b4breeding

Graeme Henley from Alabar reckons at its peak we were probably getting access to about 20 sires in New Zealand via shuttling from the Northern Hemisphere. Now it is almost half that.

Why? And is the decline a problem, or part of a solution?

In the past decade or two, shuttling has given us access to a wide range of North American sires and potentially gave the owners of retired top racehorses a chance to maximise their returns through the breeding barn in two hemispheres. But decreasing breeding numbers and increasing costs of shuttling have reduced the amount of shuttle sires in recent years. Add to that the loss that many breeders take at yearling sales when they have supported new shuttle sires, because buyers here are even less willing to experiment with newcomers than the breeders are.

The biggest challenge of shuttling is purely commercial – the owners need to cover the costs of the shuttling itself, marketing and staking the sire. Unless the sire brings a big international reputation with him (Rock N Roll Heaven, Somebeachsomewhere) breeders here need to be introduced to the horse, reminded of races we may not have seen and family pedigrees we are not so familiar with. So the marketing is important and that includes the pricing, which must be incredibly tricky to agree on. And the insurance costs must be almost prohibitive.

Another issue can be the effect of shuttling on fertility or general wellbeing. Jereme’s Jet’s fertility over the 4 years he stood here hovered around 70%, a less than desirable result when the books of mares are below 100 and every missed opportunity to get foals on the ground will hurt the stallion. He’s not alone in that. So moving from one hemisphere to another and breeding two seasons in a year can be a physical challenge for some horses.

And finally, there is the massive challenge of competing against other sires of similar worth “on paper” – relatively unproven sires and of course the more established popular sires. When there are a limited number of mares and a generally conservative approach by New Zealand breeders, this is a hard ask. The rising popularity of “home grown” sires in New Zealand has added another dimension to these challenges – the costs of standing these sires is considerably less and their familiarity to breeders is considerably more, so the stallion owners start on the front line rather than on a 30m handicap.

Do the maths. If a stallion gets 80 mares at $5000, it’s probably going to be worthwhile standing again. But half that number, and the costs and risks maybe are not worth it. Price a stallion lower than $5000 and you may get more takers, but have less chance of being viewed as a top commercial type attracting good mares for the yearling sales type market. Price him too much higher, and breeders will want to wait and let others take the chance.

Shuttling has given our breeding industry a huge boost in the past 15 years. There are some great examples of how success downunder can give a sire the opportunity to “click” with a different genetic pool of mares, a type of racing that might suit the strengths they pass to their foals.

The shrinking market over the last 5 years has triggered some changes as breeders, stallion owners and studs adapt. The rise of homegrown sires; the potential collaboration of Nevele R and Alabar studs; the call for improvements in fertility rates…. these are just some of the responses so far.

I think we may find the cost of frozen semen will start to come down and become a more viable alternative to shuttling – particularly if we can’t improve fertility rates for local chilled semen from shuttle sires dramatically.

When making a decision as a breeder, one of the things I now consider regarding new shuttle sires is the likelihood of them remaining available here for at least 3 or 4 breeding seasons. So if an Australian or NZ stud has a financial interest in the sire, that certainly reassures me a bit more.

Where are we headed with shuttle sires?

What do you think the next 5 or so years will show us?

Do fewer sires mean less choice for you as a breeder? Or does that mean more chance for some sires you like to establish their credentials?

WHAT YOU DO THINK?

Add you comments to this blog or email me on bee.raglan@xtra.co.nz