RESPONSIBLE BREEDING OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN HORSE

By Bonnie Hodge

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 Responsible breeding can be defined as selectively breeding a stallion and a mare with the primary goal of producing quality offspring that improve the breed and meet the highest level of breed standards. Being selective means “to choose” (not at random- not for convenience). Stallion and mare need to be properly matched to optimize the chances of getting good traits in the offspring.

The benefits of responsible breeding are many. We are stewards of the breed, and the decisions we make when breeding our horses impacts future generations. Our children’s children deserve to own Rockies that are as good as or better than those of today. Responsible breeding allows for less physical and genetic defects, which in turn allows for lower costs to raise and keep your horses. Quality foals are easier to sell and it is easier to find good homes for them. Quality promotes your business, and therefore less marketing is necessary.

The primary goal should always be quality. All other goals (including monetary profit) need to come after the goal of producing quality offspring. Improving the breed would involve utilizing maximum safeguards for the genetic and physical health of the offspring. In order to meet the highest level of breed standards, one must know what they are. Familiarize yourself with the primary breed standards as they pertain to gait, conformation, and disposition by reading the RMHA Bylaws on their website. Basic methods and practices that comprise responsible breeding involve having a plan and setting priorities. Know what you want to produce, then set a plan to do so.

In order to produce quality offspring and improve the breed, the stallion and the mare need to be healthy, physically and genetically. They need to be free of disease, up-to-date on vaccinations, and checked for reproductive health. Ideally, stallions and mares used for breeding should be free of all hereditary and genetic defects.

It is the responsibility of the breeder to minimize the occurrence of ASD by learning how to optimize production of clear and normal-eyed foals. The ASD Chart found in my book details the possibility of resulting ASD foals from horses with various eye status’. We need to consider eye-status and coat-color of the stallion and mare to avoid producing foals with ASD (with or without cysts). This is done by avoiding the crossing of a horse with the silver-dappled gene (eg: chocolate or red chocolate) with another horse with the silver dappled gene. Even though there is no test for the presence of the abnormal ASD gene, most responsible breeders realize that studies show a link to the silver-dapple gene.

It is important to note that a clear-eyed horse that has the silver-dapple gene, but does not show clinical signs of ASD such as cysts, could possibly be a silent carrier of the abnormal ASD gene. Studies have revealed that clear-eyed chocolate horses bred to clear-eyed chocolate horses can produce ASD offspring with cysts.

To meet the highest level of breed standards, one must realize that no horse is absolutely perfect. Every aspect of each trait of the stallion and mare needs to be analyzed in order to make decisions in matching one to another. Stallion and mare need to compliment and balance each other. Whatever good traits one is lacking, the other should possess and be able to pass it on to the offspring. When you analyze each trait of your horse, be honest and do so as a breeder, not an owner. Make a list of the good traits that meet breed standards, and then a list of traits that may need perfecting.

Try to match stallion and mare by using this list of traits to balance and compliment each other. Correct any timing problems in gait by breeding to squarely gaited horses, rather than breeding trotty to pacey traits. It is also important to balance any temperament extremes, so that the disposition of the offspring will be in line with breed standards. Conformation is no less important than disposition or gait (in fact, it actually dictates what kind of gait a horse will have). The conformational points of the stallion need to be matched with the points of the mare, such as: topline, bone structure, height, head, neck set, chest, shoulder, and legs. The time it takes to correct conformational faults varies widely, from two to three generations for crooked legs, to just one generation for unattractive heads.

As far as pedigree is concerned, it has been my experience that pedigree matters when producing quality foals. After all, that is what went into creating the horse. It matters in the mare and it matters in the stallion you choose. If it didn’t, then we would not need a registry. Anyone could breed any horse to any other horse and call it whatever they want. Pedigree helps you narrow your search for breeding prospects, and it helps prevent doubling up too much with one breed line. Pedigree is not the final answer, but it is a starting point.

We need to know all the breed lines available to work with and not use too much of any particular line. It is possible to get too much of a good thing and have serious consequences. Today, unlike the past, there are abundant numbers of Rockies with plenty of good breed lines, and it is totally unnecessary to breed too much of one line into your horse. It is not worth the chance of having problems with abnormalities in the offspring because of in-breeding. Responsible breeders in the past knew that by crossing their KILBURN’S CHOCOLATE SUNDOWN mares (known for their style, beauty, and stamina) with SEWELL’S SAM (known for his gentle disposition), they would get the best of both worlds, as well as smooth gait. Another cross that the old-timers liked was called the “Golden Cross”. To get this, they would cross SAM CLEMONS’ TIM mares with the stallion named BUDDY ROE and felt this embodied the most desirable traits from both lines. Today, many responsible breeders are actively trying to keep all five lines from TOBE, including MAPLE’S SQUIRREL and YANKEE, perpetuated in the offspring they produce. These foals have been referred to as “Five-Star” foals. It is important to note that all five lines from TOBE have good traits to contribute to the breed.

One last thing to realize in responsible breeding is that the difference between a “proven” stallion/mare and those that are not proven is usually confirmed by viewing the offspring. If the good traits of the stallion or mare consistently carry forward to their offspring, then they are said to be proven. Just because the parent stock possess excellent traits, it does not mean that they can or will pass them on to their offspring. Obviously, the chances are high that they will, but until they have actually reproduced offspring with their good traits, they are not considered proven. Unless your stallion and mare are proven to produce quality offspring that are near perfect in all aspects of breed standards, then your first goal should be to improve the quality of the offspring before trying to produce a specific color. It is a detriment to the breed when dramatically inferior horses are not culled from a breeding program because the breeder is only interested in producing a specific color in the offspring. The definition of culling, as used here, is to remove the horse from your breeding program and not use it for breeding.

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