Every breeder of Thoroughbreds has ideas about what will and will not produce talented horses.  Here’s some info about how I go about that process.  If this subject fascinates you as it does me, we should talk.  Please feel free to call and talk horses with me anytime.  I look forward to that.

Selecting a Stallion

Value for Money.  I look for stallions with advertised stud fees under $20,000 and am reluctant to pay a fee greater than $17,500.  This means that I tend to breed my mares to a lot of stallions in the first five years of their stud careers, or to those ‘older’ stallions who have proven records but who may have ‘cooled off’ from the fervor that accompanied the earlier stages of their stud careers.  A mare ‘earns’ her way to a better stallion when the babies she produces prove to be quality racehorses.

Soundness and Class.  I prefer stallions that made plenty of starts over at least two years (soundness) and raced successfully against top company (class/speed).  I also prefer a stallion from a female family from which have come many good horses in addition to the subject stallion.  I favor stallions whose race records and pedigrees suggest that they’ll produce milers and/or two-turn horses.

Physical Match.  I insist on using stallions that ‘match up’ physically with the mare being considered.  Following is an example of a real ’no-no’:  Sending a short-backed quarter-horse-type mare to a long, lean rangy stallion might get you a foal whose front en is the daddy and whose back end is the mama.  “Eeek! It’s a giraffe!” 

Keep in mind that bad conformation can lead to bad biomechanics, which lead to early breakdowns.  I look at all stallions before sending mares to them.

Attitude.  I want a stallion with a great attitude - a real gentleman.  Confident, sensible, tractable, and intelligent.

Summation.  If a stallion is affordable, was sound, had racing class, has a solid female family, is a good physical match with the mare selected, and has a great attitude, we’re good to go.

Exception.  For a maiden mare I sometimes use a stallion who showed speed and had good conformation but who made but a few starts due to injury.  These are generally inexpensive and a speedy first foal can “make a mare” very quickly.

Selecting Broodmares

Pedigree.  Beginning with sale catalogs, or if claiming or buying privately, I study pedigrees intensely.  Primarily I look for mares from female families that tend to produce sound horses and whose sires and/or grandsires are good producers of broodmares.  The pedigree must also have ’black type’ (stakes horses) under the dams and granddams of the mares that I consider for purchase.

Stakes Winning Mares.  While nice to acquire, mares that were stakes horses can be budget busters.  Those mares that were good sound racehorses and whose pedigrees are as described above, but who have earned no black type themselves, are often excellent choices.  Also, if a mare is unraced but has good conformation and descends from a family that demonstrates soundness, I am undeterred.

Conformation.  All mares must reach or exceed my criteria for conformation.  I look for mares with good bone, a deep heart girth, strength through the hips, a balanced body, and ‘correctness’ through the legs, starting with the feet.  Most importantly, I look for ‘femininity.’  A filly must look like a filly and a mare like a mare.  It’s been my experience that big coarse ’stud-looking’ mares rarely produce good racehorses.

Maiden or ‘Problem’ Mares.  While I prefer buying pregnant mares, I have no aversion to buying maiden mares or mares that came up empty following the breeding season. These mares can be outstanding and are often acquired at bargain prices.

Summation.  “Pedigree + Individual + Purchase Price = Value.”  Best of all, nearly all of the information needed is standing in front of me and found in pedigree research. 

Buying Mares at Auction

Pre-Selection.  With sometimes more than 2,500 mares catalogued it’s impossible to consider every one for  purchase.  Before the sale I spend hours going through the catalogs page by page, compiling a list of mares that I’d consider for purchase.  

I begin by eliminating all mares that I believe I can’t afford - stakes winners that earned over $250,000 and mares  pregnant by stallions with advertiseds fees over $40,000.  I also eliminate most mares over fourteen years of age,  mares with three foals older than three - none of whom could run, and mares whose female families consistently produce no good horses.

On my list I keep only mares that I believe I could afford (< $57,000) and with pedigrees that rise to the standards described above.

My starting list completed, and in a search for ‘depth in the family, I next go to pedigree research sites and study produce and race records of the selected mares.   

Eyeballing the Individuals.  List and catalogs in hand I examine pre-selected mares. If they rise to the level of my conformation criteria they make my ‘bid list,’ and on their catalog page I write the highest price I’d pay for this mare - my ‘bid-max.’  I rarely bid beyond that price.

Auction.  Just prior to her time in the sales ring I look over ‘bid-listed’ mares a final time, making sure that I still like her.

As the mare enters the ring I make eye contact with the bid spotter, letting him know that I’ll be bidding.  My catalog is open to the appropriate page.  In my mind I re-establish my ‘bid-max.’

Most often a horse is in the ring for two minutes or less, and midway through the bidding it’s usually easy to tell whether or not I’ll have a chance to buy at no more than my ‘bid-max.’  The idea is to try to ‘steal’ horses, and oftentimes my bid-maxis left in the dust!   Oh well.  Someone wanted her more than I.

Now and then, if I really like a mare, or if something ’exciting’ is happening with her, I might add a bid increment or two to my ‘bid max.’  For example: My ’bid-max’ is $35,000 I’m ‘live’ at that number.  If someone else bids $37,000 I might make one more bid to $38,000.  In that case, I get her or not.  That extra little bit is all the higher I will go.   Next!

Or I’m ‘live’ at $50,000, my ‘bid-max’ is $52,000, and someone else bids $52,000. If I really, really like the mare I might make a bid of $53,000, and if the next bid is $55,000, I might bid $57,000 - maybe.  I try remember that buying horses is like waiting for the bus.  If you miss the bus, just stand on the corner.  Another bus will be along shortly.

Every sale has moments that occur five/six times each day, when that nice mare that ’I can never afford’ sort of falls thru the cracks.  It’s then that one must be present and alert in order to have any chance to take advantage.  You could  buy an $85,000-plus mare carrying a foal by a $30,000-plus stallion - for $47,000!   Patience and presence is omnipotent!

Line breeding vs Inbreeding

I believe in deep line breeding, so I research back into pedigrees to find those lines that I believe will ‘fit’ and produce a good horse.

Using certain of the great progenitors of the past, I look to create multiple line-crosses, preferably with a variety of the sons and daughters of those great horses rather than the same sons and daughters.  My studies include great emphasis on the importance of the great female-family lines.

I study pedigrees in a search for certain ‘nicks,’ and I believe that great strength can be gained from certain  outcrosses. 

We have a neat experiment in our stable at this very moment.  One of our mares is an outcross to just about every Thoroughbred stallion alive.   I search for deeper outcrosses for this mare because I believe if she gives us a colt that is really, really good, we’ll have a  much-in-demand stallion prospect.  We’ll see. 

I’m not enamored with close inbreeding (2×2, 3×2, 3×3).  Four-by-three isn’t scary, 4×4 is oftimes desirable (sometimes unavoidable), and 4×5 or 5×5 is usually OK.

Summary

Breeding horses is, I think, an art.  Meaning that it is by definition, inexact.  And ever fascinating.

Thank you for your interest.

Respectfully,

Paul H. Rothfuss