Breeding Conversations Kicks Off in the South

The Southern Standardbred Breeders Association has launched a fresh initiative designed to keep breeders engaged and inspired during the season. The first of its new “Breeding Conversations” series was held last week with the topic of stallion choice drawing more than 30 attendees to the session.

SSBA Chair Dr Megan Reidie was thrilled with the turnout and the energy in the room.

“Yeah, it was a great turnout. I think it was even over 30 people, so it was pretty awesome. The aim of it was to just basically sort of create a bit of a community for people to come and ask questions and share their knowledge and their experiences and just, you know, create enthusiasm and inspiration amongst everybody.”

The night’s format centred on a trainers’ panel featuring Nathan Williamson, Brett Gray and Jeremy Douglas, with John Price guiding the discussion.

“This topic was stallion choice. So, you know, following on from the stallion seminars that NZSBA ran, we wanted to actually get some more perspective even deeper into what stallions should be going across certain mares. The trainers basically talked us through some of the horses they’d broken in recently, and the chat just went from there really. They showed us so much insight to what they thought about all different stallions, and we talked about everything from first season sires to Bettor’s Delight. It was really worth listening to them, and then the crowd had lots of questions, a lot of them had their own experiences. There were owner-trainers there and breeders, so yeah, it was really good.”

Megan admitted that even as an experienced breeder she took plenty away from the session.

“Oh yeah, absolutely, like I thought it was really interesting to even hear little tidbits like what sort of stallions the Australians are more likely to buy and, you know, which good-gaited stallions could go over your rough-gaited mares. Size, what stallions throw bigger, which ones are smaller… yeah, it was incredible. And we had a lot of new breeders there, so they found it really valuable, and they’re really looking forward to the rest of our series as well.”

The format also encouraged a relaxed and social atmosphere. “People will always come out for free beer and a snack,” she quipped.

Looking ahead, Megan said the Association plans to continue building the momentum with regular sessions.

“It’s very loosely planned at the moment because we need to firm these up, but I envisage sort of every two months for the rest of the season until probably the start of winter. We’ll go through things like getting your mare in foal, nutrition of the mare during pregnancy, and then obviously producing the best foal up to a weanling.”

The initiative provided both knowledge and connection, linking the supply side of breeding with those using the horses, while welcoming several new and Next-Gen breeders to the conversation. It was a strong start to what promises to become a valuable fixture on the southern breeders’ calendar.