Stud: Adventures in Breeding

The text on the back cover of this book says it all: "The most expensive thirty seconds in sports." You will need a lot of pocket change plus a very good mare before you book a cover from Storm Cat, the Thoroughbred stallion with the world's most expensive stud fee---$500,000 per mare as of 2002. And there's no `payable when the foal stands and nurses' clause in his contract, either."Stud" is a two-year labor of love by "New Yorker" staff writer, Kevin Conley who became intrigued by the amount of money that a Thoroughbred stallion could earn after retiring from the racetrack. This is an exuberant, stylishly-written book that will tell you everything you wanted to know about what goes on in the breeding shed, but were afraid to ask.I also learned some things I didn't know I wanted to know, like the diameter of Seattle Slew's testicles---this is a book for horse-lovers who have already been through sex education class.The author spends some time at the Keeneland sales in Lexington, Kentucky, where the `Doobie Brothers' (four sheiks from the royal family of Dubai) duke it out with the `boys' (Ireland's Coolmore Stud) for the most expensive yearlings in the sale (often Storm Cat progeny). Conley doesn't neglect the smaller breeders who make a profit by buying and breeding inexpensive mares with good blood-lines, and then selling their yearlings and two-year-olds for a profit. (There is a story in last week's "Thoroughbred Times" about a filly "who clearly did not have enough pedigree to shoot for the stars," yet was sold for $1.9 million at Barretts March sale because she showed that she could run.)Finally, Conley details the differences between a `natural' cover (Thoroughbreds), artificial insemination (A.I.) techniques (Standardbreds), and pasture breeding (semi-feral Shetland ponies). Speaking for myself, I wouldn't exactly use the word `natural' after reading that it usually takes five or six people plus a stallion, plus a twitched and hobbled mare to complete the breeding process. Thoroughbred folks tend to be very conservative and have already rejected A.I. even though it is a safer, cheaper, and healthier method of getting mares in foal.

"Stud, adventures in breeding" is a well-written book that focuses as much or more on the human stories within the Thoroughbred breeding industry as on the equine aspect. One of the things that makes horse racing interesting is that every horse has a great human story behind it and the author skillfully impliments this fact. While the book is a good source of general, "inside information" and entertaining stories, it is certainly not an entirely accurate reference. Factual errors are common, distressing considering that the author is an editor of the New Yorker and contributes to a number of large publications. Smallish errors are more common, for example, the listing of Secretariat's syndication value as 5 million dollars rather than the actual figure of slightly over 8 million dollars. The bigger errors are more glaring. The most obvious to me is the report of the death during foaling of a prominent Standardbred broodmare. During my tenure as a farm veterinarian at Hanover, Daisy Harbor continued to produce healthy foals - something that would have been difficult for her to do post-mortem.All in all, I recommend this book as a light-hearted look at what happens when the top racehorse de jour retires "to the breeding shed." There is more to it than girls, grass and money.

If it weren't for the "Look Inside" feature of Amazon.com, I would have never bought this book. But, since I did "Look Inside," I'd been dying to get the book, yet didn't want to spend the price. I finally succumbed (er?) to Amazon! I am 100% not disappointed. With over 200 pages, I read this book in about 15 hours off and on. I could not put it down except to sleep and drive (otherwise there'd have been a terrible wreck!).The author, Kevin Conley, delves into realm of studs' lives. Starting out with (my personal favorite going on 7 years now) Storm Cat, the most successful stud since Mr. Prospector, and probably better! But Mr. Conley doesn't turn this book into a technical look at breeding for scientists and students, he turns it into a semi-humorous book for everyone to read. He talks about those things that you think are said in a stud barn, and they turn out to actually be true! I can't help but giggle and feel a little disgusted at what I giggled at, but then I say, "Hey! I'm not the one who wrote it!" He also goes down the interesting path of how the Thoroughbred actually began, and gives the background of every sire of a particular horse (can't remember his name right now), all the way back from the Arabs.The one thing that disappoints me is how Mr. Prospector was notoriously left out of this book. He was obviously the sire of the most stakes winners until his death in 1999. Another little quirk I had was when Mr. Conley would refer to Nijinsky II as just Nijinsky. I'm just weird like that, but those two things aren't enough to bring my rating down to 4 stars.But, if you're into horses, or maybe even if you're even not, this sure did turn out to be a good book to read! I'm very happy that someone could finally come up with a breeding book that doesn't make you look around the room to see if people are looking at the cover.And for those Storm Cat fans, yes, that's him on the cover.

Very insightful writing told in a most engaging way.Conley has a wonderful turn of phrase that causes you to pause, think "yeah, I get that", and continue a little more the wiser.It's longform journalism at its core, but the author is such a great storyteller, you just roll with the horses.

This is a good book for anyone who loves horses, loves racing, or is interested in the breeding industry. It provided a lot of information in a very entertaining way.

I read this as a hardback book originally, but bought the kindle edition. The typos are on most pages - why do I have to pay for someone else's mistakes. The book is amateurish and lacking any real depth.

I really enjoyed the info and easy read for the subject.