The Trends Ahead
It doesn't take much imagination to see how some changed-value equations could turn into troublesome trends.
For instance, the influx of idle broodmares, some of them free for the taking, has some observers worried about a hike in indiscriminant breeding, single-trait selection for popular colors ("color-breeding"), and creation of designer-cross horses not intended for the registered-horse market. (Like so-called designer dogs, such as the labradoodle, designer-cross horses are of mixed breeds, sometimes with catchy names; pintaloosa, for example.)
Anecdotal evidence, such as that blogged regularly at Fugly Horse of the Day, suggests legitimate reason for concern.
The blog, which also reports on local-level "dumping-ground" auctions, features a sad, steady parade of poorly conformed, ill-fed, frequently crossbred, and often faddishly colored horses offered by backyard breeders.
"Is there more of this horrid low-end breeding now? There's no sure way to tell, and I'm not sure I even care," says regular blog reader Samantha Steward of Columbus, Ohio. "Just the ones that get 'outed' at Fugly Horse of the Day are enough to make anyone ill."
AQHA's Persechino takes a more optimistic view of how changes in value perceptions could play out for the future.
"If there's a silver lining, it's we now have a new opportunity to educate people about owning and breeding horses," he says. "Let's face it: With the number of free and inexpensive horses out there, anybody who wants a horse right now can have one--and breed it if they wish. You can either go 'woe is me' about that fact, or put a hand out to help them.
"It's why AQHA recently produced and distributes a free instructional DVD for new horse owners. Nobody can dictate who gets horses or what they do with them. But that doesn't mean we can't encourage them in the right direction."
Team Horse & Rider's Bob Avila sees future positives as well from what's happening with breeding today.
"I think we're going to see a better caliber of horse, overall, once we get through the current cleansing process," the horseman states. "I've been in the horse business long enough to have seen this part of the cycle before. Everyone hurts some, from a little to a lot, as the process takes place. But the end result, for the most part, is better horses."
Juli S. Thorson is Horse & Rider's editor. "If I hadn't been through the breeding downturn of the 1980s," she says, "I might be among those who believe this one won't affect me as long as I don't breed. That earlier one taught me a lot about how far the ripples of readjustment really reach."
This article originally appeared in the February 2009 issue of Horse & Rider magazine.
