Hanoverian
Horse Happenings
: From
'Around the World' to 'Vista Ridge Farm' - Summer 2003
Articles
for this Issue
From
Germany - Fertility Study of 42,000 mares & WBSFH Rankings
From
the USA - Hanoverian Internet Forum Available
From
the Farm - Foals ... Foals ... Foals
News
from Vista Ridge Farm
We have had a successful breeding and foaling season and we are
keeping our fingers crossed for 2004.
SPS Worcester (our Ratje-Niebuhr class winning mare) had a handsome
colt by Don Gregory. 'Drew' looks very much like his sire with
a very laid back temperament and the movement that we all hope
to obtain from our breeding program. He was sold at three hours
old to his new owners from Vail, Colorado. SPS Worcester has been
bred back to Sandro Hit and is in foal for April 2004.
EM/SPA Aluette (Argentan/Donnerhall/Bolero) was not in foal for
2003, but she is in foal for 2004 to Wolkentanz I and due in March
2004. We were pleased to recently learn that her half sister High
Value by Hohenstein scored an overall 8 at her inspection and
10's for walk and canter at her MPT with a score of 8.06. That
makes all three fillies, out of Aluette's dam Davina, states premium
and each with MPT scores of over 8 ... what a wonderful dam line.
Her grand dam also produced the acclaimed dressage horse Duvalier
by Davignon.
EM Tiramisu had her third foal by Contucci. We have been very
pleased with the previous two Contucci foals; we have kept the
1999 foal to replace Jo Ann's riding horse and the 2000 gelding,
Clipper, has been lightly trained and he is owned by a dressage
instructor who is offering him for sale for $25,0000. For 2003,
'Callie" is an elegant, uphill filly with wonderful movement
and a perfect 'C' star on her head. She was truly 'stamped' by
her father. This foal is for sale for $11,000. Tiramisu is not
in foal for 2004.
We also have two yearlings available for sale. EM Tiramisu's 2002
striking and very friendly gelding, Dunnigan, by Domiro by Donnerhall
is offered for $7,500. EM/SPA Aluette's 2002 handsome and laid
back colt, Wyeth, by Winterprinz has a superb trot and should
mature to 17+ hands. His trot is definitely a 9 and perhaps a
10. He is offered at $15,000.
All the foals may be seen on our web page at www.foals.com. Please
enjoy all the pictures there. We also offer in-utero contracts
with a 30 days after birth satisfactory vetting requirement.
News
from Germany
WBSFH
(World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses) RANKINGS
The Hanoverian is now the top ranked breed for both dressage and
jumping by the WBSFH thru June 1, 2003. Although the Dutch (KWPN)
have a larger number of participants, they have dropped to the
third and fourth rankings.
FERTILITY
STUDY
We have also chosen to summarize an article on fertility and pregnancy
rates by Dr. Teresa Dohms from the German Equestrian Federation
(FN). The article appeared in The Hanoverian (No.: 2/2003) published
by the Verband hannoverscher Warmblutzuchter in Verden.
The study involved 42,000 mares whose foaling dates were from
1986 to 2000 and the data was supplied by the Verband, with the
following statistical results:
79.3% of the mares covered became pregnant (20.7% therefore never
got in foal)
70.1% of the mares covered mares foaled out
5.2% of the mares reabsorbed
4.0% had a miscarriage
The study found that these rates were impacted by several key
variables including the year of breeding; whether live cover,
AI (artificial insemination) on breeding stations or AI on the
farm; age; and mare management including feeding program, worming,
vaccinations, etc.
Conclusions included that as mares age, the fertility rate decreases
by 0.75% annually to 65.6%, while the foaling rate decreases by
1.1% per year to 51.9% at 18 years of age. AI at the farm had
a fertility rate about 3.2% lower than live cover or AI at breeding
stations. Mares who were in the highest category of mare management
had the highest rates of fertility reaching 84%
The study concluded in general that environmental and breeder
controlled variables had more influence on fertility than did
genetic factors. 'It is in the control of the breeder himself,
whether his breeding program produces successes.'
News
from the USA
World Wide Warmbloods has started several general horse forums
as well as Warmblood Discussion Forums, including one for Hanoverian
enthusiasts. The Hanoverian Forum, which is free and with just
basic courtesy restrictions on content, is located at http://wwwarmbloods.com/forums/han/
.
A special thanks to WWW for developing and expanding this service
for all horse lovers.
Take
care,
Jo
Ann & Dale Thomas
Vista
Ridge Farm - Hanoverians
vistaridgefarm@harborside.com
www.foals.com
.
