Page 53 - ZUCHT Ausgabe 1

Und von den herausragenden Stuten werden zu wenig in der If I were to identify the major problem in our breeding in Germany, it
Zucht dann auch eingesetzt. Diese Stuten werden dann meis- would definitely be our shortage in very good breeding mares.
tens im Sport geritten. Das beste Zuchtpferd ist dasjenige, bei What aggravates this even further is that out of the excellent mares that we
dem ich verrückt werde, weil ich es nicht reiten kann – da es do have too few are actually being used in breeding.
in der Zucht ist! Most of them are instead ridden in sports competitions.
My view: The best breeding horse is the one that drives me crazy
IZ: Wie wichtig ist der BLUP? because I can’t ride it – it’s in breeding!
IZ: How important is the BLUP score?
Jens Füchtenschnieder: Für uns in Deutschland ist er noch
nicht so wichtig (Anmerkung der Redaktion: für in Deutschland Jens Füchtenschnieder: It hasn’t become all that relevant yet for hor-
gezüchtete Pferde). ses bred in Germany. The collection of data spanning several gene-
Diese Ansammlung von Daten, die Generationen mit einbe- rations cannot be thorough yet at this time for German-bred horses
zieht, ist für deutsch gezogene Pferde nicht korrekt zu ermit- because e.g. our old IPO scores are not part of how today’s BLUP
teln, da die alten IPO-Prüfungsergebnisse nicht eingerechnet gets computed. It will gain relevance down the road, of course, if we
werden. Der BLUP wird für deutsch gezogene Pferde dann maintain adhering to the FIZO system. I like BLUP scores for ori-
relevant, wenn wir weiterhin Pferde nach FIZO prüfen und entation with horses from other countries which had FIZO breeding
somit für den BLUP berechnen können. assessments long before we started them in Germany. I’m not the most
Für Pferde aus anderen Ländern, die schon viel länger FIZO avid follower of those scores myself, and I feel like your own intuition
geprüft werden, ist der BLUP eine gute Orientierungshilfe. and experience should be the more relevant factors in making bree-
Ich persönlich orientiere mich nicht immer am BLUP. ding decisions than just numbers.
Da kommt noch Gefühl, Gespür, eigene Zuchterfahrung dazu,
und um ein gutes Pferd zu züchten bedarf es mehr als nur Zahlen. IZ: BLUP is only an accumulation of numbers? Doesn’t it rather exemplify
and help with what an experienced breeder would have had to memorize in
IZ: Der BLUP ist eine Ansammlung von Zahlen? the past: how did parents and offspring score? How many successful relatives
Ist er nicht aber auch das, was ein erfahrener Züchter früher of this horse exist, etc.?
im Kopf hatte: Wie sind die Eltern und Nachkommen geprüft,
wie viele erfolgreiche Verwandte dieses Pferdes gibt es, etc.? Jens Füchtenschnieder: That is absolutely correct and I didn’t want to
Jens Füchtenschnieder: Das ist absolut richtig – jedoch hängt dispute that – however, there has not been enough data collection and
die Datenerfassung für deutsch gezüchtete Pferde nach und ich data mining out of Germany for this system to be thoroughly valid yet. I
believe we’ll be there in about 10 years. Indeed, BLUP scores will in the
future become an important part in our selection for breeding, but still:
only one part! These days breeders have tools like WorldFengur which is a
very good source of information. It gets better all the time, and the more
collected data it encompasses the more exciting it will become.

IZ: Thank you, Jens, for such a great variety of helpful informa-
tion and advice. In closing, what’s new to report about you and
your own breeding?

Jens Füchtenschnieder: First off, and that fits in rather well with
what I stated earlier: I own several mares of the „old type“ which do
not necessarily correspond with today’s system or goals. I still apprecia-
te them for plenty of their special features, I consider them essential to
my breeding and will thus continue to use them regularly. That’s just
a breeder’s personal freedom, I guess. I breed horses that I personally
like, and those will have to be five-gaited with plenty of tölt and a
solid foundation. Furthermore, I used to ride all three favorite mares
myself – among them Náttrún von Tröllastaðir whose daughter Rúna
won last year’s German Breeding Championship in her class –, so I
have quite a bit of extra knowledge about them.
My planning for 2011 is such that Góður-Greifi frá Stóra-Hofi,
World Champion 2003 in Breeding, will stand at Mönchhof. I’ve
already had him on loan once before and his offspring is really con-
vincing. After the World Championships we’ll have Sproti frá Haf-
rafellstungu 2, also owned by Johannes Hoyos, then there’s Stormur
fra Fet and our „top secret late newcomer“. It’s a stallion who scored
just under 8 in breeding and whom I bought together with a group of
friends. His name is Seifur frá Brattholti and he has simply amazed us.

Islandpferde Zucht | 051