The Holstein horse breeder and dealer Reece Miller lives in the American state of Virginia and also keeps some horses in Europe. Miller tells how the breeding world in The States has developed itself and why all their big show-jump competitions last for weeks on end. REECE MILLER: Quite a few of my horses are with Gunnar Mohr in Germany. I have been visiting Holstein for fifteen years now and because of that have made some good connections with many Holstein breeders. Every year I buy some foals of them and send them to Gunnar Mohr to grow up. I only breed three mares at his stud as my main business is in Virginia. When my youngsters are old enough I have them backed at the Gunnar Mohr’s. My horses are in Germany as it is so very expensive in order to have young horses backed and trained in The States. In The States there is less expertise in that. American riders only ride competitions on older horses. They only buy horses that have had training. In Europe the equine sports are so popular, it is part of their culture. The young horses grow up and are started up where they are born. Then they go to the shows. We don’t deal a lot with young horses or the backing process. In Europe the whole horse culture is simply more established and people are more experienced in dealing with young horses and their training. American breeding world In the past twenty years the breeding world in The States has improved massively as many fine mares and foals have been imported from Europe. Also, because of frozen sperm the best stallions from all over the world are available to us. We do have some decent breeders, but not so many. I breed horses for my own business, but most Americans breed as a hobby. We are gradually gaining more knowledge about breeding. Still, one can’t compare our breeding world to that of Europe. This is because the European families have been breeding for generations with the same lines. Most American breeders focus on dressage rather than show-jumping. We also have a lot of hunters. In The States there are not many Holstein breeders, there are about fifty of them. Maybe about fifty or sixty breeders who are involved with the Dutch Warmblood. I think the American Holstein Verband has roughly six hundred members. Every year about two hundred Holstein foals are born in The States. The judges of the Holsteiner Verband make a yearly trip in order to grade the foals. They travel through the whole of the country, as there are grading days at sixteen different venues. Wellington and Thermal I travel to Europe once or twice a year as I always visit the Holstein stallion show at Neumunster. Of course I also visit my mares and foals at Haselau. Last year I went to the Derby in Hamburg. The American competition system isn’t really that different from Europe. Only, America is so very big! In Europe you put your horse in a trailer, drive to the show, ride and drive back home. In The States you have to rent a stable for a longer spell of time, as you have driven many miles in order to get there. And the same going home. That is why our shows last longer. In The States there are two very large international competitions during the winter, one in Wellington, Florida, and one in Thermal, California. The show in Wellington lasts three months from January until the end of March and the people come from all over the country. The weather in Florida is very nice in the winter. It rains every now and then, you can compare it to springtime. In Virginia we do have local one day shows in spring and summer. Extremely expensive From all over the world people visit Wellington; about 15,000 people watch the international Grand Prix’s. There are separate full size arena’s for all levels. I think it is the biggest show in the world. The competition level and age of the horse decide how many days a week it jumps. A five year-old might compete twice a week. The costs to ride in a show like that are much higher than in Europe. This is not good for the breeders. It is extremely expensive to compete a young horse here. That is why I tend to leave my horses in Europe. Only when they are five or six years old I bring them over here. Also, in Germany there are so many more shows and I only pay 120 euro’s per show. Here a show like that would cost about eight hundred dollars. Amateurs In The States we have very good top level show-jump riders. They have big sponsors with a lot of money. Their horses are generally bought in Europe. The big difference between The States and Europe is that in Europe they breed and train their own horses. I think the connection between American breeders and top sport has to improve. The success of our riders is entirely due to the fact that they have focussed on show-jumping forever and ride the Grand Prix competitions all over the world. In the summer they stay in Europe. Reed Kessler, for example, trains with Marcus Ehning. The majority of the American riders are amateurs, whereas in Europe there are more professionals. We have a lot of shows for horses of amateurs who jump 1.30 to 1.40 metres. Hence the fact they are looking for horses at that level. In Germany they do not want a horse that only jumps 1.30 or 1.40, they want one for the top sport. I am one of the few Americans who sells horses from Germany to amateurs; they travel to Europe in order to see my horses. The Carlo line At this moment I have a total of thirty horses from the Holstein lines 776, 242 and 474a. In Virginia I also breed from the Carlo line. My homebred stallion Rolling Rock, by Roller Coaster, is ridden in The States by Todd Minikus. © De Paardenkrant
