Sam is back with Rosie for another Ask Sam Anything.
This time he will answer "Why are AUS and NZL so good at producing thoroughbreds?"
If you have a question for Sam we would love to hear from you, send them in via social media or Discord.
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Hi, I'm Sparkles Watson and one of my favourite Cardet and Martin products is Dreamcoat. It is a fantastic product that I use all the time at home and at competitions. It makes their coat really gleam and also it stops them getting rug rubs or any rubs anywhere on their body. It's fantastic and it smells beautiful. There's a warmth to it, there's an energy to it. It's just phenomenal. The hopes and the dreams. Let's start with the passion. Like there's a huge emotional part. The Watson family, very, very competitive. It's undoubtedly Sam. Welcome to our Creatings Eventing Podcast and listeners. We haven't asked Sam anything podcast for you today. I did a question and answer pod on my grassroots show with Sam and we had so many questions come in that were grassroots related but also about eventing and also just questions in general. So we thought we'd do a whole ask Sam anything series. Now, before we get stuck in to our question of the day, Sam, thank you so much for coming on and being part of the series. Well, that's great, Rosie. Thanks for having me and thank you to everyone for coming up with these questions. It's good and I loved talking about the sport of eventing. What's better? You know, it's great, it's passionate and interesting and looking forward to it. Well, everybody loves to hear your opinion. So let's get stuck in. A question that has come in is one that says, "Why are the Aussies and Kiwis so good at producing pure thoroughbreds for championships? Other countries have just as many but don't seem to get them to championships." That, I think, Rosie Russell is to do with the strength of the sport horse breeding programs, I would say. And I think there will be people because I know sport horse breed, there are some very good sport horse breeding enterprises in the Southern Hemisphere, is in New Zealand and Australia. But I just don't think it has the volume that, you know, Europe and Ireland have in terms of sport horse breeding. And then England is now, again, sport breeding is absolutely taking off as well. But England would have always traditionally bought from Ireland or bought from Europe in terms of going and buying. So there you have big sport horse breeding programs and stud books that have been around for, I would like to say, centuries, to be honest. So you can go and choose your sport horse and your event horse from that pool. They've been specifically designed and bred for that purpose. And whereas, I think, a little bit less so in New Zealand and Australia and even though it's... And I know they're importing a lot of frozen seam and stuff like that. So that's been another kind of scientific evolution that means that it's going to... I think we're going to see less thoroughbreds there. But it used to just be, we'll take a thoroughbred out of training because that's the type of horses that they'd access to. It was either by a horse from Europe, which would be quite expensive and import them and shipping costs and all that kind of stuff. Or, yeah, we have big thoroughbred stud books. And the only thing I would say that's going to change a little bit is, and I love the kind of retraining or race horse programs and stuff like that, is definitely the most underappreciated horse out there is the thoroughbred. There are so many thoroughbreds that are beautiful movers with lovely temperaments. And there are a lot of them out there that can jump. Like, a lot of people don't know that thoroughbreds have the high jump record in the Poissants. Like there's a-- - Really? - Yeah, like two meters, 20 or two meters, something like that. Kind of heights that we just don't jump anymore these days because it was like they used to have just stick piles going that high, like the photos of them. William Nicklin would be a great person to talk about. But there have been, and the thoroughbred made the sport horse breed. So the thoroughbred is the athlete and we injected that into the workhorse. And so horses that were literally designed to pull a plow and farm, and we then put the thoroughbred who has all the kind of fast twitch fibers into these horses that are built for power. And then you got this hybrid athlete who had both power and speed and more. But all the athletic properties come from the thoroughbreds. So the thoroughbred is the most malleable horse to-- the most incredible horse to train because they're muscles. They are such high responders. That's why this retraining of thoroughbreds is such a rewarding process because the horse you start with 12 months ago, and what they can achieve in 12 months is they can literally change shape. It's like bringing anyone who's a high responder to the gym and doing loads of exercise. And they're just visibly changing shape in front of your eyes because they're such high responders. A lot of the native breeds aren't such high responders. They're just-- they're very strong horses because that's what they were designed for. It was for farming. So look, we need-- and I mean, it would bring me on to a-- we've dealt kind of with the Y between Australia and New Zealand. I think opportunity has a big part to play in it. But I think we shouldn't be lazy in terms of when we want a jumper, a horse who's already been designed to, you know, and bred to jump because thinkers back in the day have kind of designed-- you know, mixed in the different properties of the thoroughbred and the sport horse and made a really good breed. But we've got to keep doing that. So we've actually got to keep looking for that thorough-- that real athletic properties from the thoroughbred. Like, we need the good jumpers. And if we don't think about that in concentrated on it, we'll lose it because actually the thoroughbred has become so bred for efficient speed. Like, it's harder to find good jumping thoroughbreds than it used to be. But they still exist, particularly in the German and French lines. And there are some American lines as well that are good. So you need to-- like, I lose jumping about 200 thoroughbreds a year for resource trainers and stuff like that. And there are a lot of them that I'm like, please let this horse be slow because I would love this horse to be an event horse. And they're like, if this horse is slow, we're going to have a very unhappy owner because they've written a very big check for it. But they exist. So I would say to people, particularly if you're budget sensitive, first, like, just to even go and get to-- because you'll be solving a problem for a thoroughbred trainer. If you can even give them 1,500 quid to $5,000 for a horse, that might just-- they need a home for these horses sometimes. And you can have great fun with them and they're great athletes. Well, Sam, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your insight today. We really, really appreciate it. Thanks for having me, Rosie. And thanks, everyone. Thanks, listeners. And we love listening to the feedback as well. Love reading the feedback, the thoughts. Very, very welcome to be challenged on things. The Great Winston Churchill said, the person who doesn't change their mind is never going to change anything. So it's good to have debate and the sport needs it. So hopefully, this has been enjoyable and useful. Well, listeners, if you have any questions, don't be afraid to send them in either on the Discord group or message us on Instagram, Facebook, sending your questions. We'd love to hear from you and keep your eyes peeled to see what question comes next. Hi, I'm Piggymarch and I'm delighted to work with Fairfax and Faber. Fairfax and Faber are just very special because of, I think, the service they give. They're such a friendly company. The clothing is amazing of all ranges, from the jackets to the boots and the belts. And, you know, I'm blown away when I go in there and they try to dress me for a trot up. It is such amazing stuff and makes me feel very special and try to look classy. Marcus and Felix have set up together and it's firstly a real friendship. You really feel the passion that both of these guys bring to the table. It's an amazing atmosphere when you go there. They're so proud of their products and where they want to go with it. It's just very special to be a part of it. It feels a proper family. When you get involved there or go to the shops or try on the clothes and it's something that I feel very proud to be a part of. They come from the best place in England because that is Norfolk, where I came from. Yeah, without doubt, the best place in England. I'm very, very proud to be a part of their team. [Music]
