New label "Traditional Bred"
How to add a Traditional Bred label to your foal's pedigree?
Step 0: Create your Breeder Page
In order to add the Traditional Bred label, you should create a Breeder contact page.
On your breeder contact page, you will be able to share your contact details and quickly display the horses you've bred and their qualifications.
Once you've enabled your Breeder page, you will be able to add the Traditional Bred label to the horses you've bred.
Important: to activate your breeder contact page you need a Pro or Premium subscription. Not already a Pro or Premium subscriber? Subscribe here.
Step 1: Find your Foal on Hippomundo
As a breeder, check if your foal is already listed on the Hippomundo website. If this is not the case, you must first create the foal on Hippomundo.
Click here to create your foal on Hippomundo.
Is your foal registered on Hippomundo, but not yet linked to you as a breeder?
Let us know by using the Change Horse information button found on the horse pedigree page, under the Pedigree menu or by contacting us via info@hippomundo.com.
Step 2: Add the Traditional Bred label
Once you've enabled your breeder page and the horse is created and linked to you as breeder, you are able to indicate the horse as Traditional Bred.
For this, open the settings page of your Breeder page, go to the All horses tab, and indicate each horse that is Traditional Bred.
Click here to view all horses linked to you as a breeder.
Beware: since a mare can only have one Traditional Bred foal per year, you might get an error if another foal was indicated as Traditional Bred born in the same year and of the same mare. If you think this is wrong and should be updated, please contact us via info@hippomundo.com.
Step 3: View the Traditional Bred label on the Pedigree
If you were able to add the Traditional Bred label, it should now be visible on the Pedigree page of the horse, underneath the fishbone pedigree.
Beware: the Traditional Bred label only remains visible as long as your breeder page remains active. If you would inactivate your breeder page, the Traditional Bred labels will also be hidden.
However, if your breeder page becomes active again, the Traditional Bred labels linked by you will become visible again.
EXAMPLE — PEDIGREE PAGE
New label "Traditional Bred" pays tribute to tradition in warmblood breeding
In a world where technology is increasingly permeating traditional sectors, warmblood breeding is no exception. Innovations such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer have significantly transformed the industry. However, while some breeders are embracing these technologies, there is a growing movement advocating for the preservation of traditional breeding methods. This is where the new "TRADITIONAL BRED" label, introduced by Hippomundo, comes in.
Back to basics
In the early days of equestrian sports, the path to a foal was simple and natural: a mare was serviced by a stallion, and after a gestation period of about 11 months, a foal was born. With the advent of artificial insemination, this process changed. Mares were now inseminated with diluted semen, which quickly became the standard as it was safer for both mare and stallion. The next step in this technological advancement was embryo transfer, where a mare could produce multiple foals per year because her embryos were implanted in surrogate mothers. This way, a mare can have 2 or 3 foals per year.
The advent of ICSI
The drive for optimization led to the development of ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection). In this technique, a mare's oocytes are extracted and fertilized in a laboratory with a single sperm cell from a chosen stallion. The fertilized eggs are then frozen until the breeder decides to implant them into surrogate mares. Over time, the success rates of this technique have increased and the procedure has become increasingly popular, but it has also led to controversy as it allows for the mass production of foals. Whether ICSI foals perform better, worse, or equally well in sport remains to be seen. However, the exclusivity of certain mare lines has significantly decreased, and the prices for ICSI foals, which were initially high, are now beginning to normalize.
TRADITIONAL BRED: a tribute to tradition
Many traditional breeders are concerned about these developments and oppose the mass production of foals via ICSI. Some have even decided to throw in the towel. Some studbooks, including the Swedish studbook, have also taken steps to exclude ICSI foals. Hippomundo aims to remain neutral at all times and does not make any judgments regarding ICSI. However, Hippomundo stands for complete transparency and criticizes the lack of information about whether a foal is traditionally bred or not. In this light, Hippomundo is introducing the "TRADITIONAL BRED" label, an initiative aimed at ensuring complete transparency and paying homage to traditional breeding methods. The label guarantees that a foal was conceived naturally and was given birth by its own mother, without the use of surrogate mothers. If the mare was inseminated with fresh or thawed frozen semen, this is also considered a natural conception.