in one colt. In my opinion, someone should snap him up and give him a chance to prove himself worthy of the name "Stallion". Don't sell > the breeding stallion pool short, there are many fine stallions out there. I > know how you feel about Gjest, and you are rightly proud of him. But some of > the other stallions are putting fantastic babies on the ground. I'm not! I've always, my entire career, been a big booster of quality Fjordhorses, no matter who owns them. There are some very wonderful stallions breeding in NA. The problem is . . . there are the others. Breeding horses is not easy. Judging them is not easy. -- Thank goodness we've got the Evaluation system, but it isn't the total answer, particularly in the U.S. and Canada where distances are so great. As to the particular problem of mistakenly gelding really good colts, I do think there's at least a partial solution that could at least be of some help to owners and breeders. --- How about an educational video showing what a good colt looks like -- And I would advise following the old horseman's adage of -- "Look at a colt at 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months & 3 years." -- I've found it to be valid because after 3 months, the cols go through bizarre growing stages. For instance, right now at 5 months, BDF Titan looks rather weird. His hindend is way higher than the front. With such a video on hand, a breeder could compare his colt, and perhaps get some idea whether or not he has a really good one or not. -- Just a thought! I also had another thought . . . . How about a system whereby the breeder could send a video of his colt to one of the Evaluators, and get an opinion, for a fee, of course. -- This would be kind of an unofficial evaluation. Not official because the colt wasn't seen in the flesh. However, it could be a big help to the breeder in making a decision about the colt's uture. -- I mean, afterall, once he's cut, he's cut. Carol
