AN INSIGHT INTO BREEDING

BREEDING PREPARATION

Approximately two months before the start of the breeding season, stallions are evaluated physically. Movement, body condition, muscle wastage, temperament and back problems are checked daily and treated accordingly.

Several bacteria can be transmitted by sexual contact and a detailed veterinary examination is required to be carried out prior to the season, including examination of the urethra, penis and prepuce, and palpation of the scrotum and testes. Bacteriological swabbing of the prepuce, penis and external urethra is carried out to ensure that the stallion is not a carrier of a transferable disease to his mares, namely contagious equine metritis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and klebsiella pneumoniae.

In order to do this one generally requires a mare from which to tease the stallion and previous work put in to control and discipline the stallion usually pays off.

In the immediate weeks prior to the commencement of the breeding season, stallions are test mated using a test mare which has no ovaries and is brought into oestrous, with Estrumate, to enable her to be covered. This serves two purposes for the stallion, firstly cleansing the testis and epididymis of older non fresh sperm and secondly to examine the nature of the ejaculate. This includes colour, which should be yellowish in nature and in certain cases sperm motility is also examined. Abnormalities may include the presence of blood in the sample indicative of haemospermia.

Heartbreak Hill prepares for France

World Equestrian Games qualifier and Vuma hero, Heartbreak Hill (Harry) is almost half-way through his quarantine at the station in Kenilworth. Being kept fit and well with daily exercise, he is certainly looking very well.

A WALK DOWN ERNIE'S YARD

The best part of being involved in horse nutrition is seeing our clients succeed. From start to finish it is always a thrill to see horses doing well and looking their best.

It is also a privilege to go through a yard and get to know the horses. This is especially exciting in the racing yards when the horses started their lives at Summerhill and we know their history intimately.

Last week I went through the Turffontein yard of Ernie Anderson and as always, was inspired by just how hands-on he is as a trainer. From feeding all 50 horses to checking each one individually, as well as supervising all their work, he is personally involved with every aspect of his yard.

BASIL HEADS FOR SINGAPORE

Popular trainer, client and friend of Vuma and Summerhill, Basil Marcus, is launching his training career in Singapore. He has just ended the Cape season with a string of wins; among them a treble, including the Cape Breeders Club Jamaica Handicap on Saturday 16 January, the same day that his Singapore-bound horses left Cape Town, and two on J&B Met day!

Greig Muir's views of Managing Stallions

For many owners, reproduction is a straightforward procedure which begins with breeding ones broodmare and ends with parturition or foaling, the aim of which is to produce a superior equine athlete. In many cases the stallion is the forgotten part of the breeding equation, despite being responsible for half of the probability outcome of each breeding.

Stallions are the focal point of any breeding programme and have earned their “colours” as sires strictly because of five traits established before entering a breeding career, namely racing ability, pedigree, conformation, reproductive soundness and constitution.

The start of 2010 saw not only a close on the previous Breeding Season but the opening of another, which welcomes further equine athletes into the stallion fold to join other “working” stallions, all of whom are introduced to a new programme literally straight away in preparation for the start of another breeding season a few months later.

There are a number of things which may impact on the conception and an important tool for breeders is an assessment of the stallion (or mares) reproductive history and physical well being. With the commencement of a new breeding season, a stallion must have the ability to physically achieve a successful pregnancy rate when bred to a reasonable amount of fertile mares. Sadly, it is not always that simple, for there are several things that can occur that may complicate a pregnancy, resulting in fatal loss or no conception, which may be as a result of a poor performing stallion (or mare). It is therefore essential that your stallion is in good health and at peak fitness.

Graham Winn and Paul Hart do us proud

For the first time in the history of GHS eventing, two of our very own riders have qualified for the World Equestrian Games on their own horses in South Africa, and in their home province - Gauteng

Congratulations to Paul Hart and Graham Winn for raising the bar and proving that South Africa has the horses and the riding talent to compete at international level. In addition, congratulations also need to be extented to Douglas Welsh and Heidi Wood from KZN for also qualifying for WEG 2010.

FEEDING YOUR CHAMPIONS

Both last season's Champion Trainer and Champion Breeder feed Vuma.
A visit to the Premiership Standings for the current season, tells the same story.
And it was the same the year before.

JOIN THE PARTY. JUST DIAL VUMA.

WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES 2010

South Africa can be extremely proud of their riders. Team selection has taken place and the preparations have started to get the various teams and their horses overseas.

Vuma eventing Champions, Paul Hart and Heartbreak Hill have been selected for the South African eventing team, and together with fellow eventers Graham Winn, Douglas Welsh and Heidi Wood will make their way to France to prepare for the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky which start on 25 September 2010.

Together with the rest of the team’s horses, Heartbreak Hill will go into quarantine in Cape Town in the first week of January and will leave in March for France.

Winners of the 116th Argentine Open, 12 December 2009

In an exciting encounter between the two highest rated teams in the Open, the older experience of La Dolfina saw them just beating the younger Ellerstina by one goal in extra time.

JJ The Jet Plane on his flight back home
(Photo : Vumafeed)

JJ CATCHES HIS PLANE HOME

Vuma fed Champion Sprinter, JJ the Jet Plane has returned to South Africa and is currently in quarantine in Cape Town.

The highlights of his 2009 overseas campaign were winning 2 listed races, one in Dubai and one in the UK, as well as running a gallant third on Royal Ascot Day.

JJ will be in quarantine until 26 December 2009, just a day too late for Christmas celebrations.
He will be heading back to the Vaal training stables of Lucky Houdalakis (website) and you can bet that the Houdalakis team and all the connections will be out in force to welcome their hero home.
 
We love to feed your Champion!

www.vumafeed.co.za

SANSUI SUMMER CUP DAY 2009

For some years now, Vuma-fed horses have dominated virtually every major meeting at the Spring and Autumn festivals on the Highveld, as well as the KZN winter season. Saturday was no exception, where the ones that mattered most were the Sansui Summer Cup (Gr.1), the Vodacom Dingaans (Gr.2) and the GommaGomma Fillies Mile (Gr.3). Vuma was there when it mattered most, the murderous last 400 metres of the Turffontein straight.

VUMA VALU

The Best choice in low energy, high fibre rations Vuma Valu 10% & Vuma Valu 12%

No maize and low grain maintains a cool temperament
 
High fibre & added oil provide slow release energy
 
Organic minerals for better absorption

Enhanced levels of anti-oxidants

B vitamins and magnesium help to maintain calmness

Valu is about getting the best for your money - your Champion deserves it!

Quality Horse feeds in our range of Sport Horse feeds also include:

Vuma Valu Red 12%

Vuma Vitality 12%

Vuma Vigour 15%

Vuma V8 12% with enhanced fat

Vuma Racer 12%

Vuma Upstart 14%

Who will be at the Argentine Open Polo Championship 2009 ?

Saturday 14th November marked the start of the 116th Argentine Open Polo Championship: the Abierto Argentino de Polo, or also known as just “El Abierto.”

The tournament culminates in the final on 5 December and is held every year at the Campo Argentino Campo in Palermo, Buenos Aires. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious events in the international polo calendar and brings together the best of the best in players and horses from around the world.

Apart from the polo itself the horses are an inspiration. The Argentines have created an industry around their polo ponies, and breeding via embryo transfer means that a player can potentially play a favourite mare and her two daughters in the same season. They have developed a stud book, selectively breeding the Argentine Polo Pony, a carefully chosen combination of the Criollo and the best English Thoroughbreds, continually refined and improved upon. At each Open Tournament the horses are as much a feature as the players and a separate programme is issued, which lists each player’s horses with their pedigrees.

Ready to Run towards the Summer Cup?

Well the dust has settled and the 2009 draft of Ready to Run horses have been sold and are on their way to their new lives. Some are heading back to Summerhill to take it easy for a while longer before they get down to the real business of racing.

The sale on 8 November exceeded expectations by achieving a growth of 9.5% overall and the top lots sold were 2 Galileo fillies sold for R2.1 Million and R1 Million respectively by Summerhill.

Vuma mill manager Haydn Bam reflects on the second TREC event,
entered by the Vuma team:

Saturday the 17^th October got off to a very grey and drizzly start. We loaded our horses and set off to the Trec event at Thornville.

The Vuma Team comprised four members this time, Ingrid Klug, Jenna Bam (13) Robyn Bam (8) and me.

We drove through bucketing rain, wondering if we should have rather stayed at home. Fortunately we arrived at Thornville to find low cloud with no rain. 

Children under 16 have to be accompanied by an adult and as Jenna and Robyn were entering their first event, we had to familiarize them with the procedure. 

We started with the controlled gait phase, a slow canter for 100m and then a fast walk for 100m within a corridor. Ingrid and Jenna did very well, but Robyn and I let the team down. Our horses veered out of the white lines forming the corridor, because they thought they saw ghosts in the bush on the edge.