I’m Bee (Beryl) Pears, based in Cambridge, New Zealand, an area known for standardbred and thoroughbred racing and breeding.
I’m not a ‘natural’ with horses. I was born and raised in a city (Wellington) and my interest in horse racing and breeding developed through ‘following the horses’ (particularly pacers and trotters) by listening on the radio, attending race meetings and having a wee punt. Later, ‘following the horses’ became more personal when I took a share in a syndicate of two yearling pacers.
And later still, that led to owning and breeding some pacers of my own.
I caught the bug – the intensely fascinating puzzle of breeding theories and pedigree matching, the continuous stream of new sires and the challenge of selecting correctly for a mare. The art and science of breeding.
Tintin wins the 3yo colts Breeders Crown
I’m lucky enough to have bred Tintin in America, one of New Zealand’s fastest pacers over the past few years – but I like to think it was a good dollop of careful research and thought as well as luck!
My aim is to learn as much as I can about breeding successfully, and to put that into practice.
I also want to contribute to thoughtful discussion and debate about breeding race horses – specifically standardbreds (pacers and trotters).
I am a writer by trade, so I try to be interesting, entertaining and thought provoking.
I like tapping into the views and expertise of others.
And I like getting comments back that really add to the discussion and pool of knowledge.
On this site I’ll also link to books, articles, blogs and websites that I’ve found particularly useful or interesting.
Several of my blogs were originally articles for Breeding Matters (the magazine of the New Zealand Stardardbred Breeders Association).
You can read about Isa Lodge, and Kym Kearns who has all the natural ability, intuition and hands-on experience with horses that I don’t have.
You often hear the simple formula: “Breed the best to the best and hope for the best”.
For me, the formula to “beat the odds” of successful breeding looks more like this:
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 about each part of this equation will me improve my ability to breed successfully.
This page has the following sub pages.
b4breeding 
Hi Beryl.
Could you give me your thoughts on 3 x 3 Cam Fella breeding lines, and which Grandam bloodlines would best suit this breeding.
Kind Regards.
KevinD
Replied by blog https://b4breeding.com/2012/07/22/cam-fella-3×3/ or just use the blog search “Cam Fella 3×3”
Hi Beryl
Could you give me your thoughts on breeding Falcon Seelster 3×2 .
Best Regards
Mike L
Falcon Seelster is a quality sire to have in any breeding. Doubling up is fine, but it is not necessarily going to deliver twice his contribution. You need to think about what the engine room is for your breed/mare and what that is compatible with. That might be adding more of the same, or it might be adding something different.
All I would say is the overall 3 x 2 to Falcon would not be an issue for me. Look more at what your mare needs and in her wider genetic structure, conformation and strengths/weaknesses, than just double ups. However I don’t think you would go wrong with the 3×2 cross unless it linked to the same family.
Hope this helps (or just adds to the mystery!!)
Note for readers – this conversation then went private as it was about a specific sire and mare and my advice was really to look for a better quality mare if you have a free service to a sire, otherwise you are not adding value to the opportunity, and making the task virtually impossible for an unproven and relatively uncommercial sire.
Hi, was wondering what your thoughts on Sportswriter may be. He appears to be off to a wonderful start in Australia.
What impresses me about Sportswriter is the strength of his maternal line, particularly his second dam (by Big Towner) who left 11 foals for 11 winners – not one as sensational on the track as Sportwriter, but incredibly consistent and from a wide range of sires. Several Camluck but also Rustler Hanover, The Panderosa, Die Laughing and of course Jate Lobell. This is a good indicator of a “double copy mare”, one who has the x factor carried on both sides of her maternal lines which will contribute the one x chromosone to her male foals. I look at it a bit wider than that – a mare that has quality genes on both sides, not just the large heart gene. I didn’t realise until I started looking through her pedigree – Classic Families a great tool for this – that her maternal line descends from the great Romola (same as Rodine Hanover etc). Of course that is a long way back but it shows how lines of great families endure into the modern era and still deliver quality. The sibling sisters of Sportswriter’s dam Precious Beauty have kicked on in great fashion. Thanks for pointing me in this direction, I’ll take a closer look myself.
Hey Hey Bee: I have a Lovely Falcon Seelster Mare name Winbak Corazon and we are breeding her to Art Official in Ohio. I am very unfamiliar with Falcon Seelster mares as compared to girls from Cam Fella, Direct Scooter, & Artsplace bloodlines. Despite being in the business since 1969 …I never paid much attention to Canadian Horses (for sires). Couldn’t get there to race,so there was no sense. Now i race in Ohio-PA-IN and must find sires there. My Mare is good sized but loved a half mile track (raced against “See You at Peelers” in the NY Sires) I chose Art Official because Falcon Seelster mares seem to do well with his father Art major. Can I just get a little FB from you. BTW: thanks for your bloglines… I am a small breeder too.
Thanks for your comment on my blog Kate. Your match between Art Official and your Falcon Seelster mare is an interesting one as the resulting foal will be 3×2 to Falcon Seelster. I’ve had a quick peek at our NZ information and there is one yearling here, a filly, bred that same cross so far. That is a reasonably close match but not too close – breeding to a very good male that is Art Official’s damsire and your mare’s sire. Falcon Seelster is much admired here in New Zealand and particularly as a sire of colts and as a damsire. If you do a Search on my blogsite you’ll find my blogs about him and also a recent report from the yearling sales about Art Official. How is Art Official rated over your way? He had a few good 2yos but I haven’t heard much since – how is he viewed as a sire there?
Hi Bee,
Love your website, I’ve been glued to the computer reading all you articles, so interesting. I was wondering what your thoughts were on Art Major broodmares, obviously there are going to be a lot of them soon,, do you think they will do a good job? I have an Art Major/Caprock mare (Grace Artois) I will be sending to stud this season and it is doing my head in trying to decide where to send her? She is average sized, raced as a 2,3,4 and now 5, she ran a lot of seconds in her career, she was always up there but always seemed to get beat right on the line!She has a lovely temperament, very quiet, not fizzy at all. I was leaning towards the Direct Scooter line maybe to inject a bit of fire in to her breeding, what are your thoughts, and what do you think everyone is going to do with all their good Art Majors?
Yes I asked the same question about all the Bettor’s Delight mares! Art Major has such a lovely maternal line, and I think that is where the answer lies in large part. Through the wonderful Rodine Hanover he accesses Shadow Wave, The Old Maid, Nedda, and of course via Tar Heel to Leta Long and so the “sources” Volomite and the great Roya McKinney. Real old, strong “engine room” bloodlines. His other strain on the maternal side is to Nihilator, who I have a lot of time for – what an incredibly tough, fast racehorse he was. His male drivers are Bret Hanover and Albatross. I’m current breeding from Sophie’s Choice (to Tintin In America) who is from Margie’s Melody line.
So I think your idea of looking for Direct Scooter/In The Pocket in a sire’s pedigree is a good one, particularly to complement both the pedigree and the temperament of the mare. Don’t feel that you need Direct Scooter/In The Pocket in the “sire” line. He will be more potent or just as potent coming in through the sire’s maternal lines.
Your Caprock mare sounds good to breed from and the cross with Art Major sets up a very complementary “building block” for her foals. Congratulations! And let me know what you decide!
I’m really leaning towards Shadow Play for my Art Major mare, I like the No Nukes double up of course leading to Shadow Wave, and Oilburner in Shadow Play’s maternal line, more Shadow Wave!! With Direct Scooter in the maternal line of the Sire, I think this is a good cross, with a bit of everything good!
I am sending my Caprock mare to Falcon Seelster this year, I’m hoping for a filly to continue the line, but if things don’t work out with Falcon, I’m really leaning towards Tintin in America, I love his breeding, and your mare Zenterfold has been a great broodmare and will really play a big part in his siring! Plus he looks like he was a bit of a character and I love that in a horse! My Caprock mare seems to breed tough horses with not much speed, so I think injecting a bit of speed via Tintin is the way to go! Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply, I will definitely know what I eventually decide!
hi I own a male gelding named Gone Bush if you could give me any info on him I would much appreciate it.
he was born 2002.
freeze brand: 02Z4419
A gelding by Washington VC out of a mare called Golden Smooth, bred in NZ and sold to Australia before getting to the races. In Australia raced 34 times for 4 wins and 9 places. Times were not great so to be honest this horse was a trier but not a top star. However he did really well in his first couple of years in Australia so they would have been pleased with that, but didn’t really go on after that. He earned only $13,500 so that indicates the sort of racing he was doing, not high level, just local. At Golden Mile and Albany race tracks mainly. He last raced in 2007 so presumably you have a nice mature hack – a lot of standardbreds end up as lovely hacks. Check out the results here http://www.harness.org.au/ausbreed/reports/start.cfm?horse_id=537074
If that doesn’t work, let me know and I will show you the public websites in NZ and Australia where you can find it.
I see the original breeder of Gone Bush was a friend of mine, Brian West, a very good breeder in NZ, so if you want some information about the family again let me know and I can ask him.
Hopefully he is a good horse for you!
thank you. I was hoping I could find some photos of him when he was younger, racing photos would be great. Unfortunately he had been moved from home to home because people kept falling of him, I am an inexperienced rider so he is not the best horse to learn on but he has taught me much. I do ground work, liberty and agility with him and he is such an emotional horse. I cant ride him out of a paddock because he freezes when he is he is scared, (he also hates donkeys) he has been frozen for hours before. He also has huge trust issues. This is why I want to know about his history. My mum and I have owned him for at least 6 years and love him to bits. I was also wondering if he had Arab in him as he has spots along his back. I don’t think his racing carer had anything to do with his issues I believe it was being moved home to home that upset him. also do x-pacers tend to have problems with their faces being touched because he hates it, especially his muzzle. Thank you for your help any more information would be much appreciated.
Here’s some advice from someone I respect, but others may have ideas. He may have dental issues that are causing pain in his muzzle and head, e.g hooks in the back of his mouth. To fix or check for this you need to go beyond the usual quick file of teeth, and probably sedate the horse via a vet because he has trust issues. So that means spending a bit to find someone who can do that properly – equine vets should know or ask around, but it is not the usual quick flick. If his mouth is the issue, then that will affect all you are asking him to do, because he will feel that as a pain thing, not a pleasure thing. Including a bit in his mouth. Personally I have gone to a lot of effort to find people who look beyond the quick fix for my horses, especially in teeth. The saying is “no hoof, no horse” but equally you could say “no good teeth, no good horse” – and we all know how sensitive teeth are. You may have already looked at this. But just make sure you are not using a “bush” dentist who does not have the ability to get to the back of the mouth or sedate the horse (this may require a vet) so that the inspection and treatment is thorough. That’s a starting point. You are doing a great job to give him a life after racing. Trust comes from being firm and consistent, setting the boundaries kindly but firmly.
thank you for your advice, we have had his teeth checked and over the years we have had him we can touch more of his face. I was just wondering were his fear developed from, thank you so much.
That’s good to know. His fear could have come from deep family traits of anxiety or some mishandling when he was a younger horse or even stress (perhaps not knowingly) as he started to taper off his race form and so lost his confidence. I will talk with Brian who bred him and see if I can throw any further light on it from a family perspective. The “horse whisperer” techniques that identify how to gain a scared horse’s confidence might also help, but you have probably already gone down that track. If anyone else can throw light on it, please add a reply/comment.
One last thing were was he born in NZ and he has gone bush and is owned by kiwis (lives in the Australian bush)
you can import Frozen semen of standardbred horses in New Zealand? If it were possible that you have to do to be able to collaborate with New Zealand breeders? thanks
Usually this is done via the existing studs here like Alabar or Nevele R or Woodlands studs, but not always. Sometimes frozen semen is imported through independent agents or smaller studs. There are several smaller ones that do this for North American sires, for example Macca Lodge has frozen semen rights for Net Ten EOM and Panspacificflight. Others have specialised in importing frozen semen for an increasing range of European trotting sires. It is only for standardbred horses, not thoroughbreds of course.
And there are quite a few rules and regulations to follow I am sure.
Likewise we have chilled semen and sometimes frozen semen imported from Australia.
If you want to send more specific questions, I will try to put you in touch with the industry and individual people who can assist.
Thanks for the answer … We would like to give some of stallions owned by us to take advantage of other markets. Names of stallions: Zatopek OK, Fly to the Moon and the “new” Thor Girifalco … if someone focce cantatti interested me and thanks the time I devoted … goodbye
I will send you an email with some contact details.
Hi Bee
just wondering if you could give me some advice on a breeding match for a Presidential Ball mare. She is a difficult breeder, foal every 2nd year if you are lucky.
She is a big strong 16.2 mare won 4 went 1.59 no speed machine, headstrong.
Want to inject speed and probably a leggy smaller stallion, was quite excited about Terror to Love or Western Terror even your boy Tintin.
Just when you get a chance would love your thoughts
Mare is The Oval Office
Regards Steve
Will get in touch with you and hopefully have some ideas on what would suit that mare.
hi Bee,
After reading your blog on No Paba and your comments.I decide to drop you a line. I own Neverland Franco (nearea Franco younger sister) To date none of her daughters have been up to racing.. which could mean wrong sires….however her two sons, a Lis Mara and Changeover have raced as two year olds..As a hobby breeder it can be very difficult and one has to do a lot of reading on sires… I now have a lovely weaning filly by A Rockin Roll Dance…Be interested in your thoughts on the breeding with this filly …any ideas on other stallons that might cross …And which current stallions has a good amount of Niatross in their breeding…thanks Les
Thanks Les. A full sister to Nearea Franco wow! Of course no guarantees that siblings perform the same as or even as good as on the track or the breeding barn, same goes for colts, but you have a mare that has very solid bloodlines on both the sire and maternal lines. What you probably need to do is look for compatible speed, rather than more of the tough qualities that both those lines (Shy Ann on the maternal side especially, and Badlands as a sire) seem to excel at. I will contact you direct to discuss, but you are a thoughtful breeder and will need little advice! Just sometimes nice to bounce ideas around, eh. A Rocknroll Dance – unproven, foals look attractive and stamped – but looks aren’t everything, so we are all crossing fingers. My own ARD filly is a lovely mover around the paddock.
Hi Bee, thanks for your quick response. Appreciate your comments.
Keep up the good work on your blog. kind regards Les
Hi Bee just love the blogs and other peoples breeding. I am also small breeder one mare The time bandit by rich and spoilt still racing after her first foal now two and showing promise by yankee sensation. looking to bred again looking at lombo mandingo good soild lines that i feel will compliment her however falcon seelster is close your thoughts would be greatly appre ciated. cheers janet west australia
Will have a look but I am not so familiar with Australian crosses. At a glance Falcon Seelster is coming through a double up of the sire Million To One? That is the only connection to Falcon Seelster? I get back to you on email next couple of days.