In Global Views, Godolphin Flying Start practitioners provide detailed information about the practices experienced and observations made during their travels around the world. Second-year intern Donncha McCarthy discusses challenges of shorter Southern Hemisphere cover season.
Godolphin Flying Start is a great way to learn and experience Thoroughbreds around the world. Since we are currently at the Australian stage, I have been looking at some of the differences between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere breeding schedules, and how Australia’s shorter breeding season affects breeding farms and male horses. I then offer solutions to the challenges faced by Australian breeders, stallions and stallions.
Northern Hemisphere hybrids age a year on 1 January, with the official cover season opening on 14 February; however, mares will sometimes be insured earlier, but their foals are not allowed to be registered as born the following year if the foal is before January 1. In the Southern Hemisphere, all stallions are crossbred. All have a birthday on August 1, even if they were bred in July, but cannot breed a Thoroughbred before September 1. August 1 is the official birthday of the Southern Cross. hemisphere since the publication of the Book of Stud in 1860, but the strict date of shading came into effect only in 2001. This rule was enforced by John Digby (curator of the Book of Stud) when he discovered a number of them. Unusually the foals were born on August 1st. He then decided that the easiest way to adjust the birth dates of the ponies was to set a start date. to the cover season.
As a result, the season in Australia is much shorter than in Europe. If you consider the European commercial season to run from February 1 to June 1, there is a total of 120 days when mares can conceive. In a typical mare, this allows 5.7 breeding cycles. In the Southern Hemisphere, the commercial breeding season typically lasts from September 1 to December 1, a total of 90 days and 4.3 cycles for mares to conceive. This shorter time frame puts significantly more pressure on veterinarians, stallions and stallions in getting pregnant.
There are a number of reasons why Australian breeders are reluctant to breed in December. First, it is less profitable to have November yearning than August yearning in the sales round: in the last 5 years, November ponies prices are 36% cheaper than August prices at all aspirational sales.
Second, they are less likely to be accepted at large sales unless they are of a special kind or have a deep pedigree; only 3.8% of the crested birds at the recent Magic Millions Gold Coast Record Sale were ponies in November. The entire Australian breeding model is now centered around the 2-year-old rate. and it is widely accepted that November ponies are at a disadvantage in their 2-year career.
I believe another reason livestock decreased in December is due to lack of staff. By December 1, most farms had begun on-farm checks for Magic Millions, which means many employees will move into permanent operations.
The European 3-year-old Classics breeding model allows breeders to start from June onwards because later ponies have more time to catch up with their fellows. Additional months are beneficial for the welfare of mares and mares. There is less pressure on stallions to read large books in short periods of time, which leads to a positive correlation with fertility and libido.
I do not believe the Australian livestock industry can sustain the model they are using; however, I believe there are a few possible solutions.
First, stallions may offer a discount on any mares covered during the month of December to incentivize breeders to purchase at the end of the year and offset the discount they may receive in the sale. like hybrids. A possibility for a November horse racing incentive scheme would also incentivize buyers, which would increase the number of mares bred in December.
Second, switch the purebred Southern Hemisphere’s birthdate to July 1, and set the coverage date to August 14 in line with the Northern Hemisphere. This will help the mare go through five cycles to conceive, which will increase conception rates, reduce pressure on stallions, and reduce stress on veterinarians and ranchers.
On the contrary, this raises the issue that a longer season could mean more mares being guarded by individual stallions, but I believe it is generally in the interest of the industry. Australian industry. Stall numbers are under much more pressure now than they were in 2001. There are half the stallions – the number of stallions in Australia has decreased by 53% in the last 18 years. The amount of fodder for ponies is also decreasing rapidly; it is down 29% since 2001 to just under 13,000.
This is a serious problem for Australian industry. Extra time on either side of the crop will increase the number of pregnancies and thus the foal rearing.
