BREEDING YOUR FRIESIAN ( Aust. & NZ )

STALLIONS

Your choice of stallion for your mare is quite important. Keeping in mind the low numbers of Friesians in both Australia and New Zealand, wouldn't it be good if ALL breedings were based on achieving the best outcome for the breed in general and in doing so you would be ensuring the best outcome for your own breeding program and you will have the satisfaction of knowing you have tried your best to ensure a rosy future for the Friesian in this region.

Your choice of stallion will depend on a number of issues:

• How do I know which Stallion is best suited to my mare?

You should try  to select a Stallion ( whether you are intending to use an KFPS Studbook Stallion or an Australian Breeding Permit Stallion) that compliments your mare's poor points and enhances her good points whilst also keeping in mind the quality of the offspring from the stallion, the Inbreeding Co-Efficient of each proposed breeding as well as the quality and prepotency of ancestors on both sides of the proposed breeding. The KFPS recommend you keep the IC (Inbreeding Co-Efficient) of the proposed breeding below 5%. Whilst this figure is important it should not, in itself, be a deciding factor in Stallion selection. You will note that a significant number of Studbook Stallions have IC's of 5% and above so it is not an indicator of quality of proposed offspring but more a benchmark used to maintain a relatively low IC across the breed generally which provides a much wider choice of stallions for mare owners. If a significant number of foals had IC's exceeding 5% it would not be long before the overall breed average crept up to this figure & beyond, resulting in significant limitations being placed on mare owners when selecting stallions for future breedings. 

You will need to do some research on any stallions you are considering and this is possibly best done through the Internet and via the assistance of those Australian breeders that offer stallion straws or in the case of Australian Breeding Permit Stallions via the owner of the stallion. You can also find out about some stallions from the ANZFHS though the information may be limited. The KFPS web site also has a lot of useful information for members, in particular the calculator for IC and also information on live foal registrations for all Studbook Stallions as well as White Mark percentages and a lot of other useful information. If you receive the Dutch Phryso magazine which can be arranged through the ANZFHS, you can obtain information about various studs in the Netherlands and this may be of assistance. If you do not already have contacts in the Netherlands you may find that you need the assistance of someone who does have contacts to assist in researching each stallion and this may also be achieved by talking to local breeders offering Studbook Stallion straws or offering importing assistance. These people would generally have good contacts in the Netherlands and possibly in the USA and should be able to help with additional information.

• Quality of offspring from a particular Stallion?

  There are a number of ways to obtain information about the quality of the offspring produced by a particular stallion and it would be wise to do some research on this subject prior to selecting your future sire. If you are looking at using a Studbook Stallion you should be able to obtain some information on previous offspring from the supplier of the straws though possibly the easiest way is to visit the KFPS web site and check the Stallion and Foal statistics in the Members Section of the site. Also visit the 'Results by Stallion' page for the 2000 and 2003 Australian Keuring. This will tell you what the judges thought of the Australian offspring of these Stallions. This information is limited and you should always keep in mind that the mare has a substantial influence on offspring quality, this is why results from a range of mares and a higher number of breedings is a better guide.

   

• Where do I buy KFPS Studbook Stallion Straws?

  Your options are very limited at present. You can either arrange to import your own straws which is quite a bit of work if you have never does this sort of thing before or you can contact 'International Horse Breeders' based in Melbourne. They have been importing  Friesian straws for some years and have been very helpful in their support of Australian breeders.  It is in the interest of all Australian Friesian breeders to support IHB by contacting them about straws for their mare because if we do not support such companies we may loose them to the breed and that would be a major blow to Australia.

   

• Do I want my foal registered in the KFPS Foalbook?

You should visit the Introductory Breeding page on this site for more details on this subject.

• What are the good and bad points of my mare?

Before you can attempt to select the right Stallion for your mare you need to be honest with yourself about the good and bad points of your mare so that you know what you need to improve and what you do not want to loose from the breeding. Reviewing the Breed Description will help you to determine the Friesian specific characteristics you should be aiming for though you also need to assess your mare as you would any other breed of horse. Note the good points and the bad points and do your best to correct the bad without negative impact on the existing good points and keeping introduced bad points to a minimum. Breeding is a compromise, you should always look to retain good points whilst limiting the introduction of non-desirable attributes. This generally requires a 'staged' approach where you gradually continue to improve with each breeding whilst keeping in mind the ultimate target and the need to have 'reproducible' results.

• If you are thinking of using an Australian Breeding Permit Stallion you should visit the 'Offspring Results' page for the 2000 and 2003 Australian Keurings for Breeding Permit Stallions. Also ask the Stallion owner to provide contact details of mare owners who have previously used their Stallion. 

AUSTRALIAN BREEDING PERMIT STALLIONS

KFPS APPROVED - 2003 Keuring 

B BOOK 1 - OFFSPRING RESULTS  2000 & 2003 KEURINGS

FOR ABOVE STALLIONS

(excludes Colts and Stallions over 12 months; includes Geldings)

NOTE:   FOALS PRODUCED USING  BREEDING PERMIT STALLIONS OR KFPS STUDBOOK STALLIONS AND B BOOK 1 OR  B BOOK 2 MARES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR ENTRY IN THE B. BOOK 1 REGISTER

         FOALS PRODUCED USING  NON BREEDING PERMIT OR NON STUDBOOK STALLIONS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR ENTRY IN THE B. BOOK 2 REGISTER