Through the various stallions standing in Ireland and the facilities of importing semen from foreign-based sires, breeders have any number of options available to them when it comes to stallion selection.

However, they first must consider if their mare is worth breeding from and what sector of the industry they are breeding for. There’s very little benefit for the breeder or the industry in continuing to breed from mares who do not have either competition or strong breeding records.

Breeders must act responsibly for the benefit of the industry as a whole and look at their own mare, and her previous stock, with an impartial view.

There is also a need for breeders to research their stallion options and select a sire who will compliment the mare and suit the sector that they are aiming the stock towards. These are messages that have been repeated time and again at seminars up and down the country in recent years, but breeders must take them on board if the Irish breeding industry is to recover and compete with its international rivals.

Stallion owners have their own difficulties with reports of mare owners avoiding payments and animals being registered without recorded breeding. Apart from the obvious issue with this practice, it’s of little benefit to the industry for animals to be registered without breeding.

Breeders will find the upcoming stallion supplement, to be published in The Irish Field in late March, a valuable tool when making their choices.

On a separate note, but an important matter that also has been highlighted in the past, it’s remarkable to see the number of professional riders who continue to train at home without the correct safety equipment. The horse racing authorities enforce rules on riders in training establishments requiring the use of both safety helmets and back protectors for schooling, but the number of sport horse riders posting promotional videos on social media without helmets continues to increase. Not only is it very dangerous, but it sets a poor example for younger riders.

LEAVE

Finally, Caitríona Murphy will take over as acting editor of the Irish Horse World section during my maternity leave from next week. I wish her the best of luck in the role and look forward to following the progress of the industry and hopefully what will be another successful year of competition for the Irish.