BY ED BALCEWICH
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER LLEWELLYN; FEI/DOKOUPIL; FEI/CLARK; MARGIE FORBES

This is Part 2 of Ed Balcewich’s article “The horses nobody wanted,” which began with a conversation in Wellington Florida. According to Ed, “I had the pleasure of spending some time with Michael Doherty – an Irish showjumping breeder building a high-quality herd of genetically rich mares, and host of the popular podcast Big Talk for Breeders.

Now 44 interviews deep with many of the world’s best breeders, riders, and veterinarians, it was a warm, wide-ranging conversation about breeding philosophy, pedigrees, and the direction of the sport. Michael is knowledgeable, passionate, and genuinely curious – exactly the kind of person these conversations are best had with, and exactly the kind of young breeder the sport needs more of.
At some point I mentioned that we were building a potent Contender theme at Desiderius Farms. Michael winced slightly. He suggested, diplomatically, that from a market perspective, nobody really wants Contender anymore.
A second opinion, in Belgium
This summer, on a swing through Europe, we stopped at Zangersheide, where their staff member, Wes was generous enough to give us a personal guided tour and more of his time than we had any right to expect – a fellow self-professed breeding nerd, which made the whole afternoon better than it had any right to be.
I mentioned the same thing – that we had a Contender theme going at Desiderius Farms. Wes was kind about it. He wasn't trying to slight the horse, just relaying where the market's head is at: Contender's blood was fading, he said. Not really a modern sport horse anymore. Then we started walking the stalls.
Stallion after stallion, we’d stop at a pedigree chart on the wall, and there he was – Contender, sometimes a grandparent, and sometimes tucked into the background. By the end of the tour, he’d shown up in about half of them. Even Wes noticed it, working it out loud as we went from stall to stall.
The market says one thing. About half the pedigree charts on the wall say another. And we hadn’t even opened a single study yet.
I understood the sentiment. Contender is not the name on everyone’s lips at the fashionable auctions. He does not command the headlines that some of the newer sire lines do. The comment made sense. From a data perspective, it hit a nerve. Because at that very moment, the number one ranked rider in the world was Kent Farrington, carried there by Greya, a horse out of a direct Contender daughter...

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