The More You Know - STUD HORSES

The word "stud" comes from the Old English 'stod' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding"

Around the world, private individuals have breeding farms of various sizes that are dedicated to animal breeding, usually of purebred livestock. Some of the largest and most impressive are those dedicated to Thoroughbred horse breeding, such as the historic Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, USA or the Darley Stud, owned by Dubai H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, which stands over fifty stallions at stud in facilities located in seven countries.

Many stud farms make male animals available for breeding to outside female animals that are not owned by the stud farm. Doing so provides an outside source of revenue to a stud farm via the stud fees paid to obtain the services of the stud animal as well as contributing to the overall genetic diversity of the animal's offspring. At state stud farms, stud service is not only a source of income, but due to the high standards set for breeding animals, has an overall effect of improving the quality of animals throughout an area.

In most cases, the owner of the female brings the animal to the stud farm for breeding, sometimes leaving her there for over a month to be sure that pregnancy has occurred. However, with the invention of artificial insemination and the ability to ship semen, combined with the availability of DNA testing for parentage verification, many breed registries allow semen to be shipped from the stud farm to the location of the female animal, thus reducing or eliminating the need for animals to travel.

For more information on Stud Farms in the U.K., and for a list of potential farms in your area, click HERE. 


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Dressage - The Highest Expression of Horse Training

Dressage in Action Photo: Just Chaos

Many of you may have already been glued to the screen last year to watch the London 2012 Olympics, and in particular the equestrian eventing. But although most people are familiar with show jumping and horse racing in the UK, there are many viewers and sports fans unaware of some of the other fantastic traditional horse-led events, in particular 'Dressage'. 

Now, if you're already investigating us here at The Equestrian Blogger, you'll likely have some idea of what Dressage is, but for anyone new to the sport, or for tips on how to explain it to confused loved ones who want to learn more about horses, here's a brief look at the wonderful world of Dressage!

Occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet", Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as: "the highest expression of horse training", where "horse and rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements." 

The rider, dressed in smart, formal eventing apparel, will usually be relaxed and appear effort-free while the horse willingly performs a requested movement. Although the discipline has ancient roots in Europe, dressage was first recognized as an important equestrian pursuit during the Renaissance. The great riding masters of that period, particularly in Europe, developed a sequential training system that has changed little since then, and this method of 'Classical dressage' is still considered to form the basis of modern dressage.

In modern dressage competition, successful training at the various levels is demonstrated through the performance of "tests" - a prescribed series of movements ridden within a standard arena. A panel of Judges evaluate each movement and assign each movement a score from zero to ten – zero being "not executed" and 10 being "excellent". A score of 9 is very good and is a high mark, while a competitor achieving all 6s (or 60% overall) should be considering moving on to the next level.


For more information on Dressage, feel free to visit the official British Dressage website.


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