What to look for in a Broodmare Pedigree

The best broodmares are those that consistently pass on the desired type traits and talent for their discipline  - regardless of their own phenotype - and whether or not they competed in sport. 

A truism of breeding is  - it doesn't matter what the mare looks like - it matters what she produces. 

The standard being used in this instance is mares that produce horses that compete in  higher level sport  - GP dressage , 1.60 m showjumping  - not just those that breed pretty foals.

What  breeders want in a broodmare package is an excellent performance record, correct conformation and a commercial pedigree.

Most breeders cannot access mares with the trifecta of GP or champion performer, mare show winning conformation and a pedigree full of the most popular stallions.  Breeders will generally have the best mares they can afford, and compromises always have to be made

Many think a career in sport in the most important factor, or having a close sibling that was successful. Others will put outstanding conformation as most important - mares that score very well at classification and win at mare show days.

However, there is no parallel between a horses ability to perform at the top levels of sport and their performance as breeding animals - to produce progeny that also compete at the top levels of sport. Nor is there a direct correlation between a mares conformation and her ability to pass these characteristics on to her progeny. 

-------------------------------

These things have puzzled breeders for centuries and are still doing so -  huge prices are still being paid for licensing champions without knowing if they  have the pedigree dominance to reproduce their superior characteristics. Similarly for many top sport champion mares who more  often than not disappoint in the breeding shed.

 Great champions rarely replicate themselves in the progeny .The answer for this  conundrum lies in genetics, the pedigree, and the laws of inheritance  

.The combination of genes that blend to make a champion in sport is not necessarily the same combination that enables him or her to produce horses that are as good as, or superior to themselves

Mares that are both champions themselves and can produce champions " are scarce as hen's teeth "   Clive Harper

Mating two champions together tends to regress to the mean average performance of the population -  rather than encapsulating the best traits of both parents  - or measuring up to the elite accomplishments of the parents. 

Champion sport mares often have a looser pedigree structure than top broodmares  - but may also fail to produce due to poor mating choices, genetic dilution and failure to reinforce their genetic attributes with the correct stallion choice.  

Ken Mclean " If two champions are mated together, the result will rarely be  a champion. There are too many obstacles in the union - firstly one does not know if the champion parents will be genetically compatible, Secondly, the probability factors are against a champion  being produced and thirdly, the environment will play an active role.  Champion parents have wide genetic variation in their genomes and chances are high for their progeny to share this variation"

Most important factor in selecting a broodmare

I will go out on a limb here and say that after years of studying, breeding and making close observations of horses in general - the pedigree is - at first - the most important consideration in buying a broodmare -   because  the pedigree is the only thing that can explain the following questions

 -champion GP mares that  failed as broodmares to produce anything of note - even to the best stallions of the day - a very common scenario.

-  beautifully conformed show winning mares that produce average foals and very average competitors

 -  plain looking mares with conformation faults who have punched way above their weight in producing champions, and well beyond what could be expected in terms of their own conformation

-  mares who never performed - or did not go very far in performance themselves - that were able to produce horses out of all proportion to what could be expected from their own limited performance or  ability. 

-the inordinate number of mares that have produced champion horses can in fact be classified as plain in appearance, and never competed in sport themselves 

 
Putting conformation first is dangerous in selecting broodmares - because what you are looking at is the phenotype of the mare- and this is not what is passed onto the foal.  The genotype dictates what the foal will look like and what traits and characteristics will be passed down.   In a sense you cannot trust what you are looking at in the mare - there is no way of knowing if her own traits are the result of dominant genes and therefore reproducible- unless this has been observed in her progeny and other horses with the same bloodlines.

All horses carry recessive genes in their  genotype which are likely to reappear as a surprise in the future generations -  many which result in  undesirable and unexpected conformation issues even though they are not displayed in the parents.

The above questions apply for conformation  also - why do so many show winning mares produce nothing of note and are  outproduced every year by the plainer mare in the same field who produces foals that are out of all proportion to what could be expected from her own appearance and performance.

 Broodmares who are able to produce 2 or more top horses - from different stallions -  are very rare creatures - and they will have a dominant pedigree structure full of close relatives

Example of a Prepotent Broodmare

A current example of a top prepotent broodmare who consistently transmits desired traits is Paul Shockemohle's super mare Gesina. Born in 2005 - she was never competed herself.

Her pedigree is above:

Gesina is 3 x 3 to Donnerhall sex balanced. And more importantly  she is 3 x 2 to three quarter siblings  - Sandro Song and second dam Gaby on the falling dam line -both by Sandro and out of mares by Gepard

Sandro Song and Gesina's second dam Gaby  have 75% of their bloodlines in common even though they are not from the same mother line.  Three quarter siblings of this nature are still very powerful, they form patterns and  add strength and complexity to the  pedigree. In the  3 x 2 inbred position,  they are in a prime spot to transmit type and sport ability to the progeny 

This is incredible producing power for a mare -  each pedigree half reflects the same pedigree pattern - Sandro / Gepard and Donnerhall on each side. Horses that have repetitions of the same patterns in each pedigree half are alot more potent than those with just one linebred ancestor

Sandro and Gepard from Paul Shockemohle's breeding program are already an existing nick, having produced stallions Silvio 1 and 11, Sao Paulo,  Sandro song, along with many other jumping horses.

Gesina 's progeny record reflects her prepotency.  She has had 30 progeny thanks to advanced reproduction techniques (as per Horse Telex, there could be more).

She has produced at least TEN licensed stallion sons including- For Romance 1, 11,  Feinrich, Golden Romance Malleret,  Facetime, Forever Romance, Don Romance, Viva Romance, Despacito - and counting.

Gesina has produced one GP horse - For Romance 1, and  6 PSG horses - For Romance II, Despacito, Golden Romance Malleret,  Fasine, Best Of All - all on the way up the ranks to GP. 

She has produced at least 3 up and coming Advanced dressage horses -  Vitalia, Feinrich and Don Romance.

She is now grand-dam to many more licensed stallions including Sebastino PS, Lord Romance PS, Fasino, and Viva Vitalis.

Gesina is also full sister to Blu Hors Diamond Dancer competing at PSG.

And all these horses are by a variety of stallions.  This is the mark of a top mare - being able to produce top horses from a variety of stallions which shows genetic dominance rather than the chance of a lucky nick with one stallion.

Gesina's own dam Gesine is  also an inbred mare - inbred grand dams are common in top horses.

Gesine is 3 x 4 to Pik Bube I and Pik Bube II.  These are present via two daughters demonstrating a filly factor - daughters of a sire - and is an important factor for broodmares.

 ----------------------------------------------

Mare Families and Potential Matings

-----------------------------

If you are buying mares it is important  - where possible - that broodmares be purchased from successful  maternal families -   to take advantage of any superior mtDNA and sex-linked genes being passed down to the foal.  This can be the factor that makes all the difference in breeding champions - and female families are very highly valued in all breeds of animals

In outlier countries like Australia - this may be a financial impossibility for many   -   the cost of the flight may be far more than the cost of the mare or foal

If  possible make sure to buy mares from top families that have produced many international dressage and jumping competition horses, not just licensed stallions and show winning mares

Foals can be purchased from the European auctions and farms  from famous families - they are rarely the auction toppers  - the spectacular movers with fashionable sire and dam sire take this honour  - but this is to our benefit, as specularity is not heritable  in itself

There are quite a few imported mares in Australia  -  these are mostly purchased on sire / dam sire or because they are  mare show winners

Only a small minority are  from top  mare families  - perhaps their fillies could be an option

Of course  breeders will simply want to continue breeding with their own mares  - and there are still many ways to upgrade your own breeding stock with careful mating choices

Another consideration when buying a mare is to determine what mating choices will be available  for her  - will there be at least 3  possible compatible matings - for this mating and future ones?  

There is no point buying a mare if the stallions that are genetically compatible with her are not available - at least via frozen semen in your country.

Many breeders first decide on the stallion and work backwards to justify the mare - this is crap shoot random  breeding - it is never going to deliver long term consistent results. 

The correct pedigree and possible stallion options should be the first decider on whether you want to buy the mare - followed immediately by evaluating her conformation.

It is a balance between pedigree and conformation - pedigree being initially the most important  - but this can be ruled out by conformation problems.  Mares do not have to be perfect but certain major flaws will take them out of the running

This would include things like  major faults in  bone/joint angles, legs and feet -  unsoundness, temperament issues -  that make them unsuitable as breeding candidates.    

We have to decide what we can live with in terms of  the mares phenotype - there will always be compromises of some kind.    A mare has good conformation if she is built to perform the discipline she was bred for

Beauty is over rated if we are breeding to produce top athletes - it is a trade off for each breeder to decide what is important

Some faults are in the mother line - often a pidgeon toed mare will produce this in 90% of her foals no matter the stallion - this happens to be an easily corrected fault and does  not have to be  a deal breaker

On the other hand a  very weak long loin with a bad sacro iliac placement is a far worse fault and  very difficult to breed out  - certainly not in one generation. If a fault takes three generations to breed out  - its not worth it

Structural angles within acceptable limits are more important and more likely to be heritable than beauty or extremes

Seeing the mare move is important to evaluate how the conformation plays out in the movement.    Conformation is intrinsic to performance -  and breeders should be striving to improve the mares  structural strengths in every mating

 New breeders are usually far less forgiving of conformation flaws in mares. I remember culling mares in my early days for faults I then found unacceptable, only to find those same mares being used in the breeding program of far  more experienced studs.

Each breeder must determine what they are willing to live with 

Experience is the biggest teacher in learning what aspects return in the progeny, and  what is important to focus on and to take risks on

Temperament

Temperament -  this is a difficult one -  some broodmares mares are difficult, moody and unfriendly to handle, and yet many breed foals that are willing to be handled and learn easily 

This willingness to learn new things, accept the rope , to be touched, to  take forward back and sideward steps without resistance and too much fear -   and give to pressure without too much fighting,  is what gives clues  into the eventual  rideability. 

 Horses have to be willing to be trained to perform difficult movements and progress up the levels - although willingness to work  does not always equate with a horse having a quiet nature

Horses that are calm and  adaptable to changing environments are easier to handle and train up the levels - but not all calm horses are willing to work together with the rider

Mares and horses  that are highly anxious and sensitive  present other challenges and some bloodlines are known to produce  this nature

Mares by Jazz and some other dutch lines can be very sensitive to handle, but the success of Jazzs' progeny in high level sport show that its not always a good idea to throw the baby out with the bathwater 

Most mares  and horses by Jazz are very willing learners , or they would have been unable to reach the dizzying heights in sport - but they can be reactive and sensitive

Many  of the young dutch  stallions these days are in fact linebred to Jazz two and three times  - some breeders will not be aware of this - you may  also have a line of Jazz in your mare  - be aware that linebreeding to a sensitive horse could play out in the temperament

Many of the dutch bloodlines are known to produce  a sharp sensitive nature, and this is often accompanied by the high talent and athleticism required in top level horses - therefore these stallions can be very attractive for breeders thinking of foals with knees up under their chin and wall climbing canters who are attractive to buyers

When you have very sensitive mares then selection for temperament in the stallion becomes even more important

Keep the demographic of the riders you are breeding for firmly in mind - in countries like Australia we do not have alot of skilled training riders for difficult hot horses  and we do not want to breed young horses that do the rounds in the professional rider yards and continually get sold on 

--------------------------------------

Making Breeding Decisions 

Once a short list of stallions with compatible pedigrees is drawn up for a mare -  then the most suitable match can be made based on the mare's conformation temperament and soundness -   There will be a best choice for each mare on that list.

There can also be a best choice for commercial breeders using popular stallions-  it might not end up being the stallion they had in mind for a particular mare,  but a best choice can still be made for each mare  from a list of popular stallions 

Breeding plans should be the result of a thoughtful and deliberate approach which focus on intentional selection of measurable and repeatable characteristics  - and decisions  should be made from informed clear choices and not from impulse , flash  stallions or social media advice.

___________________________________

In buying a broodmare, the mares actual performance career would come behind the pedigree and conformation 

Most  breeders do not have  access  to breed from mares that are GP performers or 1.60m showjumpers.   This is wonderful  if you have these -  but they still need genetically compatible matings to produce  sport ability in their progeny .  Many champions have wide genetic variation in their genomes and it is highly likely their progeny will have the same

Performance in the broodmare is always  desirable   because it represents another opportunity  to throw athletic performance into the mix and raise probabilities of a good outcome

It is not essential however -  many  top  horses have dams that never competed or did not get very far in sport

Finances are very important in being able to buy  mares - breeders will generally have the best mares they can afford

A breeders 'best' is going to be different in every case

 Breeders also have varying  levels of knowledge in bloodlines  and  conformation , as well as differing opinions which affect choices.   Independant knowledgeable advice is always a good idea -    but not from people who are just trying to sell you mares or semen

In dressage most top broodmares have never seen the competition ring - many had limited sport ability themselves or only competed to the lower levels. Of the 105 GP (Horse Telex) horses produced by De Niro - less than 5 of these were out of GP mares, and most were out of mares that had never competed.

In showjumping many of the top broodmares had good 1.60 m  careers before entering the breeding shed. Perhaps the fact they start at a later age helps to explain this - and the fact that jumpers prefer to use proven stallions with observable superior sport characteristics -  which could also explain the higher heritability factor in jumpers.

Prepotent broodmares

All these suggestions  are suspended when dealing with truly prepotent breeding stock. 

Ken Mclean says " there is a vast difference in those mares who can perform, and those who can transmit performance"

Prepotent broodmares have very strong breeding pedigrees behind them , usually with gene groupings of very close relatives from the 3rd to the 7th generations (See example of Gesina).  They may be  nondescript and very plain in their type with conformation flaws. Even so, they are able to transmit the superior phenotype and sport characteristics of their distinguished ancestors - and they do this regularly and to a variety of different stallions.  

Prepotent broodmares are extremely rare - because they are seldom created  by random  matings  - and  the compatible gene groupings and strains needed to create  them so infrequently come together by chance

 Many do not get the opportunity to breed at all because they may not live up to expectations in type or score well at classification days. I have seen assessors recommend against breeding with a particular plain mare even though she had the best foal of the day beside her. I have also seen many prepotent mares  with outstanding foals beside them get very average scores at these days 

Prepotent broodmares will punch way above their weight in producing power and outdo the  stunning mares with more fashionable pedigrees. Some can totally transcend their own phonetype and produce horses that are so different to themselves that it defies imagination

 These mares will have a significant amount of inbreeding or  line breeding in their pedigrees - this is what makes them prepotent, they will have more homozygosity in certain gene pairs than the average population.

Next Step - Education and Application 

The task at hand is to learn to recognise prepotency in the pedigrees of both mares and stallions - and how to make the best use of it by refocusing and reinforcing important strains and gene groupings   to preserve the integrity of those bloodlines. 

We can also breed our own line of prepotent broodmares and this is an exciting prospect for the future. These rare mares are also the best choices for outcross matings to promote hybrid vigor

Many top sport horses and stallions are out of mares that are prepotent - they may be  inbred or have an inbred grand dam.

Some examples are  De Niro,  Johnson,  For Romance,  Sezuan,  Viva Gold,  V-Power,  Dynamic Dream,   Franklin, Ampere,    Secret, Totilas, Glamourdale,  Delatio, Verdades,  Negro, Escanto,  Diarado,  Caretino,  Coriolon, Cassalco,  Coriander,  Bretton Woods, Total Diamond PS,  Debutant PS,  Hot Hit, Brilliant Invader. 

These   tightly bred mares  are what we want in our own  breeding programs . If we are breeding them ourselves,  we can choose  matings  which  will copy the  pedigree patterns   of    those breed shaping ancestors who had  superior genotypes  -  we can strive  to recreate the genetic code that enabled them  to transmit sport ability by reinforcing genetic affinities and nicks and  by using elite mares and successful sires within the breed to do so 

Improving Mares

The good news is that prepotent mares can be bred through careful planning  -  often  your existing mares can  be upgraded with  one or two  genetically compatible matings.  Sometimes  you may need to buy a mare to begin to breed a prepotent family.  

Every mares pedigree needs careful evaluation and all will require something different - but we can manipulate the gene groupings in the mare with the correct stallion choice.  Certain ancestors in her pedigree can be duplicated, or refocused and reinforced, to create fillies which can be your future breeders.  Breeders can breed branches of their own mare families - these type of fillies will raise the probability that you will be able to breed horses that align with your goals. They will have a greater ability to set type and superior sport characteristics in your progeny .

Many breeders have already had a taste of a more tightly bred mare - they may have  had one mare that always had the best foals, even though she does not have the flash pedigree or the best type.  They may not know why this is so -but they do recognise that she consistently produces quality foals.  The Falkland mares at the Belcam auctions are a good example of this - small plain brown pidgeon toes mares who would outproduce the more spectacular looking brood mares.

A commercial pedigree is not the same as a good breeding pedigree - a commercial  pedigree can be made up of a collection of top performing Olympic or fashionable  stallions - but the bloodlines of many of these  stallions simply do not blend well together, they often  form a collection of loose genetic outcrosses and their bloodlines get further diluted and scrambled in the offspring.

A good breeding pedigree is one that has close gene groupings from superior ancestors and strains of important mares -  with bloodlines that  are reinforced and complement each other  -and which can allow the athletic genotype to manifest in the foal

Researching your Mare

Mares do not go undergo anything like the same selection procedures as stallions.
Many mares have not been scored or tested by associations at all as to their type  and basic paces . And many top  producing mares will score poorly at classification days

Mares are more likely to have conformation faults. In general the stallions will pass muster on their type due to their selection process. Breeders then look to the stallion to fix the flaws in the mare - if only it were this easy. 

This is where breeders need to be realistic and honest with themselves without developing emotional blindness.  A stricter selection process is needed with  mares.   Breeders need to learn  to evaluate what  major characteristics are needed  to upgrade type and athleticism  for each mare  - as the starting point

------------------

 Each mare needs to be provided with the right opportunity  in the stallion choice   - this can be quite a lengthy process of observation and research which can take months -  it should  not be  a snap decision made from intuition, stallion hype, flash paces and massive trots - something we have all been guilty of

Ancestors up to the 6th generation of the pedigree can provide valuable information because every dip into the gene pool will bring different results .  Any one of these ancestors can contribute to  the phenotype of the foal -  therefore  we need to look beyond the parents.    If there is heavy linebreeding to one or more horses in the first  6 generations - then these linebred or inbred ancestors can set the  type  in the foal.  In this way pedigrees are genetic maps that can  guide the breeder

Very strong fundamentals  are needed to breed horses   to compete at top sport -  and striving to improve conformation  and strengthen strengths in the mare is a constant process.  

If a mare is from a top motherline that has produced a string of competition horses, then it is worth taking a risk on some conformation flaws -she may be capable of passing on superior mtDNA and other valuable sex-linked genes on the X chromosome and is quite likely able to better herself considerably in type. 

As a result of these  factors, mares have a greater impact  than the stallion in passing on type and sport ability to their foals.   Mares also pass on their habits and nature and many aspects of their behaviour and appearance. 
 

 The best way to  assess what the mare is likely to pass on is to view her progeny  - try to find as much detail about her progeny as possible. If she has produced horses in the sport even better, evaluate their mature conformation and performance characterisitics - also look at any yearlings and 2 year olds

If she is a young mare with no progeny then  it is important to research all the ancestors in her pedigree , any siblings she has and close relatives, as well as horses with the same bloodlines  –  notice what genes she  has inherited in her  phenotype and from which ancestors. It is better to use a proven stallion with new young mares 

If you bred your mare and her mother, even better her great grandmother, and are also breeding any siblings to your mare, then you will have a far greater ability to understand her strengths and weaknesses and the areas she needs support in

Breeders need  to be brutally honest with themselves and  look critically at their own mares and foals  - so many become blind and lose  objectivity because of emotional attachment.  It is rare to hear breeders talk of  being disappointed in a foal or admitting it is  average and did not live up to expectations. 

All breeders will have average foals -  yes those breeders too -  only a very small percentage  of foals are stand outs.  If you have 10 foals there will be two standouts.    The rest will tend  toward the mean average of the breed  on a sliding scale down to the bottom 10% in quality   Top mares will also have average foals  - it is the nature of inheritance. 

Mother nature likes variation , diversity and new deviations  emerging  in every generation - these changes  are necessary for  evolutionary  improvements  that are best  for the survival of the species in the wild -  and  not for super sport performance and  consistency in phenotypes and genotypes

The best way to fight   mother nature  and the hybrid factor  is to breed a herd of prepotent broodmares  to reduce the unpredictability  of inheritance. These mares will  raise the probability factor of passing on  consistent traits and characterisitics that are desirable for performance at top level sport

We cannot over ride meiotic recombination of the sex cells, but we can have a go at breeding our own line of  super mares based on the pedigree patterns of other elite mares within the breed

There will always be mistakes in breeding, it is inevitable, many crosses simply  do not work and there are  many average results

What is important is  to   learn from these mistakes and  develop a keen educated eye,   Use the information to make better stallion choices for the mare.  

Many breeders also do not have a  critical eye,  or sufficient  knowledge of conformation and its link to performance .   Alot of horses must be evaluated  to develop this eye  - and experience is only built over time , by keeping an open mind,  by listening instead of talking, and by observing as many young stock as possible  - and  continually watching  horses in the sport