[vineyridge]

Where can I find accurate information on that?

France Galop has him standing with his first crop in 1986 and his last in 2008 (22 years) with 1471 total foals. He seems to have been an active stud to age 26 (died in 2011 at age 30).

If their numbers are correct, he averaged not quite 67 foals per breeding year. That seems an extraordinarily small number, even assuming that he had fewer at the beginning and end. Just doesn't sound normal for a Coolmore stud.

Where can I find the foal numbers for his biggest crop?

[Simkie]

Equineline has 2259...

[Simkie]

Ah, this says 2274 recorded by Weatherbys:

http://blog.summerhill.co.za/blog/20...henomenon.html

Seems like that 2200/2300 ish number is about right.

[vineyridge]

Don't about 40% of pregnancies result in no foals? I've read that somewhere. Looking at the JC number of mares bred to live foals reported, it varies a lot by state.

So if Sadler's Wells had (say) 2250 to 2300 live foals and using a conservative percentage of 30% non foals, he'd have been breeding approximately 2900 mares over 22 years. That's 131 per year average. Some years at the beginning and end would have been far less. And, of course, there would have to have some repeat covers.

I found an article in the Journal of Veterinary Science that showed that the live foal percentage does not decrease with the number of mares bred per stallion. It would seem that the number actually increased with large books, but since the study used Kentucky one could assume that the most advanced reproductive techniques were used throughout the breeding and pregnancy periods to get foals on the ground, especially in the stations with expensive and heavily used stallions.

What I'm wondering is if there are any animal welfare implications in large books.

[RoseBud143]

Not that its relevant to this thread, but I had one of his goals. Amazing horse and I miss him dearly.

If I could find another, and I could get another horse, I would in a heart beat...

[Simkie]

There's a thread over on PQ somewhere that talks about (or at least mentions) shortened life spans of shuttle stallions. I think there certainly could be animal welfare implications in large books, although I don't know if anyone has actually studied the issue.

[Foxtrot's]

ppppst - don't even THINK aboutgiving them the idea!

There was a big article in Horse&Hound on Saddler's Wells if anybody knows how to search it. He is dead now, of course. But if I saw that name in an eventer prospect's pedigree, I'd certainly take another look.