It all starts with the broodmare

It all starts with the broodmare and stallion.

Journeyman Bloodstock has several operations, we call them divisions. There is the farm division, where the mares, foals, weanlings and yearlings are kept. The stallion division, where our six stallions, Bwana Charlie, Cashel Castle, Exclusive Quality, Mass Media, Mongoose and Wildcat Heir are housed and where the breeding shed is. You can read more about these and many more stallions at The Blood Horse and Thoroughbred Times online stallion register. The training division is on the same property as the stallion division. We will break and train approximately 75 - 80 head of 2 year olds this season alone. Then we have our sales division, known as Journeyman Sales, that sales horses at public auctions such as Keeneland Sales in Kentucky and Fasig-Tipton Sales in Kentucky, New York and Maryland and privately for our clients. But for this writing I want to focus on the broodmare (mare) and stallion (sire), because this is where it all starts. We have approximately 35 of our own mares and during breeding season, which is roughly between February 15th, and June 15th of each year, that amount increases upwards to 75 - 100 mares with clients sending their mares to board at our farm so they can be bred to one of our stallions. This time of year is very exciting for a horse farm. You have mares having babies, which is called "foaling", so you are anxious to see the fruits of all of your planning from the year before. Here is a quick snapshot of how it works.From mid January through June of each year mares start foaling. During this same time period your "breeding shed" opens up, where your stallions are housed. You usually start breeding mares that are either maidens (mare that have never been bred before, young mares) and mares that for one reason or another didn't get pregnant (infoal) last year, first. Then for mares that have had a foal this year, you usually start breeding them back within about 25 - 30 days of foaling. This is when nature will start having them "cycle" back in.


This time of year is special because you never get tired of seeing a mare with her foal turned out for the first time together in a small paddock. This usually is within a couple of days after the foal is born. To watch that foal take it's first few strides an awkward, long legged newbie and the mare trotting alongside alert and protective is always both comical and beautiful. For those of us who have seen it literally hundreds of times, I don't believe there isn't at least once during this time of year, in your minds eye, you don't see those graceful and powerful horses we see at the track running along there also. The breeding shed, where you bring the mare to be bred, is another world all of it's own also. Usually the breeding shed is either attached to the part of the barn that has the stallions stalls, or it is built very close by.

When a mare comes into heat, she is vanned over to the breeding shed to be "covered" by the stallion. If you are breeding to a stallion in your area this is usually a short trip, even shorter if she is boarded at the farm standing the stallion. But we have mares we routinely send to Kentucky to be bred. That requires a little more effort to get her up there. There are several van companies that specialize in hauling horses long distances. All of these divisions, the grooms taking care of the mares and foals, the ones working with the stallions, and the grooms, exercise riders and farm trainers that break and train them as 2 year olds for the sales or to be shipped directly to a racetrack are all part of a Thoroughbred horse farm. All of this comes before you see them in all their glory on the track. I hope you will visit here often to learn more about all aspects of our industry. It is a fascinating and exciting world and I know you will enjoy it.