The December issue of Phryso includes an interview with Murk de Jong from Tjalleberd. De Jong is a proud breeder: his ‘Fan Pier’s-hiem’ breeding stud has already produced Studbook stallion Waander 512 (Loadewyk 431) and top sport mare Weri fan Pier’s-hiem Star Sport AAA (Wytse 462).
Doaitsen 420 blood
The Pier in ‘Pier’s-hiem’ is a reference to Murk de Jong’s father as well as his eldest son. Rider Sietske Brouwer rode Weri fan Pier’s-Hiem (Wytse 462 x Doaitsen 420) to the K & PP Champion Title 6-year-old mares in early October. Earlier, this talented mare also completed an ABFP Test with a super score of 87 points and a 9 for trot, with Kenna Bakker in the saddle. Murk de Jong likes Friesian horses to be a bit more temperamental. He says: ‘That’s why choosing Doaitsen 420 for my mares was a deliberate choice. They are horses with oomph, they often have that little bit extra which is needed for higher dressage. I also used stallions like Gerben 479 and Sake 449 because of the Doaitsen 420 blood. The Studbook has evolved to its present state thanks to horses with a docile character, but with an eye on the future and the sport we need horses with more temperament for the higher levels.’
Double linebreeding
Murk used his knowledge about Friesian mare lines to choose a stallion for the mare Sigrid Star (Beart 411), which he purchased from a dealer as a 3-year-old. He paired Sigrid to Loadewyk 432, which effectively comes down to ‘double’ linebreeding on pedigrees 38 and 50 with the aim of embedding strong genes. From this combination came the approved Waander 512. A half sister of Waander 512 was used as the surrogate mare for the embryo of her half brother Waander 512 and Weri, which resulted in a filly foal this year: Sweltsje fan Pier’s-hiem. Weri herself is presently in-foal by Wolter 513.
Kinship
‘I once read an advertisement which stated the following: ‘Breeding is thinking in terms of generations’. I have always remembered that. In order to achieve what you are looking for it’s important to look beyond generations. Breeding is not just the sum of the qualities of both dam and sire. You can visualise something, but you always have to wait and find out what the foal looks like. Improvement happens small steps at a time and breeders have to stick to their own principles,’ is De Jong’s opinion. He has studied kinship from an early stage: ‘Inbreeding is nothing but a small number for one individual horse. Kinship says so much more about the entire population. We notice that the kinship percentage keeps growing, that is something to worry about. It is pretty difficult for the Studbook to do something about it because most breeders think short-term. We now have possibilities for low-kinship breeding, but that has to be a feasible option for the future too’, De Jong concludes.
