I spend a lot of time each week answering people’s questions about breeding. It seems as if I always have multiple text, email, or Messenger threads going at the same time. I always enjoy these conversations, and I’m always happy to share what I can from our experiences breeding and raising dressage horses these last 30+ years, but it does take some time and thought. The series of questions below came in a couple months ago. I intended to have a telephone conversation with this person because...

Well, I hope all of you are surviving the craziness engulfing the world these days. Was just listening to a pandemic expert being interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air--sounds as if this is far from over. Stay safe out there. It’s been a really busy breeding and sales Spring for SSF. I had anticipated a drop in both breeding and sales due to COVID-19, but that hasn’t been the case. Gaudi is closing in on 100 bookings again this year, and we’ve sold two foals and three yearlings. Michaela does a great...

This piece is a response from a North American point of view to the article that appeared on Eurodressage.com this morning, “Stallion Owners Demand WBFSH to Take Action against Sperm Fraud”. Speaking as a North American breeder with 30-plus years of experience and a frequent buyer of frozen semen from Europe, there are two sides to this story. I’ve been breeding KWPN horses in North America and the Netherlands for a long time. I fully understand the maxim, “The best way to make a small fortune...

  Galearites SSF keur (Totilas x Jazz x Roemer) How often have you seen me post a video of me riding?  Like, never. Before you get overly critical, I fully realize I’m not an Olympic-caliber rider, nor am I of a particular body type that is conducive to looking especially elegant on a horse. I haven’t worked legs in over six months, still my calves and thighs have the kind of bulk more suited to a 400-pound Russian powerlifter than to a guy bopping around on one of the best mares in the...

Many of you may have noticed how much German blood we’ve been using in our program over the last few years. Wim’s sending me this short video clip of Gaudi this morning and some recent comments from the KWPN reps at the Annual Meeting a couple weeks ago have helped me crystallize some thoughts that may be worth sharing.    Breeding for me is a lot like cooking. I have an idea in my head, and I intuitively know what to reach for to achieve the general outcome that I want. I may look at a...