NICE WORK PECKY! Oct. 2011 Harness Racing International. Pages 16-19
That article's a MUST READ...& especially so from the top right hand side of Page 16 which begins with 'The elephant in the room'.
Then, to put things in even better context...for those who have a copy of it handy, go back & have a read of "The Great Furphy- We Don't Breed Enough Mares" from November/December 2010 edition.
The fact is...we already do breed enough mares but the incredible level of wastage that results, some sections of the Industry seem content to blindly accept. It is of course, twofold.
-Firstly around 1000 mares a year that are initially deemed PTIF do not produce a live foal
and
-Secondly, 50% of the live foals that are produced (fillies & mares) are subsequently not even close to being properly catered for as far as racing opportunities against their own sex is concerned...this despite the inescapable fact that they are the future mothers of our racehorse population.
Hello. Ground Control to Major Tom...Gound Control to Major Tom...
I wonder why in the Hell that simple but crucial aspect hasn't yet dawned on the 'just breed more foals, we need for foals, we want more foals, just give us more foals, gimme gimme gimme, numbers numbers numbers' crew?
The breed more foals routine completely fails to address the clear husbandry/wastage issue at hand...to be honest I think the various State Breeders Associations are squibbing it in that regard, they don't want to raise it with their members... and it completely fails to address the clear lack of racing opportunities for fillies & mares issue...rather it seeks to just blast away, to up the abovementioned wastage factors, to punt them into the stratosphere...the cost to the Industy be damned.
Gimme a break.
