For over a century stallions have been able to be successful in the ring, on the track and in the breeding field. Ultimately stallion owners have been able to have their cake and eat it to. Owners of truly talented and successful mares have had to make a choice. Does she retire early and become a once talented up and coming star turned brood mare, allowing you to pass those great genetics down. Or do you continue her career knowing you may miss the opportunity to raise her prodigy?
Thanks to science and the tremendous advancements in Equine breeding programs across the world, you no longer have to make that decision. Embryo Transfer (ET), oocytes collection and vitrification, along with advancements in semen collection and AI technology have leveled the playing field for the "working girl" in the equine industry. No longer do you have to choose to put her on the sidelines while the boys run the game.
A perfect example of that is our latest foal out of Undulata's Nutcracker and Deep Blue's Blue Bonnie. Bonnie had a very good season last year, leaving us excited to see her progression this year from cart to under saddle but still not wanting to miss the opportunity to begin her breeding program. We elected to do ET as we have done several times with our mares that either have a little age to them or are performing well and we choose not to interrupt their show career for breeding at this point.
Choosing ET allowed Bonnie to have her first colt earlier this week just as show season is really kicking off for us. As Bonnie continues to work the arena and add to her impressive resume. Dino, Bonnie's recipient mare, seems very content to be enjoying the stables, pastures and receiving all the extra attention as she nurses "her" colt and will continue to raise him till weaning time.
As we give these mares more and more experience and time in the arenas and with the ability to select any sire and even options now for selecting any mare with ease, owners have the control to create a more competitive foal with better genetics. I suppose the real question is, where does this take equine competitions of all disciplines in the future?
Maybe it means that as Bonnie's colt grows and develops his own show career that mommy dearest may just be part of his competition!
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