Hart Farms is home to grade 1 winner and first crop sire Bigtime Favorite,multiple grade 1 sire Check Him Out, grade 2 winner Coronas Leaving You, #5 first crop sire of 2009 First N Kool and grade 1 stakes-placed First Prize Perry.

The farm will also offer no interest financing on their breedings.

For information on stallion fee discounts and financing or to book mares contact Chad Hart at 706-201-5648 or Hart Farms’s ranch manager Duane Griffith at 337-643-3255.

Science colleagues found that horses with the myostatin gene combination designated as C/C are better suited to fast, short races; those with the C/T variation tend to compete better over middle distances; and T/T animals have more stamina. C/C and C/T were more successful 2-year-old racehorses, earning an average of 5.5 times more prize money than T/T horses, the authors said.

For bettors, the genetic information isn’t likely to yield any advantage anytime soon.

“This information is for owners only,” Hill said. “If anyone wants to reveal the genetic type of their horse, then that’s at their discretion.”

A speed gene in horses is enabling thoroughbred owners to sort would-be sprinters from plodders from just a teaspoonful of the galloper’s blood.

Scientists at University College Dublin matched the genetic code of 179 race winners with performance on the track to identify variants of the muscle mass-regulating myostatin gene that predict a horse’s optimum racing distance.

The research, published Jan. 20 in the Public Library of Science Journal PLoS ONE, is the first known characterization of a gene contributing to a specific athletic trait in thoroughbreds, the authors said. Commercialization of the test may alter the course of a multibillion-dollar horse industry whose breeding practices have remained little changed for centuries.

“Breeders currently rely on combining successful bloodlines together, hoping that the resulting foal will contain that winning combination of genes,” said Emmeline Hill, 36, a geneticist at the university and the study’s lead author. “Whether those winning genes have or have not been inherited could only be surmised by observing the racing and breeding success of a horse over an extended period of years.”

The research was funded by Science Foundation Ireland, according to the study.

$1,400 Test at http://www.equinome.com

FREAKY SI 107, g. Chickasecret by Raise a Secret (9 wins to 4, $646,300California Hi-Point Aged GeldingAQHA Racing Champion Aged GeldingAQHA Racing Champion Aged HorseWorld Champion Racing American QH 1st-Champion of Champions S.,-G1 1st-Vessels Maturity,-G1 1st-Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship S.,-G1 1st-Spencer Childers California Breeders’ Championship S.,-G1, etc.)

Horses With a Big Heart

Because Quarter Horses long have been crossed with Thoroughbreds, the great heart line found its way into the sprinters years before AQHA was established. the “big hart” is passed through sires such as:
A Classic Dash
Aforethought (TB)
Alamitos Bar
Azure Te (TB)
Beduino (TB)
Bugs Alive In 75
Calyx
Chicaro Bill
Chicks Beduino
Dash For Cash
Dash Thru Traffic
David Cox
Depth Charge (TB)
Diamond Charge
Dividend
Double Devil
Easy Jet
First Down Dash
Go Man Go
Hempen (TB)
Holland Ease
Jackstraw (TB)
Jet Smooth
Jonny Apollo
Lake Erie (TB)
Leo
Little Request (TB)
Merridoc
Mito Paint (TB)
Moolah Bux (TB)
Moon Deck
Pass ’Em Up (TB)
Piggin String (TB)
Raise Your Glass (TB)
Rare Bar
Rare Form
Rocket Wrangler
Ronas Ryon
Royal Quick Dash
Special Effort
Spotted Bull (TB)
Streakin Six
Takin On The Cash
Texas Dancer (TB)
The Signature
Three Bargains
Three Bars (TB)
Three Chicks
Three Oh’s
Tiny Charger
Top Deck (TB)

X Factor – Term that geneticists use to describe the female X chromosome, which is attributed with creating the large hearts found in outstanding racehorses.

Heart score – Term coined by Australian researcher Dr. James Steel to communicate his findings of the heart size on the electrocardiogram, which was gained by a correlation of heart weight, stroke volume, cardiac output and aerobic power.

Double copy – Describes the ideal broodmare, which has the large heart on both X chromosomes. If the mare is bred to a large-hearted sire, she always will produce large-hearted foals. Her daughters also will be double copy mares. Double copy mares frequently produce all winners.

its important to look at a horse “Studs” Pedigree when looking to breed your “Mare”.  has the stallion shown itself to breed well with your cross “blood lines” , has your “Mare” proved herself in a race?

First Down Dash breeds well with Mares from sires of: Runaway Winner , Raise a Secret , Chicks Beduino ,Beduino , Sizzle Te , Special Effort , and Tolltac.

First Down Dash’s Top Performers

Quarter Horse Breeding Tips

Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. While feral and wild horses breed successfully without human assistance, planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses. Furthermore, modern breeding management and technologies can increase the rate of conception, a healthy pregnancy, and successful foaling.

Effects on the reproductive system during the estrous cycle

Changes in hormone levels can have great effects on the physical characteristics of the reproductive organs of the mare, thereby preparing, or preventing, her from conceiving.

• Uterus: increased levels of estrogen during estrus cause edema within the uterus, making it feel heavier, and the uterus loses its tone. This edema decreases following ovulation, and the muscular tone increases. High levels of progesterone do not cause edema within the uterus. The uterus becomes flaccid during anestrus.
• Cervix: the cervix starts to relax right before estrus occurs, with maximal relaxation around the time of ovulation. The secretions of the cervix increase. High progesterone levels (during diestrus) cause the cervix to close and become toned.
• Vagina: the portion of the vagina near the cervix becomes engorged with blood right before estrus. The vagina becomes relaxed and secretions increase.
• Vulva: relaxes right before estrus begins. Becomes dry, and closes more tightly, during diestrus.

Care of the pregnant mare

During the last 3–4 months of gestation, rapid growth of the fetus increases the pregnant mare’s nutritional requirements. Energy requirements during these last few months, and during the first few months of lactation are similar to those of a horse in full training. Trace minerals such as Copper are extremely important, particularly during the tenth month of pregnancy, for proper skeletal formation.

Many feeds designed for pregnant and lactating mares provide the careful balance required of increased protein, increased calories through extra fat as well as vitamins and minerals. During the first several months of pregnancy, the nutritional requirements do not increase significantly since the rate of growth of the fetus is very slow. However, during this time, the mare should be provided supplemental vitamins and minerals, particularly if forage quality is questionable.

Overfeeding the pregnant mare, particularly during early gestation, should be avoided, as excess weight may contribute to difficulties foaling or fetal/foal related problems.

Though his blood flows through other notable racehorses -X Y Chromosomes -including (especially) 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones, Secretariat turned out to be a noted broodmare sire.

so , if you have a good stallion , his power will not be seen from his offspring foals , but rather from ones of its broodmares that he was assigned to?

There has been some criticism of Secretariat as a stallion, due in part to his perceived inability to produce offspring of his same caliber. His expensive syndication deal, perhaps, raised unrealistic expectations. Ultimately, he sired as many as 600 foals during his retirement.