warmbloodstallionsna-2014-article-usshba

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Article:Introducing the United States Sport Horse Breeders Association: The Time is Right

Warmblood Stallions of North America

—Warmblood Stallions of North America 2014

This article originally appeared in Warmblood Stallions of North America’s 2014 issue2

Introduction by Anna Goebel, publisher ofWarmblood Stallions of North America

When I started publishing twenty years ago, it was in part because I knew warmblood and sport horse breeders in my area had no easy way to compare notes, learn from each other, pool resources, or collaborate on important goals. The same thing was true all over the country. Many breeders I have spoken with over the years have felt very isolated.

Twenty years later, the brand-new United States Sport Horse Breeders Association is offering an opportunity to change all that. The USSHBA’s goal is to create a unified voice to address the particular interests of breeders of warmbloods and sport horses.

The USSHBA started in earnest two years ago, and a steering committee worked to lay the groundwork for the organization to exist. They “went public” on November 2, 2013 by first start-ing a “Page” on Facebook. Breeders responded immediately: the page had over 1,000 Likes within 48 hours, and by the end of the year the page had been Liked by 1,911 people.

To find out what impelled these individual breeders to become involved, and what they hope to accomplish, I interviewed some of the steering committee members. This article is the result.

If you are interested in benefitting from membership in a group that will help provide a voice for your concerns as a breeder, membership in the USSHBA is available to breeders, interested individuals, and groups. The cost for 2014 is $50 for the Breeder category (individual or farm). To join, go to www.usshba.org/membership.html.

The Questions:

• What are the three biggest challenge facing stallion owners in the US today? Mare owners/breeders?

• What motivated you personally to become involved in the establishment of the USSHBA?

• If the USSHBA had been around ten years ago, what differ-ences would it have made to US breeders, and to your breed-ing business specifically? Are there frustrating experiences you had that you hope the USSHBA will be able to address?

• In what ways do US breeders compete with Europeans?

• What elements of the European system (of breeding/raising/sales) would you like to see implemented here? What are the drawbacks of that system that you feel we can do better?

• What is the most important goal you envision the USSHAB accomplishing?

• How do you envision the role of the USSHBA in relation to the warmblood and sport horse registries in the US? What about in relation to the USEF and other organizations?

• The registries in the US are very protective of their individual identities. Do you think a single national registry would be a good idea? Do you believe that could happen? Or do you think the different registries should continue to maintain their separate identities?

• What are some ways the registries would benefit from work-ing together while maintaining separate identities? How does the USSHBA plan to facilitate cooperation?

Introducing

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The United States Sport Horse Breeders Association:

www.WarmbloodStallionsNA.com • Online Stallion, Breeder, and Trainer Listings 3

Maryanna HaymonMarydell FarmNorth Carolina

Bio:I started with a single mare hoping to sell a foal a year to finance my gelding’s show career. A start that many fellow breeders share. That first foal stayed with me until she passed away at age 21 a few years ago. When I stopped riding due to health reasons, I dove into breeding as I had experience in human newborns as a nurse and my love for horses was essential to my mental well being. So Marydell Farm was born.

Since then, we imported the Hanoverian stallion Don Principe (Donnerhall/Prince Thatch xx/Durheim) to try to control our ris-ing stud fee expenses. Little did we know how much Prince would improve our breeding program and enrich our personal lives. Don Principe has gone up the levels to CDI Grand Prix. He is the sire of three USDF “Traveling Trot”perpetual trophy winners:

Duet MF, David Bowie MF and this year Dansuse MF. This is an unprecedented feat; no other stallion or breeder has achieved this. Marydell Farm has been both USEF and USDF Champion Breeder of Sport Horses in previous years. Marydell horses have shown at Dressage at Devon and had many wins and several Championships. We have also had many USDF Champion Horse of the Year winners over the years. Doctor Wendell MF is a licensed son of Don Principe bred by Marydell Farm.

The Time Is Right

Licensed stallion Doctor Wendell MF, bred by Marydell Farm, ridden by Chris Hickey, at the Markel National Young Horse Championships 2013. At left is

Maryanna’s husband, Wendell Haymon, after whom Doctor Wendell is named.

Don Principe of Marydell Farm (second from left with rider Michael Bragdell) with three very successful offspring: Dux MF (April Schultz, rider; Jim Kofford, owner); Donneghal KF (rider, Brendan Curtis); Duet MF (groom, Natalie Wolfer, rider Brendan Curtis).Rubaiyat 18 (Roc USA x Our Reflection xx x Mabel’s Boy xx) at the 2013 Entropy Farm Oldenburg inspection where she received her premium mare status and was the second highest scoring mare in the central region. Photo: Eowyn Brewer.Mary O’Connor with her first home-bred, As Di Ani Z (2008 filly by the Hanoverian As Di Villagana x Camille, Thoroughbred).Corsen SR, a Holsteiner by Connor, bred by Sparling Rock Holsteiners, with his dam N Calandra. All The Best ( Just The Best x Inetta x Beach Boy) and Bundaberg (Bugatti Hilltop x Carina x Caron) at Tish Quirk’s farm in Rancho Santa Fe, California. © Tish Quirk.

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The Steering Committee:

Mary O’Connor, NY/VA, Inner Bay LLC Interim PresidentTish Quirk, CA Interim Vice PresidentTim Kammerer, MD, Sparling Rock HolsteinersInterim TreasurerDiane Halpin, VA, Laurel Leaf HanoverianInterim SecretaryNatalie DiBerardinis, MD, Hilltop Farm Inc.Diana Dodge, VA, Nokomis FarmMaryanna Haymon, NC, Marydell FarmAnne Hedge, TX, Whitehedge FarmJudy Hedreen, WA, Sylvan FarmDr. Rachel Kane, DVM, IL, Entropy Farm

The United States Sport Horse Breeders Association:


Some of the biggest challenges facing both stallion owners and breeders in the USA is the challenge of the European model of rushing to the current “fashionable” bloodlines and “hot” new stallions. These horses do not have the performance record to substantiate their ability to do the upper-level work. But they do have a lot of hype and their first foals can sell easily.

A huge challenge to breeders has been the economy. Since 2008, breeders have faced a severe downturn in the sales of young stock. This has effected the ability to afford the actual costs of breeding. Everything costs more—hay, vet, farrier—but without sales, breeders were forced to cut back on their breeding plans. So there is a shortage of young horse right now here in the USA. In addition, it makes the low cost of European frozen semen by the dose without the LFG appeal to many right now because of economic reasons.

The third challenge is size. Our country is so large that the cost of flying to see an individual horse is a cost only some can afford. It makes the choice of going to Europe and seeing many horses in a few days in a smaller region seem enticing compared to see-ing one every few weeks and having to fly to personally inspect the prospect. This also applies to locating them in the first place. There is no centralized place for perspective buyers to find them.

When the concept of a unified organization for sport horse breeders was first floated, I became very excited and wanted to help. I had faced many hurdles throughout my career in breed-ing, and I hoped that a group like USSHBA could help other breeders, especially those new to it, so that they could have a resource to help them along.

There have been several issues with horse identification that might have been eliminated if only a one horse=one number da-tabase had been put into place. Perhaps we could have compiled a reference of young horse trainers for all breeders to use to find that all-important next step of the process. We might have a true recognition of American bred sporthorses competing and doing well at the international level.

Registries could benefit from this type of organization in several ways. With a voice for their members in the national organiza-tions such as USEF, USDF, USHJA, USEA, recognition of the horses and breeders of those horses could start to have a more prominent role. Outstanding individual horses could be pointed out to the selection committees that are looking for the best for our international teams. As of now, there is no way for a registry to approach one of the above-mentioned groups to seek assistance for a promising young horse, or to effect change in the rules con-cerning in-hand or performance showing. USSHBA can pro-vide a unified voice for this. And at the same time, the registries would be able to maintain their individual identities and rules. I do not see a single national registry working in the USA. There are many registries per country worldwide. At least as far as I am aware, there is no “national” registry encompassing all the horses of a single country. To take that one step further, Americans as a culture want to be independent and have options.

With such a database of life numbers, we could track the progress of our offspring, follow bloodlines that are successful in sport and keep the competition on a level playing field. F

“If this type of group had existed even a few years ago,

I think many of the frustrations of today’s breeders

might have been addressed.”

United States Sport Horse Breeders Association

Dansuse MF, winner at Dressage at Devon 2013 and USDF 2013 Traveling Trot winner. Photo: Hoof Print Images.

Duet MF, a winner of the Traveling Trot in 2012 with her Mature Horse Cham-pionship at Dressage at Devon 2013. Photo: Hoof Print Images.

“If we accomplish only one thing, and that is a horse

identification system that cannot be bypassed if

competing, then we will have accomplished the single

most important goal for breeders.”


Tish QuirkCalifornia

Bio:Tish Quirk is a lifelong horseman with over 30 years experi-ence breeding champion Hunters and Jumpers beginning with her foundation stallion, Best of Luck, and continuing with his

breeding sons, Just The Best and More Than Luck and their successful sons who are currently winning in the show ring and will eventually enter the breeding program.

Tish has earned numerous titles as a rider and handler as well as a suc-cessful breeder and served as Chair-man of the USHJA Breeders Com-mittee and Pacific Coast Horseshows Association Breed-ers Committee as

well as the USHJA Board of Directors. She has served on the Advisory Board of the KWPN-NA and the Board of Directors of the International Hunter Futurity and was a Founder Mem-ber of the International Jumper Futurity. She was honored with the California Professional Horsemen’s Association Lifetime Achievement Award and has been the PHA National Hunter Breeding Breeder of the Year. Tish has been Leading Handler at both the International Hunter Futurity and Sallie B. Wheeler/USEF National Hunter Breeding Championship. Horses she has bred, owned and trained have been Best Young Horse at the Sallie B. Wheeler and the IHF and both Just The Best and More Than Luck have earned Leading Sire titles in the Sallie B. Wheeler Championship.

Tish runs a full service breeding, foaling, development and train-ing farm in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Along with her late husband, John Quirk, Tish was co-editor and co-publisher of HORSES magazine and has photographed major competitions around the world. John was the original organizer who brought the World Cup Finals of Showjumping to Del Mar, California and Las Vegas and Tish served as official photographer. In 2007 the World Cup Finals of Dressage was added to the exciting presentation in Las Vegas. The double World Cup Finals will return to Las Vegas in 2015.

The breeding of successful warmblood horses in the USA has seen steady growth in the past 30 years but it is not without challenges.

The vast size of the USA makes it a challenge to try to have head-to-head competition for young horses without forcing the majority of the young horses to endure extensive travel, thereby creating an advantage for the horses born in the vicinity of the competition. Travel requirements within the country limit the ability of potential breeders and buyers to view the stallions and young horses in person—but is still less than the travel required to fly to Europe and the cost and risk of import is reduced. Because of the size of our vast country, regional showcases are necessary. The use of the internet for promotion of breeding and selling has changed the face of the business and has had a major impact both good and bad.

There is no government subsidy of the equine industry in the USA as there is in some European countries and the costs to breed, develop and show horses here is very high. Programs to showcase the young horses of America at reasonable prices are a necessity. For such programs to succeed and represent the entire country they must be available to all areas of the country and have a format that is designed to fit the American market and the needs of American riders, trainers and buyers.

Having been very involved with various organizations and registries, I believe the time was right for the formation of the USSHBA to try to unite the breeders and all of the organizations and registries that serve the breeders, owners, trainers and buyers. The ability to track and record each horse from birth, through-

More Like It (More Than Luck x Felicita x Fabriano), owned/bred/trained by Tish Quirk, who is also owner/breeder/trainer of More Than Luck and Best of Luck, who sired More Than Luck. Copyright: Tish Quirk.

Tish Quirk and Just The Best. Copyright: Tish Quirk.

“There is still a tendency to idolize riding horses and

breeding stallions available in Europe. There are

exceptional horses on both sides of the ocean, and it is

necessary to encourage buyers and breeders to under-

stand the quality of the American-bred horses and the

advantages of buying and breeding Made In America .”


out the competition career of the horse, can create a more fair competition experience. We all know of horses that come from Europe with significant show experience and then become “Pre-Green Hunters” showing against inexperienced babies that are just beginning their show careers; it also happens with horses born in the USA that have name changes that allow them to start over as Pre-Green or 1st Year Green.

A tracking system would also allow us to locate horses through-out their lives and reduce lost horses that sometimes become “unwanted” horses, when their breeders and former owners would prefer to provide their final homes. As a breeder/stal-lion owner I would like to be able to locate and track all of the offspring from my stallions.

It is understandable and useful for each registry to maintain their own identities and breeding goals, but it is also necessary to unite under an American flag. The plethora of American orga-nizations—USEF, USDF, USEA—and their zones, regions and subsidiaries each serve their members and focus on their disci-

plines and needs of their memberships. Combined and working together we can produce, promote and showcase the exceptional horses of the USA and keep the dollars in this country and field winning international teams mounted on American-bred horses. It is my personal belief that the more hands-on system of foal development produces the right horse for the American buyer and rider. To date American auctions have not been as successful as European auctions. I believe Americans prefer the more per-sonal experience of buying in a private sale and I see advantages for both the horses and people involved in the private sales even though we have certainly seen abuses of that system. There are also the advantages of knowing the individual needs of the buyer and the detailed information and understanding of each horse sold in private sales. In conclusion: For over 30 years I have been breeding horses that I believe are ideally suited to the American riders. The great blood runs true and we consistently produce champions and horses that enhance the lives the their owners. The ability to know every detail of the horse’s heritage and development makes it easier to understand and work harmoniously with the horse and achieve the goals of the riders, owners and trainers. F

Dr. Rachel KaneEntropy FarmIllinois

Bio:Dr. Rachel Kane has been a lifelong horse enthusiast. She grew up on Long Island riding hunters and jumpers. Dr. Kane received her B.S. in Animal Science from Purdue University and went on to earn her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the University of Illinois in 1992. In 1993 she started her own equine practice where she sees a variety of patients with an

emphasis on sport horse lameness and reproduction. In 2003 she, along with her husband David Voorhees, opened Entropy Farm in Woodstock, Illinois. Currently they stand the stal-lion Roc USA and foal out twenty to thirty mares per year. Personally they breed three to six foals per year for the sport horse market.

Horses bred by her at Entropy Farm have won National, Zone and Circuit championships at the country’s top horse shows. Dr. Kane also serves on the board of directors of the Illinois Equine Practitioners Association and the Illinois Horse Council.


Inetta, by Beach Boy, gives birth to Just In Time, by Just The Best. Tish Quirk owner/breeder of Just In Time and Just The Best and owner/importer of Inetta. Copyright: Tish Quirk.

Rapscallion 18 (Roc USA x Natalya x Hermes du Maurier) winning best young horse at the 2013 Kentucky National horse show, with Heide Cas-cIaro at the helm. He is the 2013 USHJA zone 5 yearling champion. Photo: Shawn McMillan.


I think two of the biggest challenges are the same for both stal-lion and mare owners, which is the need for a reliable data base to track progeny performance across the different disciplines, and the need for a one horse=one number system to be in place.

A third challenge for stallion owners is the relatively small pool of mares in the USA available for breeding (as compared to Europe) and the cost of marketing and showing to promote your stallion to that relatively small pool of mares.

A large problem for mare owners is getting their young stock seen. The cost of showing young stock is high, and the United States is such a large expanse as compared to Europe that it can be difficult to see many prospects at one time.

We are breeding very good horses here in the States. It both-ers me that most American riders have no idea what it takes to breed and raise a quality horse. A unifying body is needed to help with educating the American rider what is available for them here, and for the breeders to have a voice in the national conversation of horse sport.

We are starting to see some attention being paid to young horses on the national level. I think had USSHBA been around ten years ago we would be much farther down that road. The USEF putting together the young horse championship program is a beginning.

The main thing we compete with Europe for is the horse buying dollar. The Europeans are currently at an advantage in several ways. Firstly, there are many more sport horses bred in Europe, as riding is a much more mainstream activity there. It is a more mainstream activity because riding, keeping, and showing horses in most of Europe can be done cheaper than it can be done here in the States. There are many more one-day shows in Europe where you can show out of your trailer just as we used to do here

when there truly were AHSA B- and C-rated shows. You go for a day, show and go home. If need be you drive back the next day. Here the majority of the shows are 3–5 days long (even a lot of the more local shows), which involves leaving horses away from home, missing work, getting a hotel and so on—all of which equates to dollars. Secondly, we do not have a fair playing field when it comes to the experience of the horse being imported. Many of the horses being imported conveniently get their passports lost. These

horses that are competing at a higher level in Europe come to the States and compete at a lower level against the true “green” horse. This happens in the hunters, jumpers and dressage rings. This is where the one horse=one number rule comes in. The Eu-ropeans do a fine job giving Passports and one number to each horse, but we here in the States have to insist on that number being kept with the horse when it comes here. The practice of changing the horse’s identity occurs on the national level as well, which also needs to be addressed.

The Europeans have a very good infrastructure for young horse training. In Europe being a young horse trainer is an end in of itself, with important championships and accolades given to those trainers that specifically work with the young horses. In the States the majority of the young riders aspire to be Grand Prix riders, yet few of them have ridden or trained a young horse from the ground up. If given a chance to be educated in how to start and train young horses, I think many would find this a gratifying career path in the horse industry.

The European auction system seems to be well received in Europe. In the States the term auction still has a bit of a tawdry connotation attached to it at times. The American Thoroughbred auctions don’t have that stigma but I think it is present in the riding horse world. I do think that it is possible with some pub-lic education and good ethical auction management to overcome this, but it will take time.

I am not sure if in the European riding culture the average rider is aware of pedigrees and breeding. It would be nice to be able to educate the US-based riders as to where to go to find this infor-mation as it pertains to their interest and/or purchase of a horse.

From left to right: Reverie 18 (Roc USA x Socialite x Alpenstern). This picture is of her winning the USDF region breeders championship. She went on to be the 2012 USDF national yearling filly champion. Ronconteur ( Roc USA x Andana x Alpenstern) at the 2012 IHF finals where he was reserve champion in the 4 year old performance division. Ravishing 18 ( Roc USA x Andana x Alpenstern ), Premium foal at the 2013 Entropy Farm Oldenburg inspection. Reverie 18 and Ron-conteur photos: Shawn McMillan.

“For the mare owner the other big challenge is not

having access to enough quality, well-educated young

horse starters and trainers.”


With the implementation of the young horse championships the US is starting to try to identify quality young horses here. It would be great to have an American version of the Bundes-championat, but one that included hunters as well.

As far as drawbacks to the European system, I think there are some very large players that may have a bit more sway than perhaps they should. I don’t think we have any breeders here of that size, yet. It has been brought up in many conversations, es-pecially as it pertains to dressage horses, that too much emphasis is being placed on young horse classes and many of those young horse winners with extravagant gaits may not be able to go on and perform the actual collected work needed of the Grand Prix horse. This can be fixed by what the judges award as the best horse. Twenty years ago the average western pleasure horse was supposed to go with its nose to the ground in a broken four beat canter; as soon as those horses weren’t rewarded for it by the judges the training and breeding changed.

I see the USSHBA being a unifying umbrella for the all the registries and sport horse associations to bring forward the issues pertaining to the production of sport horses here in America. I envision the USSHBA being analogous to the USHJA, USEA and USDF under the USEF.

I think a single US registry is really irrelevant to the goals of the USSHBA. We are starting to see a blurring/melding of a lot of the registries, for example Hanoverian and Westfalen. All are breeding for a certain type of horse vs. a breed of horse. There was a time when the registries wouldn’t dare accept a horse outside of its registry but that is clearly not the case today. The breeders are all looking for superior genetics and if they need to go outside of their registry they do so. This why they are regis-tries and not breeds per se. I think it will be quite a long time, if ever, for a single registry to come to being. Many people have many dollars and vested interests in their particular registry to let that change.

However, registries can benefit from working together while maintaining separate identities. As in any other endeavor, there is strength in numbers. Towards that end it would behoove us on a national scale to work together. To accomplish this, there is no need for the registries to forfeit their individual identities. The USSHBA will be the voice for all the American sport horse breeders in the national dialogue of the sport horse industry. There are fabulous breeders, both big and small, here in the States and it’s time we come together to help one another. F

Timothy KammererSparling Rock HolsteinersMaryland

Bio:Tim Kammerer was born and raised in Rumson, New Jersey. He graduated from University of Vermont with a BS in Biochemis-try and a minor in Microbiology/Molecular Genetics in 1996.

He started riding horses in 1992 while in college. Tim learned to start horses while out in Colorado, and working with young horses is now a passion. He starting breeding with Holsteiners in 2004, and purchased his first mare in 2005. He helped train that mare, Vienna, by Cicera’s Icewater, to earn the “Adequan Holsteiner Filly of the Year” award and realized the necessity of targeted breeding programs here in the US.

Tim went to Germany for the first time in 2007 to learn the breeding practices perfected in Holstein, and has returned almost every year since to continue to advance his knowledge of this breed.

Tim opened Sparling Rock Holsteiners in 2010 and was elected to the American Holsteiner Horse Association (AHHA) Board of Directors in 2012.

As a strong advocate to building a successful American sport horse breeding community, and an outspoken proponent of “One Horse=One Number,” Tim joined this effort to build the USSHBA along with the other accomplished and experienced members.

The biggest needs facing stallion owners are:1. Greater numbers of progeny competing at the upper levels of sport in the Olympic disciplines.


Fina Bella SR is Contefino/Cathalido/Lavaletto stamm 318a2 same stamm as Carlo, Calippo, Coulthard Top, and Quidams Acord. Her mother is Valeta and was bred by Reece Miller at Bay Hawk Stables.

“The most important thing that the USSHBA will

accomplish is to give a voice to the breeders in the

national discussion of horse sport.”


2. A database that can accurately record pedigrees, breeders, and sport records.3. An adequate/cost effective training environment to help bring domestic horses up through the levels.4. Higher numbers of offspring to best understand which mares make the best matches.The biggest needs facing stallion owners are:1. One Horse=One Number in the database mentioned above.2. An adequate/cost effective training environment to help bring domestic horses up through the levels.3. Higher degree of knowledge of proven breeding practices.4. Marketing scheme that minimizes the geographical chal-lenges faced in the US.

My primary reason for wanting to support the creation of this organization is the One Horse=One number challenge. As a breeder I am observing a patchwork approach to this problem that doesn’t serve the greater sport horse breeder market in the US. The breeders need a single voice that can elevate this priority to our primary governing body the USEF which is mostly fo-cused on the riders. I believe we as breeders can coalesce around this initiative which can develop the foundation with which we can expand further initiatives.

If the USSHBA had been around ten years ago, I believe we would have this database which only allows each horse to have one number. I also believe we would have a universal verification system (for example microchipping, optical scans, barcoded ID cards), that would lend credibility to the database, and force the show industry to conform. I would also like to believe that this database could then be used to elevate domestic breeders suc-cesses with integrity. This could then lead to a pipeline between the buyers and the breeders.

We compete with the Europeans for the same buyers, ideally those buyers with more capacity to purchase upper-level pros-pects. We can produce the same quality prospect for less money, but the training and show experience is too expensive here. So in Europe it’s sometimes easier to find more finished horses at less expensive prices, and located in a more concentrated area. Their system also removes any questions in regards to records attached to horses. All horses are microchipped, and must be presented with their passports for showing.

We simply aren’t there yet. The most important goal of the USSHAB is to create One horse=One number database.

I believe that the registries can play a supportive role in isolating more specific interests of their members and centralizing those interests in one impartial organization that will have a voice with the governing bodies.

We feel that breeders of all types have needs that are unique to sport horse breeders. We will be driven by our membership, and each breeder will have a voice. I feel cooperation will be facili-tated by our impartiality and our common, but unmet needs. F

Cassiana SR at her inspection. Cassiana is Cassiano/Calando I/Landjunker II, stamm 776.

Quimby SR. Quite Easy I/Calando I/Landjunker II.

“I envision the USSHBA becoming a conduit through

which the breeders’ interests can be funneled to the

USEF and other discipline organizations.”

“Very few countries in the world have a national

registry. This is important to stress. USSHBA is not

a registry, and has no interest in becoming one. Re-

maining impartial either to sport horse breed or sport

horse discipline will enable it to become a representa-

tive body for all breeders. USSHBA will support sport

horse breeders in the US while allowing each registry

to address the specific needs of its members.”


Mary O’ConnorInner Bay, LLCNew York and Virginia

Bio:I was nine or ten when a neighborhood friend was given a pony by a cousin who was moving overseas. I learned to ride on that

pony, and have been fortunate to be involved in the sport ever since, as a rider, trainer, horse show official, management team member, parent, and finally as a breeder.

I’ve always been very interested in breeding though

I haven’t been at it myself for long. While competing at the Washington International Horse Show in 1981, I saw the stal-lion Galoubet A, who had come over with the French team on the North American indoor circuit. I thought he was the most magnificent animal and the most athletic jumper I had ever seen and I followed the news of his syndication and move to the

USA to stand at stud, and daydreamed about having a mare for him. The other stallion I was aware of back then was Abdullah, when the Los Angeles Olympics was still in his future.

During and after college I worked for the Hampton Classic Horse show, eventually becoming an assistant to the coordina-tors, and managing the Press Relations until 1988, when we staged the final team selection trials for the Seoul Olympics. Earlier that year, I had decided to trade my desk for a pitchfork, and I went to work for Conrad and Joe Fargis at Sandron during the Florida circuit, where I shared the barn aisle with Abdullah’s owners, Sue and Terry Williams. Sue told me the entire story of how they came to own him, how one thing led to another, and how he eventually wound up being an Olympic star and a world class breeding stallion.

I met my husband, Neil O’Connor, from Millstreet, Ireland, when he worked for Noel C. Duggan, who bred Mill Pearl, the mare Joe Fargis rode in the Seoul Olympics. On trips to Ireland after we were married, I couldn’t wait to visit “Noel C’s” Green Glens Equestrian Center to see the young horses in the fields, and I would pay attention to which ones were which, including Mill-street Ruby, the full sister of Mill Pearl. I think we always had in mind that we would eventually begin to breed our own horses.

That point finally arrived when we purchased an unregistered but Jockey Club-eligible Thoroughbred mare, Camille, and bred her to the Hanoverian Grand Prix stallion, As Di Villagana.


Mary O’Connor in 1979 with Ampersand at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.

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The entire process was a learning curve from beginning to end, with happily positive results: full Jockey Club registry and a Best Outside Mare rosette at her Hanoverian inspection for Camille. Through it all, I kept thinking “there has to be a better, more systematic way to learn about this!” Our first homebred, As Di Ani Z, is now almost six, and has begun her performance career with our daughter in the jumper ring after having a foal of her own by Jaguar Mail. Camille’s second foal was a full brother to As Di Ani Z. As Di Valentia, sold as a foal to Diane Halpin, was recently purchased by hunter/jumper trainer Bill Schaub as a hunter prospect.

It takes a long time to raise a stallion prospect to maturity, properly develop it in the performance arena, and then pro-duce offspring that also must in turn also reach maturity before the value of a stallion to a particular breeder’s program or to the sport can be determined. After going through all the steps necessary to raise a stallion, there is the continuous nature of stallion management and marketing. In the end, there is no assurance that standing even a “successful” stallion will ever be financially profitable or a break-even proposition for an owner. Relatively few owners are capable of staying the course, and even fewer decide that it’s rational to do so.

Whether to breed a “favorite” mare can be a sentimental deci-sion, but it’s important to be aware that there are risks involved in every phase of the endeavor and a wide array of resources are necessary to be successful.

Again, there are so many stallions to choose from. Market-ing plays a big role in the choices that mare owners make, with intensely marketed stallions becoming more popular than might otherwise be warranted. It can be difficult for mare owners to assess their choices objectively or find unbiased, educated advice about how to find the particular stallions that will best compli-ment their mares.

Ultimately, mare owners need to have well-developed advance planning in place that will allow them to raise foals that, sooner than imagined, become healthy young horses in need of a job. They also need to realize that the expenses they incur in rais-ing such an animal have little to do with its value to prospective buyers, whose only concern will be whether the horse will be able to succeed as a performer.

It seemed so obvious to me that the USSHBA should already exist that I couldn’t understand why it didn’t! That’s really all the motivation I needed to find out why that was so, and get to work on creating it.

There are so many situations that I hope the USSHBA will be able to address once it finds its feet. Everyone who learns of the USSHBA instantly asks whether we plan to do this, or that, or something else, or “what about xyz?” And I keep repeating, please join us and sign up to volunteer, because there is so much work to do! I think it’s a very exciting time right now and we are off to a great start.

The most important initial goal for the USSHBA is to build a large enough membership base to be a viable and credible orga-nization. Again, there is no shortage of work to do, but in order to survive and thrive, the USSHBA needs dues-paying members to step forward as volunteers to form the committees who will begin to prioritize and perform the tasks that lie ahead.

The USSHBA will seek to work with registry officials to identify common concerns within the US breeding community and dis-ciplines that are best addressed through a unified approach. The USSHBA’s affiliated group membership category will allow the registries to offer their support to the USHHBA and be active participants in our efforts as we move forward.

Through good relations with the registries and other organiza-tions, the USSHBA will work to provide to breeders with a con-venient source of information that will help identify and explain various options and programs available to breeders.

A single national registry is unlikely as each registry has a distinct history, with time and effort having been invested in keeping them separate. But it has occurred to me that it might be feasible to explore with the registries and discipline groups the idea of identifying areas in which administrative cooperation would ben-efit breeders. To give one example, as the parent of a high school senior, I appreciate the convenience of the “common app” where one application form is used to apply and pay fees to the admis-sions offices of many separate colleges even when one choice must eventually be made. It seems that breeders have better things to do than fill out repetitive paperwork, and administrators with limited resources might appreciate the streamlined processing of tasks they have in common with other groups. This approach could presumably extend to other areas wherever cooperation is deemed mutually beneficial, but we are a long way from a natural evolution toward the concept of a unified registry, and it certainly shouldn’t be dictated, because it’s part of our American nature to be independent and go our separate ways whenever we can. FF

“Where possible, the USSHBA will move to become

an affiliated group member of other associations,

and will seek opportunities to work in collabora-

tion with the Federation and the sporting discipline

groups. We will represent the interests of US breed-

ers and will seek support for programs aimed at

strengthening US breeders.”“One of the biggest challenges facing stallion owners in

the US today is that there so many stallions! Competi-

tion is intense, with mare owners able to choose among

stallions of the present day and of the past, nearly

anywhere in the world.”

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