British Breeding — A Novice Tale

It is day 168 of Tia's gestation. Tia is a Shire cross Warmblood - 50 percent Warmblood and 50 percent Shire. She is in foal to a KWPN Stallion with Dreamboy bloodlines. She is five years old and, being a Shire cross, I have taken the opportunity to put her in foal as she reaches her final stages of maturation, in the hopes of reducing the risk of injury or impacting her heavy frame.

I have had Tia since she was eighteen months. I took her to futurity as a two-year-old, to which she scored 8.25. I backed her myself and have gained an unaffiliated first from her in dressage.

This is my first experience in putting a horse in foal and will be my first foal since its conception. I am overwhelmed by the experience so far and with how well Tia is within herself; her personality is one of the many reasons I decided to breed from her.

My fantastic mare is the result of an unfortunate colic which took Aleshya, my appaloosa cross who died the day before turning four. Her loss meant I had lost three years of bonding, backing, and companionship that showed so much promise. With my loss of a beloved horse and Tia's stem into indepedence, we were both missing something and it didn't take long to find something within eachother.

In 2014, I took Tia to Southview Equestrian Centre to undergo conformation checks and marked for her potential as a dressage prospect. I was proud that she was marked higher than some youngsters with more notable breeding and that she wowed both vets and spectators. Her warm personality meant I could navigate her around the venue without losing control of her. She returned the following year, achieving similar results.

As a four-year-old, Tia showed her more elevated side as she went through the stages of backing. I experienced bucking, rearing, and flying changes until she finally she clicked. When it came to finally sitting on board, it was exhilarating absorbing the large movement she was more than capable of producing. Her four flashy legs extended beautifully and lead to all the hopes of a prospective and beautiful dressage horse.

With all these experiences and her ability to adapt and conform to her expectations, it was at that moment I thought a trainability such as hers cannot be environment alone and lead to my decision to breed her. At the face of it, we hear of great breeding creating great winners, but if we look back into the history of some of these show stoppers, their heritage is formed by warm bloods and bold drafts diluting the genepool; Tia will accomplish the same with notable bloodlines perfecting her imperfections, and further improving her already respectable qualities.

At 168 days, she is beginning to show more than just a grass belly and still maintaining a normal life with ease. She enjoys the relief a scratch on the belly can bring and is looking the best I have ever seen her.

I will use this forum to share my experiences with you and any questions you may find within yourself to ask, I hope to answer. With all this in mind, I certainly look forward to the spring!