Chris Hector – The Horse Magazine

Salon de Refusés – the stallions that almost weren’t

October 14th, 2022
Vitalis is one of the most successful dressage sires in the world, but he was rejected by the KWPN licensing commission - like some of the greatest stallions in the history of Sporthorse breeding.... Read Article 4 Comments »

What is a drug? Who are the cheats?

October 5th, 2016
What is a drug is by no means clear cut. Prior to the WEG in Stockholm in 1990, it was considered perfectly acceptable to give your horse a sachet of bute (that’s one sachet, more got you into trouble) at a competition – a bit like the Aussie formula of a cup of tea, a […] Read Article 1 Comment »

Breeding insights with Arnaud Evain

September 28th, 2016
It is a stimulating experience every time I catch up with the French breeding expert, Arnaud Evain. Each time he seems to have a new project and a head full of new insights into the business of breeding jumping horses. I’m lucky, Arnaud’s daughter and grand-children live in my home city of Melbourne, and that makes him a regular visit.. Read Article 1 Comment »

Dutch Breeding Values

June 22nd, 2016
Christopher Hector looks at this year's KWPN breeding and OCD values - and finds out which are the most popular stallions in Holland... Read Article Comments Off

Breeding Values – a tour through Europe

May 20th, 2016
There has been no breeding district in Europe where the issue of BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Predictor) and breeding values has aroused more heated controversy than France, the first country to use the formula for horse breeding... Read Article Comments Off

Breeding Values – are they valuable?

April 20th, 2016
It’s time for my annual rant about breeding values… are they worth the paper they are written on? Read Article 2 Comments »

New eventing formats – new directions in breeding?

April 5th, 2016
When the changes in the format for eventing were mooted, the general feeling was that the CICs would favor the Warmblood bred horses, while the Thoroughbred type would continue to dominate the CCIs. Has it happened? Read Article Comments Off

FEI World Breeding Young Eventing Championships 2015

January 15th, 2016
Alas I was not able to get to Lion d’Angers for this year’s Young Eventing horse championships, but even from the other side of the world it is possible to see some interesting developments in the breeding of horses for eventing. Read Article Comments Off

Horses for Amateurs – Horses for Professionals… or horses for both?

September 17th, 2015
It is the choice every sport horse breeder faces - to breed for the professional, or to breed for the amateur? Or can you breed for both? Some of the world's leading experts ponder the question... Read Article 4 Comments »

The rise and rise of the Bundeschampionate

It is the world's number one young horse show, the German National Championships, or Bundeschampionate... Read Article 1 Comment »