WHEN it comes to the potential future sales of young horses, key factors such as their rideability, temperament and good early production all come into play, the panel told a packed room at the Teagasc National Equine Conference in Limerick last Thursday.

No matter how talented a horse may be, if he/she is difficult, the price will fall, whereas there is always a very good market for responsive horses with good temperaments that can carry amateur riders around a 1.40m track.

Asked how he values a horse at a certain level, Richard Bourns of Bourns Sport Horses said: “How long have we got? That’s a very good question. I suppose you benchmark him against a few others you sold of similar ability. No two horses are the same.

“Our bread and butter is the amateur horse and if we get a crack out of those, it is like winning the lottery. Get a horse that is willing to work. I have a horse jumping 1.45m and will carry an amateur, those are rare and valuable.

“The American market is the one we are working towards and the horse has to tick a lot of boxes. If that horse can jump 1.60m but has a horrible canter or a difficult mouth, after two circles around the ring, they (Americans) won’t even jump a fence for us so the trial is over. The early production of the horse is hugely important to ensure a good value. At 1.50m level plus, top horses can be difficult and the price goes down.”

Genomic selection in cattle has been ongoing here for years and the panel was asked whether it was a factor in the equine industry or not.

KWPN breeding director Ralph van Venrooij said: “We started years ago, building up a big database. We are on the point of researching genomics on individual qualities like scope, technique in an in-depth way.

“We have a breeding value for OCD already. It’s a big tool for the future but is different from cattle or dairy as there is so many things involved such as the character of the mare for example.”

Harrie Theeuwes of Stud 111 and Auction 111 commented: “I don’t believe in it so much. Every horse gets a different rider. It is going to be a very difficult job. With a cow it’s milk. With a horse, there is so many different stallions and riders so it’s very difficult.”

Panel chairman Dr Noel Cawley pointed out that using semen from quality young stallions could be a way forward for Irish breeders as it was not too expensive.

Van Venrooij concurred with this and pointed out that with genetic selection, each stallion should be better than his own sire.

Dr Cawley said: “Genetics definitely play a part. In Irish terms, we were very backward in cow production for a long time until we brought genetics in. Genetics play a part in every animal prodcution and we need to use genetics more in Ireland or we will not have top-class show jumpers in a few years’ time.”

Bourns was asked from the floor if a horse needs to leave Ireland for Europe at a certain point. “There is not a point in a horse’s career that he has to leave Ireland. From a production level, Ireland is a great country to produce horses but not up to five-star level. We have the (Lisbeg) yards overseas as our shop window.

“The customer is on the spot but as Harrie (Theeuwes) said, they will come from anywhere for a good horse. The season is short here (in Ireland), there is significant shows only from May to October. Ireland is a dead duck from November to May with no shows, whereas on the continent, there is shows right up to Christmas Eve and they start again on December 26th.

“We cannot afford to turn off the tap while there is no shows for five months. We have quite a few staff and have to keep turning out the horses to pay the wages,” Bourns explained.

Irish blood

Dr Cawley remarked that he was “very surprised’’ at the number of horses with “very little Irish blood in them’’ from all over Europe that sold successfully at the 2019 Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale. “Richard Sheane (Cooley Sport Horses) made the point about Irish breeding in the pedigree and how important it is but it is going to be a big issue going forward.”

Director of Breeding at Horse Sport Ireland, Alison Corbally said: “When we looked at the stats, the percentage of TB blood on the page had gone down so far that we were producing less than 5% over the last five years of foal crop with over 75% TB on the page. We were producing a vast amount of horses with less than 25% TB blood on the page. We are incentivising breeders for next year to breed foals with 70% TB blood or more into the population.”

Galway’s Liam Lynskey pointed out that a lot of the higher prices for horses on social media channels were for Traditional Irish Horse (TIH) mares crossed with continental stallions. “That’s a good sign of the TIH mare,” he said.

Dr Cawley agreed saying: “Absolutely but why was there not more selected? Not so much of an issue today but it is going to be an issue if we continue the way we are going.”

It was also pointed out that there is a need here to see well-bred fillies as a valuable commodity and a competition structure should be put in place to produce a tangible market place for mares. Harrie Theeuwes responded: “We can sell the fillies easier than colts – it is all about quality – quality is the key word. At 18 months, we X-ray them. We let them loose in the ring and assess them. We keep selecting them until they get sold.

“If they are not good enough, they are out. All professional stables work like that. I think if you have a super mother line it is not difficult to sell a filly. In Belgium, if you see the 10 best five-year-old mares, if you try to buy them, they take embryos or they take more embryos later, they might sell a good seven-year-old mare. We were the first country to use ET (embryo transfer) on a bigger scale. That gave us the advantage instead of the countries around us,” Theeuwes added