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This message is from: "janet" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I would wager the mare actually has more than 50% of the influence on the
foal. She spends nearly 6 months rearing the foal, and it has been said,
that a mare that allows the baby to push her around often produces foals
that are head strong vs the mare that disciplins her baby. But since one
stallion produces many babies a year vs one per year for the mare, following
stallion lines is going to be more productive.
Janet
Hi folks,
I have really been enjoying this thread - a lot of food for thought.
Jane Smiley's book, A Year at the Races, is a very interesting look
at the personality, ability, and interaction with humans of horses.
She breeds thoroughbreds and some go the track. She not only
analyzes their dam and sire but also talks about those early
influences of the foal and his/her mother and other horses early on
and how some events or situations trump breeding and influence the
horse for life. Of course owner handling and early training also
greatly influence a horse's future life.
This is a fun and informative book to read but she does have an
animal psychic that she often confers with, so you have to accept
psychics or ignore it if you don't believe.
When I sold my Hanoverian, Glory, a breeder called me looking for a
new breeding mare to replace one of hers that had just died. Mine
had the same sire as hers had and that was what she was looking for.
It was errie how she described her mare and how almost every
behavioral trait was the same as mine. When I talked to this
breeder, I started to understand Glory's behavior much better and how
my trainer at the time was taking the wrong approach with her. It
seemed that this whole line of mares had similar personalities which
the breeder loved. For me, Glory was too much, but the breeder just
loved them. These mares definately passed on strong traits but they
could be linked back to their common sire. Unfortunately, the sire
back two generations on the dam's side, passed on crooked front legs.
Many of his descendents went on to become great jumpers anyway but my
mare's crookedness caused her pain and unsoundness.
Genie Dethloff in Ann Arbor, MI
