yeah like I said this was an older horse...he knew the drill...when he saw his breeding 'bridle' come out of the tack room that was usually all it took.

Warm bloods are mostly done by AI these days as well.

Excellent point-- when you come down to it, most things in life are about the $$.

(It's not like soundness seems to be a big concern in breeding these days, right?)

Yep... they definitely are. Stud fees on warmbloods are what I'd consider "cheap" compared to thoroughbred stud fees. My sister interned at this place: http://www.highlifefarms.com/

They still have frozen semen available on a stallion that passed away a year or two ago (Highlife.) He was a nice horse, too...

Thanks, this is great ammo if my son ever wants to become a male gymnast.....:p

In all seriousness, Mike Rowe did a piece on this on Dirty Jobs...dude cracks me up.

All TB breeding countries would have to sign on to approving AI or USA-bred AI-produced TBs wouldn't be registerable as TBs overseas. The overseas market is quite lucrative for upper level Kentucky breeders, so I don't see them going this way any time soon.

The Russians bred some horses, even some local champions, from the frozen semen of their hero Anilin (won Germany's Preis von Europa three times, 2nd and 3rd [to Kelso and Gun Bow] in the Washington DC International in two tries). These horses couldn't race anywhere else in Europe because they weren't acceptable as TBs and none of their offspring could be either. Everybody has to accept AI or it's a no go.

Cajun,

That was the funniest article ever. Thanks for posting it... i got a few good laughs.. especially the reverse dominatrix thing...

To me one the biggest issues would be how do you know you're getting what you actually pay for?


Also would there be any harvesting of eggs from talented fillies that were then fertizled and placed in anther mare?

I agree with this 100%. I have been using A.I. with my Arabians for years, and not everyone is flooding the airports for just the most popular stallions, of anything this allows a lot of different stallions to be utilized including overseas. How nice would it be to have had a lot of Saddlers Wells, Montjeu's etc... instead of a Storm Cat in every stall. The safety of stallion, mare and foal is also a HUGE advantage. I would never send my newborn foals on a van out od state to a strange farm, no way. I now have the luxury of my mare and her foal staying in the safety and comfort of their own home. The stallions don't have to be bred 3 times a day, one collection can service up to 10 mares. I have never understood the huge resistance from the Thoroughbred Breeders, unless they make a killing on mare care, especially with foals at their side. They always bring up how it ruined the Harness Horse Industry because they used the same stallion, when in reality, there isn't much to choose from to begin with. It's a no-brainer to me. I have enjoyed the luxury of breeding by choice, not location. :)

Stallions can actually be trained to allow manual collection while they are standing, it's done with older, arthritic stallions all the time. They don't have to mount.

Quarter Horses register more than a million horses a year over Thoroughbreds. Paints are second with substantially more than Thoroughbreds, I personally feel the old boy network wants the mare care fees, it's highway robbery to the mare owners.

As I said, I agree that it's about the money first and foremost. But are the one million more QHs you name all used for racing or are they used in other disciplines? Because you can breed a TB via AI, it just means you can't race with it, correct? I was referring specifically to the QH racing and SB racing industries (though, as I said, I don't know much about either). Sorry if that was unclear.

Tough to train a horse that was in Barbaro's situation... wouldn't you agree?

Great observation. And many would desire a sturdy stallion from Germany as well. As an aside, that's one of the great attributes of Raffie's Majesty. His broodmare sire is the great German Surumu and with the right mare he's a helluva mating as you can see by his progeny.

The biggest problem in the thoroughbred breed is that too few horses are being culled from the herd. I'm sure a few of you will flame me for saying this but if you cant afford to ship your mare to the stallion that you want to breed to then you probably do not have enough money to be breeding quality horses. AI has hurt the standardbred business for all but a select few breeders. It has virtually eliminated the sport in the state of KY. The vast majority of quarter horses are not bred for racing and they are a mutt breed, not a pure breed.

Quarter horses stem from thoroughbreds... LOL

As well as other breeds which is not a pure breed. I'm not putting them down, I have 2 great QH ponies, but you cant compare QH breeding and TB breeding.

I Saw The Same Story On Msnbc Where The Interviewed Said That He Was Sure Barbaros Semen Was Frozen Somewhere. Let Me Just Say, And Those Of You Who Saw This Piece On Msnbc Will I Am Sure Concur Both The Interviewer And The Interviewed Were At The Worst Idiots And At Best Knew Absolutely Nothing About Horse Racing Or Horses.

I would just like to state it cannot be easy typing Where One Uses Caps In The First Letter Of Every Word One Types.

LMAO... too true. :D

It makes my head spin. :eek: