Girl Power

TEXT: CHRISTIE WOLHUTER

The rise of the mare

Historically, mares have been used to stand at stud, and due to their long gestation periods, have had fewer chances of competing themselves. To further add to the issue, there has also been a historic misconception that mares are difficult and hormonal, and affected negatively by their oestrus cycles. Mares have also been overlooked in terms of breeding rankings as they are not considered in the WBSFH or studbook rankings.

Of course, there have been mares at the top of the sport, but the choice in partner for a top rider wanting to compete at the highest level, whilst still allowing the horse to be bred can now more easily be a mare, thanks to embryo transfer. And, by the looks of the horses representing their countries in Tokyo, the mare is a formidable choice, across all the disciplines.

DRESSAGE

Gone are the days where stallions alone are at the pinnacle of the sport in Dressage. The top three ranked FEI horses are mares, two of whom are ridden by Isabell Werth.

Emma Blundell of Mount St John stud in the UK bases her entire dressage breeding programme on the mares. She owns no stud stallions, only mares, and chooses stallions from all over Europe to suit her individual mares. They also compete at the highest level, and their embryos are used in surrogate mares. The pinnacle of her breeding program is the mare Mount St John Freestyle, who is sadly not able to go to the Olympics with Charlotte Dujardin due to fitness issues.

SHOWJUMPING

Some of the favourites to win the Individual Jumping Gold are:

• Kent Farrington and Gazelle. Kent and Gazelle have had 28 wins since 2013.

• Malin Baryard-Johnsson will be riding the Belgian Warmblood mare H&M Indiana (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Animo’s Hallo)

• Daniel Deusser will be riding the Belgian Warmblood mare Killer Queen VDM (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x For Pleasure). The pair have had 16 wins since 2017.

IN CASE YOU NEED CONVINCING

In terms of breeding, as mentioned above, for the last decade, due to the rise of embryo transfer, mares have been able to have their own sporting careers, while still producing top offspring. The ability to prove themselves in competition has naturally made them more valuable than their pedigrees alone. Here, to further make the point, that mares really are an excellent choice, we look at some of the most successful mares in the sport.

The Carthago mare Carthina Z (dam-sire Cor de la Bryere) is responsible for Harrie Smolders’ Emerald van't Ruytershof (Diamant de Semilly x Carthago) as well as the up and coming stallion Nixon van't Meulenhof (Denzel V't Meulenhof x Carthago). Nixon is seen as an incredibly exciting prospect in Europe, and is in the yard of Harrie Smolders. In the case of Nixon, you could in fact argue that he is more a product of the mares in his pedigree rather than just the sires. His sire Denzel, who after all, is a product of the potent dam Narcotique de Muze (by Quidam de Revel out of 1.60 mare Qerly Chin by Chin Chin) and his dam Carthina Z produced Emerald van't Ruytershof, as mentioned above.

Now Qerly Chin is probably one of the most famous dams in Belgium as she jumped 1.60 herself and produced as mentioned above: Narcotique de Muze IV, Eric Lamaze’s Narcotique de Muze II (Darco x Chin Chin) and Walnut de Muze, who jumped 1.60 with Harrie Smolders. She has produced over 9 horses that have jumped over 1.40 and her daughters have gone on to produce numerous horses at the pinnacle of the sport.

One of Qerly Chin’s daughters mentioned above, Walnut de Muze (Nabab de Reve) jumped 1.60 with Harrie Smolders and produced over 5 horses jumping above 1.45, including I’m Special de Muze (Diamant de Semilly x Nabab de Reve) and Falaise de Muze.

Another famous Belgian dam is Wendelina v’t Merelsnest (Darco) who, with Nabab de Reve as a stallion, produced the stallion Glasgow van‘t Merelsnest, the long term ride of Jur Vrieling. Wendelina jumped up to international Grand Prix level and is the full sister of the two time Olympic Gold medallist mare Sapphire, otherwise known as Safari van ‘t Merelsnest.

SOUTH AFRICA

In South Africa, studs have been prioritising the mare for decades, from small scale to large, with Callaho Stud setting the precedent. Karin Koep of Rivendell stud in the Cape has had strong relationships with the top German breeders for decades as well, and her breeding programme has reaped the rewards of the mares used. Many have followed suit, and due to the increase in imports, eagleeyed buyers are bringing in fantastic mares that compete in their own right, and are able to add to the genetic pool of the South African Warmblood.