b4breeding

Ray Chaplin from equineexcellence.biz, an Australian breeding consultant, has produced two reports lately which may be of interest to many.

One report looks at why New Zealand bred sires seem to be making more success in terms of excellence at stud than Australian based sires – the old sports rivalry of All Blacks vs Wallabies (rugby) and Silver Ferns vs Diamonds (netball), but in this case the rugby results tend to reflect the successful sire results, with New Zealand getting an edge. Coincidentally one of New Zealand’s best sires of the modern era is Christian Cullen, named after a very quick thinking, quick stepping New Zealand All Black rugby player.

Ray’s second report looks at an Australian sire Classic Gary that he identified in his first report as being an exceptional Australian-bred sire. Why was he so successful and others not?

What I like about Ray’s reports (available free online through this web address:   is that he has put a lot of thought into developing way of assessing the attributes (genetic compatibility and a range of performance standards) of mares and sires to come up with probabilities of success.

Now, I can’t say whether I agree with his algorithm or not, because it is commercially sensitive and therefore the genetic side of things remain “the Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe” – out of our ken, but results indicate customer and investor satisfaction!

On that topic, Ray has recently published another (free) report, showing his success rate statistically. Tip o’ the hat for that, Ray!

Ray’s reports are recommended as well researched and thoughtful (which is the “think b4 breeding” part of my blogsite name)  if frustrating reading that helps provoke us breeders to be more focused in our decisions.

While you are there, ask Ray to add b4breeding.com to his list of recommended websites – I know I don’t offer a pedigree matching service, but hopefully I get people thinking for themselves.

My algorithm for breeders is more about empowering you to do it yourself:

1 + 2 + = + $ + V + U + ?

Which translated means:

1  What the mare brings to the table, plus
2  What the sire brings to the table, plus
=  How those complement each other, plus
$  Your budget and what’s good value
V  The added value of how you raise the foal
U  Your goal – what you are aiming to succeed in, plus
?  An element of luck.

I believe that learning and thinking about each part of this equation will enable breeders to improve their ability to breed successfully. If I was revising the order of this equation I would probably put the “U” right at the front, because a I’ve mentioned before, what you are breeding for is a key decision that can set parameters on several other decisions you need to make.