European breeders

Though in most respects I only grow older, and no wiser, I do try nowadays not to get so cross about things. If I think people are breeding to the wrong horses, that's their prerogative. It's a difficult game; a still harder business. The Thoroughbred is reliable only as a vehicle of humility. We're all wrong far more often than we're right. And the beauty is that we have a proving ground out there, with a wooden post at the end. If you really are right, and I'm wrong, that's...

We are in the midst of a global pandemic unprecedented in modern times. The global stock market is plummeting. Lives are being lost before their time right across the globe, numbers compounding by the day.  A trivial question emerges--but an acutely important one for those in our industry--who is going to buy our horses? The global financial crisis saw yearling prices drop more than 40% overnight. It's not unrealistic to see a similar drop this year and we need to face that reality now, not later. However, there is a...

Kentucky Equine Research (KER) is seeking Thoroughbred breeders to participate in a research project into the link between foal size and subsequent soundness and performance in the racehorse. The project is an expansion of a pilot study conducted by Dr. Joe Pagan of KER, in which data was collated from 318 foals from six commercial Thoroughbred farms detailing the relationship between weight and height of foals and spring radiographs. (Click here for a piece on Dr. Pagan and his foal growth study by T.D. Thornton). The foals were weighed and...