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Ireland (by Jean Llewellyn) Tom Reed is a multi-tasking world traveller; a native New Yorker whose PhD from Columbia qualifies him to work as a professor of business at the university in Hong Kong, but whose home base is now his stud farm in a beautiful area of south-western Ireland. While his breeding experience cannot be measured in decades, his thirst for knowledge is as immense as his passion to become of the world’s top sport horse breeders.
Q How did you become involved in sport horse breeding?
We moved into breeding seriously when we launched Morningside Side (Ireland) in 1999. Our goal is clear: Over the next 20 years to be ranked by the WBFSH as the world’s number one breeder of showjumpers, and to be ranked in the ‘top ten’ as breeders of dressage and eventing horses.
I think Morningside Stud has a number of competitive advantages to help us achieve this goal. First, we are always looking outward from Ireland and benchmark ourselves against the best in the world. Second, we aggressively incorporate the best bloodlines into our breeding programme. We have a fantastic cocktail of German, Dutch, Belgian, French, Danish, Irish, and thoroughbred bloodlines. Third, we have built Morningside Stud on two outstanding warmblood stallions, Condios and Ekstein. Fourth, I strive to incorporate the latest research into our programme so we can learn the best techniques for breeding, feeding, mare and foal management, etc. Fifth, our ongoing relationship with the Nijhof family, from whom we purchased Condios and Ekstein, has been invaluable. Henk Sr., Jeannette, and Henk Jr. are a constant source of advice and wisdom for me, and their knowledge is surpassed only by their integrity. Sixth, we have been very fortunate to have developed relationships with super people throughout the world who have participated as speakers at our International Breeders Conferences: Jaap Werners, the chairman of the stallion inspection committee for the KWPN; Ann and Lars Gustavii, world-famous breeders; Dr. Joyce Parlevliet from the University of Utrecht veterinary school; Jan Pedersen, president of the WBFSH and chairman of the Danish Warmblood Society; and Dr. Elizabeth Lane of the Royal Veterinary College in the UK.
Q Could you recount the development of your breeding enterprise?
In 1998 I purchased an Irish Sport Horse to be my riding horse. Since he was an approved sire, a Grade A showjumping stallion, I decided to stand him at stud. Through the experience of searching for a great riding horse to buy, listening to breeders and riders, analyzing the Irish market, and comparing the Irish experience with the Dutch and German experience, I decided to create a breeding programme using top bloodlines from throughout the world. My goal would be to own stallions and to breed horses as good as the best German, Dutch, French, and Belgian stud farms. I knew this goal would not be achieved with my Irish stallion, so over time I developed a set of criteria that would have to be met by a stallion. First, he had to have world-class performance bloodlines with no weaknesses in his pedigree. Second, he had to be approved on the continent by a major warmblood studbook at least six months before I showed an interest in the horse, because some studbooks are reputed to approve stallions as long as they know he will be on the next boat out of the country! Third, he had to have excelled in his stallion performance test. Fourth, he had to possess outstanding potential to become an international Grand Prix showjumper. Fifth, he had to be endowed with excellent dressage-quality movement and athleticism. Sixth, he had to pass the University of Utrecht’s rigorous tests for health and fertility, the same tests the University performs for the KWPN: clean x-rays with no OCD or bone chips, perfect score in the wind test, and excellent semen.
I looked at 150 stallions in Germany, Holland, Denmark, and France before I purchased the Holsteiner stallion Condios (Coriano x Landgraf I) from Henk Nijhof. Condios was four-years old when I contracted to buy him. At that time, Condios was already approved by the Oldenburg Verband and the Danish Warmblood Society, and earlier had been vice-champion of a stallion performance test in Germany. Subsequently, Condios has been approved in other studbooks: eight studbooks in seven countries on three continents have approved Condios, and the KWPN has ‘acknowledged’ him for breeding to KWPN mares. Now, as an eight-year old, Condios is used by breeders of showjumpers, dressage horses, and eventers throughout the world, and he is one of the world’s very best young showjumpers. Last year, as a seven-year-old, he won and placed in 1m50 classes and placed in the one German Grand Prix he jumped. In 2003 Condios will jump some Nations Cup classes for Denmark.
In 2001 we purchased the KWPN-approved stallion Ekstein (Zion x Joost) from Henk Nijhof. Originally we brought Ekstein to Ireland on a one-year lease, but after he arrived we decided to try to purchase him. The Nijhof family did not want to sell Ekstein, but we persisted, pleaded, and cajoled and they finally agreed. If you consider the number of progeny competing at International Grand Prix level, as of December 2002 Ekstein is ranked by the WBFSH as Ireland’s top sire. Ekstein has produced gold, silver, and bronze medal winners in European young rider and junior rider competitions, and World Cup and Nations Cup competitors. Plus, three of the top 320 showjumpers in the world were sired by Ekstein, including Dutch champion showjumper Joel, ranked 56th in the world.
Q Do you ever envisage a day when you will become a full-time breeder?
For me the best of all worlds is to be in Ireland for the breeding season and to be in New York, Hong Kong, or Sydney during the ‘off’ season......TO READ THE FULL INTERVIEW ORDER BACK ISSUE No 73