Last week, a prestigious stud farm in France, with some of the most significant sport horse breeding lines of recent decades, was having what was ostensibly a dispersal sale.

The sale was a bit of a flop and the breeder wrote publicly about his disappointment. It got me thinking about why his magnificent breeding lines weren’t snapped up? Is the sport changing at such a pace that these breeding lines are becoming irrelevant? I would sincerely hope not.

Is breeding becoming dictated by the marketing men? Are well-considered breeding lines developed and proven over many years – a life’s work – being overshadowed by the overt promotion of fashion sires and the over-harvesting of performance mares?

It feels a bit like that – truth be told, to me it feels a bit, well, “icky” at times too.

At the same time, the auction also flagged up another question for me. Is it ethical to sell off mares as old as 24 in auctions like these? I’ve seen a good bit of that on social media recently too, veteran mares up for sale by breeders. It’s basically discard.

You can’t extol the virtues of your love of your mares and at the same time refuse to give them a home once they have ‘done their job’ for you

I have a problem with it as a general rule, because unless you are unable to care for the mare anymore for whatever reason, don’t we owe it to our mares, who have given us so much, the dignity and thanks of a peaceful last few years?

If you’re selling a mare at 24, you’re basically selling what’s left of her ovaries. It feels undignified to me; you can’t on the one hand extol the virtues of your love of your mares and at the same time refuse to give them a home once they have ‘done their job’ for you.

Positive news

At the other end of the breeding spectrum, next week the Teagasc equine specialists are collaborating with the Irish National Stud and Gardens and offering a foaling and neonatal health care course, starting 17 October.

The course is aimed at sport horse and pony breeders whether you are embarking on breeding for the first time or simply want to refresh your knowledge. The course consists of two afternoon Zoom sessions and a half-day on-farm workshop at the Irish National Stud.

The blended learning platform means that if you find it hard to get away because of work or the kids, then you only have to take one day for the in-person learning, the rest is online.

Also worth a watch on Thursday, 10 October is the Irish Horse Welfare Trust’s (IHWT) online chat event where Shelley Phipps, yard manager at the IHWT, will be talking about the incredible work they do to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome horses.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit IHWT and their efforts with discarded leisure, sport, or racehorses is incredibly inspiring. The link to the event can be found on their Facebook page.