Buying a Polocrosse Horse Part 5: Breeding Your Own!
In the final installment of his ‘Buying a Polocrosse Horse’ series, A grade player and horse trainer Hamish Gillanders talks about breeding your own pony for polocrosse, and how in the UK this is becoming a viable, and desirable, choice.
Breeding your own polocrosse dynasty is the dream for many players, but in the UK with field space at a premium it can be a very daunting prospect! New roots are beginning to emerge though, thanks to a handful of families who have taken the plunge.
This is all old news to names such as the Duhigs, Keens and Shearings. Frozen semen from stallions such as Stonebrook Finno and Risebridge Diesel have led to youngsters that have been seen playing the UK season in recent years very successfully.
What sort of things should you look for in a mare if you’re looking to breed from her? Obvious traits such as conformation, soundness and temperament are general to all disciplines, but particularly for polocrosse think carefully about her qualities on the pitch; her courage, her natural balance and agility, and her speed to name a few!
There are plenty of options in modern day breeding that provide opportunity even if you don’t have a mare yourself. It may be possible to use a surrogate mare and purchase an embryo from the mare and stallion of your choice. This can also be an option for older mares who aren’t advised to carry the pregnancy themselves or mares who are needed for competing.
This has been the route taken by the Bristow and Webb families, who together have imported an Australian Stock Horse (ASH), Haydon Oracle , who comes from very successful polo bloodlines . The ASH is a favourite among polocrosse players in Australia, with successful lines from the Berragoon stud most well known. Many of these were showcased at the Adina Polocrosse World Cup this time last year.
Of course once the little ones are born, there’s the long road until they’re ready to play. Before committing to breeding, take time to research the costs involved. Along with stud fees, consider the costs of keeping a youngster for four years, and also the costs of getting them backed professionally, unless you are prepared to take on that responsibility yourself.
Breeding quality polocrosse horses from existing playing mares is a brilliant way of improving the quality of horses that are playing polocrosse in the UK. It is, however, a massive commitment and the effort involved cannot be underestimated!
For more information on Haydon Oracle and on breeding in the UK, please visit the following pages on Facebook.
Beaudesert Belle, born spring 2020, by HSH Haydon Oracle and out of HSH Rosebrook Sasha, bred by the Bristows
Boy Wilson-Fitzgerald riding Sabre, a gelding bred by Jono and Emily Keen. Sabre won Best Men’s Horse in the 2019 U16 Test Series against South Africa. Photo credit: Faye Scott
Rachael Duhig riding her homebred, Nightmare. He was by Risebridge Diesel, Jason Webb’s ASH who stood at stud in the UK.
Photo credit: Zoe Williams
Jason Webb riding Pearla in the Adina Polocrosse World Cup 2019. Pearla was bred by Jason’s family and won multiple Best Horse awards at the World Cup.
Hamish Gillanders is an experienced horse trainer who has just started his own horse training business after working alongside Jason Webb for the past three years. He has had excellent result with horses from all backgrounds and disciplines and is a natural teacher. Hamish has represented the UK and Scotland in polocrosse at Open level, and he enjoys brining on ‘project’ horses to compete at the top level. He has recently bought a young ex-racer called Edie, who will hopefully have what it takes!Find him on Facebook under ‘hghorsemanship’ or check out his website,www.hghorsemanship.co.uk
