Horse breeder: Jacquin Blom
Jacquin Blom was introduced to horse breeding in 2016 when he encountered the Appaloosa horse breed at a national horse breeders show.“The love for horses has always been there, but it was only when I met the president of the Appaloosa Horse Breeders Society of Namibia that I felt encouraged to join and got registered as a horse breeder in 2017 at the age of 21,” Blom said.
According to the Royal Horse website, horse breeding is primarily a job of passion, requiring a great deal of versatility.
For Blom, his love and passion for horses were never in question.
Blom did not have any formal education when he started in the horse breeding industry, so to counter this challenge, he took it upon himself to learn from other horse breeders and experts in Namibia and South Africa.
“As a new and young breeder, I didn’t have much knowledge around horses and breeding. To overcome this challenge, I visited various breeders all around Namibia and South Africa to learn from their mistakes and the challenges that they were facing,” he explained.
Adapt and learn
He said he has observed common traits among many horse breeders that he has adopted, such as patience and consistency.
“Horse breeding is all about connecting and building that relationship with each and every horse that you train,” said Blom.
The Royal Catcher website describes the role of a horse breeder as overseeing the general well-being of a horse. This includes feeding, grooming and exercising the horse. As a horse breeder, you need to be able to recognise the individual needs of each horse and adjust their care accordingly.
Blom explained that being a horse breeder is all about improving the breed. As a horse breeder, you need to look at what is lacking in your herd and choose the ideal herd sire to address those faults and improve the overall quality and conformation of the breed.
He added that careful research and pedigree checks are crucial and need to be done before investing in a horse or any specific horse breed.
“Investing in a poor-quality horse or horse breed only sets you back and prolongs the period of achieving a quality horse,” Blom said.