BREEDING TERMS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 369, 25 February 1937, Page 7

BREEDING TERMS

Some Examples Given In Explanation. As many are often confused by the expressions ‘‘half-sister,” “threequarter or three-parts brother,” “full brother in blood,” etc., it may be of interest once, again to consider how these terms are applied to thoroughbred horset'. The following examples in explanation are given in an English exchange. The root of all equine relationship is recognised as beginning “v.'ith the dam, and it is therefore a fairly simple matter to follow the terminology. Full-brothers or sisters are colts or fillies by the same sire and from the same dam. Half-brothers or sisters are offspring of the same dam by different sires. Three-uarts brothers or sisters are the produce of one dam by halfbrothers. For instance, the St. L ger winner Tranquil and Hyperion's dam Eelene were three-parts sisters. They were from Sere nissima, and were sired respectively by Swynford and Chaucer, both of whom were out of Canterbury Pilgrim. Actually this is so far as the term "three-parts” should cover, but a certain laxity is. l allowable-, as, for

example, in the cases of the Ascot Gold Cup winners Trimdon and Foxhunter. Both these horses were from Trimestral, but, whereas Trimdon was by Son-In-Law, Foxhunter was by Son-In-Law's son Foxlaw. This is really a three-quarter relationship in blood on top of the ordinary halfrelationship. These illustrations cover the direct relationships. The meaning of the affix “in blood” Will now be explained No better instance could be found than the Two Thousand Guineas winner Pay Up and the Eclipse Stakes l winner Rhodes Scholar. They are full-brothers “in blood,” being respectively by the full-brothers Fairway and Pharos out of the full-sisters Book Debt and Book Law; but they are not their own brothers.

A writer in an American contemporary suggests that if two mares by Son-in-Lav from different dams were both mated with Trigo, the produce would be “brothers or -sisters in blood.’’ That is a step too far, an they would be no more than threeparts brothers or sisters in blood.

Another matter often confusing to readers is the term “breeder," but this is also simple to .understiandf. The breeder of a horse is' the person owning the dam at the time the offspring was foaled, and not the owner at the time of mating, if the mare subsequently changed hands.