You probably knew that HighPoint Performance Horses stands a couple of NFR barrel racing stallions – Slick By Design and Smoken French Winner (Christian Shipley’s champion that Wenda Johnson jockeyed at NFR 2023).
But can you possibly get your head around their sheer number of drool-worthy younger stallions?
For instance, they have a stud by Shali Lord’s NFR stallion out of the dam of Ivy Saebens’ NFR mare. They have one each out of Jill Moody’s great NFR mare Dolly, Jane Melby’s NFR mare Beauty, Danyelle Campbell’s NFR mare Repete and Kelly Yates’ NFR mare Fiesta. They have – count em – three studs out of Lisa Lockhart’s Rosa (by Dash Ta Fame, The Goodbye Lane, and Tres Seis). And three out of Sherry Cervi’s Stingray (by Winners Version, Dash Ta Fame, and Kiss My Hocks).
How does health affect stallions’ reproductive success?
All this to say, it pays to feed these valuable specimens well. After all, a stallion’s well-being affects his reproductive success.
“Some stallions can maintain weight even when covering many mares, while others can get so worked up about breeding that they melt away their fat reserves,” explained nutritionist Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., in an article a few years ago for Kentucky Equine Research.
By wasting calories calling to mares, stall-walking, or pacing the fenceline, stallions increase their energy requirements and become ulcer-prone, explained Crandell. She advises that for nervous, tightly-wound stallions, its good to feed something high in digestible fiber and fat instead of starch. And at HighPoint, they add daily supplements to protect their stallions’ tummies.
“Studs stress a lot during the breeding season, like if other studs are being taken out of the barn, they get a little mad,” pointed out Breeding Manager Christie Christensen. “There’s a lot that goes into that. We’ve got one of the largest breeding operations here in the United States, so we’re big on ulcer prevention.”
For that, they like SmartGut Ultra pellets, which were designed to maintain normal stomach pH, soothe irritated tissues in the digestive tract, and provide amino acids for energy and cellular recovery
“Slick By Design is on SmartGut, and he hasn’t missed a collection day since February 1,” Christensen said. “He’s one of the all-time leading barrel racing stallions with $643,000 in progeny earnings. But back when Michele McLeod was hauling him, he was on it, too. It helped him handle breeding and hauling at the same time – being able to leave for the rodeo and be running that night. He handled it all and kept weight on.”