A BREEDING PHILOSOPHY

Jun 11, 2021 · Talma Auction

Committed for several years in the governing bodies of French equine industry, Michel GUIOT is before all a true lover of Selle Français. «We selected pure Selle Français bloodlines at the beginning, all proven to be performing. On those mares, we often went abroad to pick an excellent sire, performing at the highest level. That’s how we bred with Cento, Carthago, Catoki, Contender… Our goal was to bring strength and we kept the fillies born out of them. We then crossed those fillies to Selle Français stallions and generally, we kept on using Selle Français blood for the following generations. All of our horses are tested in competition, at least until the six-year-old classes. Our intention is always to keep only the best mares to continue breeding.”
Genetic heritage is a true leitmotiv at Talma Stud and that’s also why they choose their stallions according three distinct types: “We like to use young stallions from exceptional motherlines, we test them on approximately a third of our mares. A second third is covered with confirmed stallions such as Mylord Carthago, Quick Star or Baloubet du Rouet. And finally, we often use very popular and commercial stallions on the last third in view of easier sales.”
Besides genetics, breeding conditions are extremely important and influential on horses’ health. Once more, Michel Guiot, doctor in veterinary medicine, like his daughter and his spouse, is well aware of this issue. “We have the chance to live in Argonne, between Ardennes, Meuse and Marne. This natural region is particularly full of woods and grass with excellent fields. The success of our breeding is mostly due to the grass quality which benefits our horses greatly. The horses do not grow on concentrated feed but on grass in the warmer months and on home-grown hay during winter. Horses live outside from the end of March to the mid-December. For the rest of the year, they live in free stalls where they can move and go in and out as they wish, having hay available at all time. This way of breeding gives us sounder, hardier horses with good vettings. We do a full radiographic evaluation on the late 2 year-olds. We only keep those with good x-rays for a sports career.” Moreover, there is a strong will to give these young horses a chance to live a true and natural horse life during their growth. «The opportunity for a large breeding programme like ours is that we are able to make bigger and homogeneous groupings. The horse has a gregarious spirit and it is important that he can grow up in a herd. These lots stay together until they are three years old. I think that’s the way horses feel the best»

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