Choosing to Geld When a Good Stallion Makes a Great Gelding by Jacque Woodward
While few argue that breeding Haflingers is lucrative, (in fact, let’s face it, we lose a huge amount of money if we sit down and do the figures) there is always a discussion as to the pairing of a stallion and mare. Why do we breed to begin with? And how do we as breeders determine that a horse is worthy (or not worthy) of being bred? I can only speak for us with our breeding program. I was contacted to write this article in reference to our decision to geld our 78-point, high silver AHR inspected stallion Amazing Gold MMH, or “Pip” as I call him. Mike and I have operated together as first Mike and Jacque Woodward (MJW) and now as Woodward Performance Haflingers for 19 years. Mike’s family has been involved with Haflingers for over 40 years. In our 19 years of being Mike and I being on our own, we have kept
32 Winter 2018 • Haflinger Horse
only 2 possible stallion candidates over the age of 2. One was Amazing Gold MMH (A Rock x Libby Gold MMH) and another we have now who is a two-year-old who may or may not make it for our breeding program. We actually bred Libby Gold MMH (Adanac x La Gold MMH) for our friend, Ray Miller of Mini Mountain Haflingers in Dundee, Ohio. Ray is a dedicated Haflinger owner and a true horseman. We owned A Rock (Alpenstein x Marietta) a Gold Classified stallion Mike’s dad, Dean Woodward, imported with some other owners when he was a colt. I had the pleasure of starting A Rock under saddle, training him, showing him, and later Mike and I purchased him when the partnership dissolved. A Rock was unlike any other horse I have had the pleasure of training or owning. Some people call it a heart horse,
