|
|
|
| |
|
| |
- All horses turn a year older on August 1 –
no matter their actual birth date.
- The breeding season begins September 1 and goes
through to around
Christmas time. Mares cannot be served prior to September
1. It is desirable to get your mare in foal as early
in the season as possible – this way she foals
early in the following season.
- Foaling begins around August 1 and goes through
to December. Waikato Stud foals around 250 mares each
season. The expecting mares are kept under 24 hour
surveillance and at least 3 people attend each foaling.
- It is interesting to note that about 85% of mares
foal during the night. This is the mare reverting
back to her natural instincts – it is safer
to foal at night as there are fewer predators about
and within an hour the foal is on its feet and on
the run. This is not exactly an issue in the floodlit
foaling paddocks at Waikato Stud!
- The gestation time for a mare is 11 months and
11 days.
- The mares cycle is approximately 20 days, usually
beginning cycling 7 to 10 days post foaling.
- A mare’s first pregnancy scan is 16 days
after service At this stage twins can be detected
and if present, one can be eliminated as twins are
not desirable. Next scan is at approximately 28 days,
a fetal heartbeat can be detected at this time. The
final scan is at 45 days to ensure all is well.
- In the thoroughbred breeding industry, breeding
must occur naturally, AI is not allowed.
- Stallions can serve up to four times a day. In
the 2006 breeding season Waikato Stud stallions will
serve a capped book of 130 mares. Outside mares will
be accepted on a first in, first served basis.
- Foals are raised by their mother and weaning normally
begins in March. At Waikato Stud foals are weaned
in groups of 6, allowing them to buddy up. They run
in this group until yearling preparation begins at
the end of October.
-
During yearling preparation the young horses are under
an individual diet, exercise and grooming regime.
They wear rugs to keep their coats in perfect order
and to stop sun fading. They are boxed during the
day and paddocked at night. Prior to going to the
sales yearlings are x-rayed for the detection of any
conformation issues. These x-rays are available to
the buyers for inspection at the sales. Yearling preparation
is a fairly intensive time for a young horse, with
the aim of having them at their best at sale time.
- For those horses bred to sell, most are sold as
yearlings, prior to being broken in. Australasian
yearling sales run from mid January through to Easter
when the William Inglis Premier sale is held in Sydney.
Karaka, NZ’s premier sale is always at the end
of January.
- Once sold, horses are normally turned out for a
time before being broken in. Breaking in is usually
a 6 to 8 week educational process where a horse is
taught to accept the gear and rider. Horses can start
competing on the racetrack when they turn two.
- Races throughout the world are set at specific
levels. The Group One races are the premier events
– they attract the greatest prize money and
best fields. Winning a Group one could be compared
to scoring for the All Blacks! There are 24 Group
one events in New Zealand and 66 in Australia. Below
these premier events are Group 2 races, Group 3 races
and Listed races – from there they become just
normal events. If a horse is good enough to win a
group or listed race their name on their pedigree
page appears in bold capital print. If placed in these
events they are in bold lower case print. Consequently
the more bold capitals on a pedigree page the more
impressive and successful the pedigree.
|
|
