I have already chosen my mare based on her conformation, her pedigree, her temper and merits of her parents and relatives.  I don't have a breeding stallion of my own, so I have to choose one evey year among the possible candidates.

Here are my thoughts about choosing stallion for breeding

My interest and knowledge about breeding in general has influenced my thoughts about horse breeding. I have searched carefully when choosing stallion since I want the combination of the parents to give an offspring that fulfils my breeding goal as much as possible.

The most important thing if you want to be a successful breeder is to decide what your breeding goals are, and then follow it when choosing animals for breeding.

In the following text I share some of my thoughts about choosing a stallion for your mare. I do not mention the importance of the mare in this text;  I’m only focusing on the impact of the sire.

Duro S, colt by Sevillano XLIX, and me in summer of 2007.

My personal opinion is that males who aren't extraordinary shouldn’t be used for breeding unless they have specific qualities or genes that are unique and therefore important to save for the future. These ordinary or even bad stallions might carry defects, weaknesses or qualities that don’t match the breeding goal of the breed and shouldn’t be used for public breeding. If these stallions are used frequently and give offsprings that don’t have better qualities than their father, there is a risk that these horses spread unwanted qualities (genes) in the breed (population).

The owner of a stallion and a mare should be obligated to examine the horses qualities and most important, the quality of their horse’s offspring. There is a good reason for why you can find many evaluated stallions at a stud farm but only a few are used as stallions at stud.

When you have decided that your mare has great qualities, I would like to advise you to think about your breeding goals, and then the quality you are looking for when you are about to choose a stallion for your mare.

Qualities to consider when choosing a Spanish stallion for your mare

The stallion himself- what you see is often what you get

-Correct with a good race type. You should be able to judge if the stallion matches your breeding goal. Every animal has it’s weaknesses but you have to decide the importance of them. The result of breeding competitions can give good advice when it comes to evaluate the correctness, movements and race type as well as its temperament and willingness to work. Make sure that the horse has a strong top line and crop.

-Willingness to work. The Spanish horse is famous for its cooperativeness and willingness to please its rider. Make sure you see the stallion handled and ridden, especially outside its familiar environment. If the rider is not a professional, don’t forget to take that in mind.

-Temperament. The Spanish horse has a willingness to please its rider, it’s sensitive and at the same time tough. The Spanish horse is interested in humans and is very curious and intelligent. A stallion should be easy to handle if it’s well educated and be able to behave well among other horses. Note that there is a difference between stallions at stud and stallions that don’t cover mares.

-Healthy long lasting horses. A Spanish horse must be free from defects. It has a strong healthy body with strong healthy hooves. A stallion at stud should be X-rayed and be declared free from Ostechondrosis.

Genetic qualities – the unknown qualities you can't see on the parents
-Genes and qualities. When you have decided your breeding goal it is easier to exclude stallion that don’t have the qualities you are looking for.

Look for results and merits on the stallion himself and his closest relatives. The more merits you find on sire- and dam line, the more likely does this stallion carry these successful genes. Remember that the further away you get from an individual in the pedigree, the less likely that these genes have followed this specific individual. Grand, grand, grand, grand parent’s success is not interesting unless it has followed the line to the parents and the stallion himself.

-Offsprings. The more offsprings you can see, the better you can see how the qualities of the stallion are inheritated. Don’t forget to look at the mothers of the offsprings as well, if possible. If the stallion don’t have many offsprings, look at its close relatives; siblings, mother and father and so on.

-Pedigree and lines. Some lines are more interesting than others for different breeders. Some lines are said to be excellent to “cross” with other lines. Some breeders want specific colours. If these things are important to you, you should start here and chose the stallion from those who fulfil those criterions, and then start from the top.

Good luck!