A SALIENT POINT FROM EACH COMMENTARY FROM READERS ON BREEDNET RE SERVICE FEES:

› Do stallion owners genuinely accept the proposition that commercial breeders using their stallions should reasonably expect to be able to sell the resultant offspring at a profit or at least break even? If the answer to that question is yes, then how do the owners of certain stallions justify their fees for the 2010 season?

› I was expecting more significant reductions across the board.

› As a small commercial breeder in the Northern region of NSW and having used sires from the Hunter Valley and Queensland over the past 6 years, there is no doubt that the ability for the breeder to actually make a decent crust in the breeding game alone, is influenced by the price of service fees to “commercial stallions”.

› Some stallions are owned by major breeders with limited allocations available meaning demand is greater than supply, or simply the demand is so great for a particular horse that the only way to dull the demand is via the stallion’s service fees. Choose a better value stallion or stop complaining!

› I'm certainly a bit risk averse at the moment, and I'm guessing many others will be thinking along the same lines. I'll be using some of the better priced proven stallions ….

› I have spent the last couple of days trying to plan the matings for 15 nice mares that are of M.M. or Easter quality and I can’t make it work….. So what do I do, send half of them to cheap stallions or do I send them all to stallions with fees no higher than $25k-$30k?

› I understand that stallion owners want to maximise their return, but paying lip service to 'difficult economic conditions' and then announcing they are making a small downward adjustment or worse still, saying how pleased they are in not putting prices up this year is just a slap in the face.

› As with any form of addiction, weaning yourself from it can prove difficult. This is no doubt the case with the major studs and their service fees .They have become addicted to service fees that leave nothing on the table for anyone else.

› The more the breeders speak out the more chance the industry has to survive in its present form, as we can see it becoming an elitist enterprise ….

› The other thing that I find staggering is the utter ignorance of genetics in the industry …. In other words a well bred "cheap" stallion has just as much chance as an expensive stallion of producing the "Top" horse. Are there good value "cheap" stallions around that can produce the Group One winner? - yes, of course there are - look at the results .…

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