b4breeding

A recent article in Breeding Matters, the magazine of the New Zealand Standardbred Breeders Assn, talks about the skills and understanding that Kym Kearns brings to her work with horses. I’ve reproduced that article so more people can get to read it.

I’m lucky to have Kym’s involvement in raising and preparing the horses I breed. I see first hand the added value I get from this.

One story she’s told me that wasn’t included in the article, is the time when a young Kym led her horse up the steps of her family’s home, on to the verandah and in the front door. (Needless to say no-one else was home at the time!) After letting the horse have a good look around, she backed him out again – no damage done. This wasn’t an old horse with no energy and perfect manners. This was a relatively young horse she had broken in and educated herself, if I recall right it was a Arabian thoroughbred called Blue.  Her

Kym Kearns allows Tintin's yearling half brother Destination Moon to inspect the float

reasoning, as a teenager, was that she was familiar with where he lived, his paddock, his home. So she wanted to reciprocate and give him a look at where she lived.  It’s an insight into the mutual respect she builds with a horse that enabled them both to walk such a risky line!

Much later, 2006 it would be, I watched her walking yearling Tintin in America around the Cambridge Raceway and quietly letting him inspect and get familiar with all the surroundings, including the  “trainers tote” box where in future many dollars were passed over the counter and placed on Tintin the very successful racehorse! 

Kym has the patience to build a horse’s confidence within clear boundaries. Their curiosity is all part of their mental development, and her curiosity about what makes them tick, individually, helps her ‘read’ a horse and develop its character and potential.

That lays a foundation that asute trainers can – and do – build on.