TB-Ed Initiative Launched by TBA

TB-Ed, a UK Thoroughbred Breeders' Association education and training initiative, was launched by the TBA on Wednesday.

The initiative, which offers a range of courses and resources that provide essential knowledge and guidance to new and existing industry participants, has also received financial support from the Racing Foundation, who co-funded the platform development and build with the TBA. Weatherbys is also a headline partner of the TB-Ed platform. Currently, the courses offered by TB-Ed include Understanding Pedigrees delivered by journalist and broadcaster Lydia Hislop, while there is also Nutrition of the Broodmare delivered by Catherine Rudenko, an independent nutritionist and consultant. New courses and content will be added periodically.

General website users can browse the pay-as-you-go catalogue and view a sample webinar for free, while you can also sign up to TB-Ed for free to receive access to a limited selection of free resources. Courses start at £50 and extra resources are priced accordingly. Alternatively, you can join as a TBA Associate for £60 per year which grants free access to all resources and discounts on courses. Finally, existing and new TBA members receive free access to all resources and discounted courses as part of their membership package. For more information, or to sigh up to TB-Ed, visit www.tb-ed.co.uk.

Caroline Turnbull, Education and Welfare Manager at the TBA, said, “TB-Ed will enable the TBA to provide up-to-date, relevant and expert knowledge to breeders who are committed to providing the highest standards of care for their horses. The launch follows extensive user research and testing, which has helped us to shape the structure and content for breeders' ongoing professional development. TB-Ed will also enable us to improve the accessibility and reach of training in the thoroughbred breeding industry, and will also be of interest to the wider equine community.”

Rob Hezel, Chief Executive of the Racing Foundation, said: “At the Racing Foundation our mission is to be a catalyst for improvement within the horse racing and Thoroughbred breeding industry. We are delighted to fund the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) online learning platform to facilitate continuous professional development for everyone in the breeding industry.

“By developing understanding of thoroughbred pedigrees and broodmare nutrition, the courses will benefit both people and horses, which are two of our key funding areas.

“In the course Understanding Pedigrees, the TBA has taken what has traditionally been a complex area reserved for industry experts and made it accessible to all. Equally, Nutrition of the Broodmare will inform even the most knowledgeable in the business.

“We'd like to congratulate the TBA on the launch of its online learning platform and we look forward to seeing it contribute to improving the Thoroughbred breeding industry.”

“Weatherbys enjoys a close relationship with the TBA and we are delighted to support TB-Ed which will act as a great tool to educate and inform new and existing members of the Thoroughbred breeding community,” said Russell Ferris, Chief Executive at Weatherbys.

“Increasing access to training opportunities will ensure that the breeding industry can maintain the very highest standards in health, welfare and stud management. Breeders need easy access to the latest guidance on areas such as Weatherbys ePassports, the introduction of Equine Premises Numbers and other new initiatives and TB-Ed is the obvious location for that guidance.

“We look forward to working with the TBA over the coming months to build on the initial course material and include content in areas such as Thoroughbred genetics.”

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Weatherbys Launches Website For NH Sires

As a companion to its Global Stallions app and stallion books, Weatherbys has launched a new website, nhstallions.co.uk, which is devoted solely to National Hunt sires. 

Listing around 100 jump stallions in Britain, Ireland and France, the site will be updated regularly with leading progeny and statistics. 

“The launch of this new site is great news and I'm sure it will become the go-to resource for National Hunt breeders looking for regularly updated information dedicated to jumps breeding,” said Simon Sweeting of Overbury Stud, home to National Hunt sires Schiaparelli (Ger), Jack Hobbs (GB) and Frontiersman (GB).

His Irish counterpart John Flood of Boardsmill Stud added, “National Hunt breeders have been starved of good data and statistics for too long compared to Flat breeders. It's fantastic for them to have access to such important information.”

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Registration Open for ITBF Webinar

Registration for the International Thoroughbred Breeders’ Federation’s free webinar Jan. 21 at 1:00 p.m. (London, U.K.) is now open and available by clicking the following link. Outlining racing’s challenges, threats and opportunities, the webinar will address:

  • THE ROLE OF WEATHERBYS with Sir Johnny Weatherby KCVO and Simon Cooper
  • LATIN AMERICA – ECONOMIC CHALLENGES & BLOODSTOCK OPPORTUNITIES with John Fulton
  • AFRICAN HORSE SICKNESS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA with Dr. John Grewar BVSc, MSc, PhD
  • WEST NILE VIRUS IN EUROPE with Dr. Guillaume Fortier DVM, Dip.Pasteur Inst.,PhD., HDR Normandy Univ.
  • AN UPDATE ON NOCARDIOFORM PLACENTITIS IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY with Dr. Barry Ball DVM, PhD

For those who cannot attend the webinar live may register to receive the video recording link following the event.

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Breeding Stock Numbers Fall Again In 2020

It’s not a new phenomenon for a Flat stallion to switch to a National Hunt stud and suddenly find himself in strong demand and that was certainly the case this year for Maxios (GB), who moved from Gestut Fahrhof to Castlehyde Stud, where he covered 298 mares.

Weatherbys, which has just published its annual Return Of Mares, records the son of Monsun (Ger) as the busiest stallion of 2020 in Britain and Ireland, while the most in-demand freshman sire was Crystal Ocean (GB), who covered 280 mares at The Beeches Stud.

The book also shows a decline in the combined foal crops of the two countries to be 5%, falling from 13,443 in 2019 to 12,778. Weatherbys does, however, issue the caveat that foal registrations have been carried out later by some breeders owing to “the unique challenges presented by Covid”, and that could lead to a higher number of foals being registered between the end of September and next February’s Return Of Mares Supplement.

The registered shortfall for now is more pronounced in Britain, where the number of foals dropped by 9% to 4,236, the steepest reduction since a 16% drop in 2010. The numbers rose steadily during the middle of the last decade, to a recent high of 4,674 in 2017. In Ireland, the foal crop was down by 2.8% year-on-year to 8,542, the third consecutive small reduction since 9,044 foals were registered in 2017.

Similarly, the number of mares at stud in Britain dropped and is now 8,161 compared to 9,015 just three years ago, with almost 86% of those mares having been covered in 2020. The reduction in broodmare numbers in Ireland has been more modest and currently stands at 14,201 compared to 14,434 in 2017, with 89% having been covered.

The number of recorded coverings in 2020 was also down—to 19,961 from 20,819 in 2017. Ireland lost 20 stallions from its ranks in 2020 and now has 232, while Britain’s tally was down by just three to 149.

The Return Of Mares can be bought from the Weatherbys offices at Tattersalls or Goffs during the sales and can also be ordered online via this link.

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