U.S. breeding industry

There's been a series of conversations in these pages from industry insiders lately about the woes of third- and fourth-year sires, because these stallions don't get the patronage from breeders that first-year (and, in many cases, second-year) horses do, and this has led to all sorts of angst for stallion owners and stud farms. Many have touched on a wide range of issues related to it, but most have not addressed and lingered on the specific mechanisms of why this happens and why it's part of the new normal. This...