This section tells the story of how we acquired our broodmares – whether they succeeded or failed – of the mixture of breeding research, catalogue study and opportunistic happenstance, all seasoned with a dash of impetuosity, that led to the build-up of the broodmare band. It offers no coherent basis for doing this; readers are left to reflect on what worked and what didn’t, and the roles of both luck and judgement in the successes we have enjoyed and the failures we have endured.
It also talks about two stallions I was involved in buying, one with Peter Hockenhull and the other in combination with Peter and some equally optimistic friends.
Looking back with the benefit of (partial) hindsight, I should have bought less than half of these mares – and changed rather more than half of the matings. However, I hope that this account of our experiences over more than 20 years of breeding NH horses will be of interest, and perhaps even use, to those sharing a similar obsession.
It might also have some entertainment value…