The 2018 breeding season is in the books! It is officially in our rearview mirror. I sincerely thank our owners for allowing us the opportunity to manage their stallions. And, to our many mare owners – without you, we wouldn’t be here. But there is no time to reminisce; we can only look forward here at SDP!

Our stallion services are now global. As the breeding season has ended in the Northern Hemisphere (February-July), plans and preparations have been ongoing for months for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, which runs August to January. Our team is just now catching its breath, and we’re prepared to dive head first into phase two of 2018.

For a decade, I have learned what to do and, more importantly, what not to do for stallions in various international markets. Every country and region has its own set of variables, conditions, expectations and market factors that can make or break a stallion’s success. There is no magic wand or potion that guarantees success.

We’ve opened successful distribution on four continents and have shipped to the other two. That makes six out of seven continents for us thus far, and I don’t reckon we’ll make Antarctica anytime soon. By having a global approach, we strive to give our stallion owners every opportunity to reach mare owners and conversely, we strive to provide our mare owners with the very best stallions we can.

It all begins with gauging the interest in a stallion. Will there be demand? If so, will it be enough to pay for the expense to quarantine, freeze, export, import, distribute, etc.? He has to be able to check many boxes. Unfortunately, there aren’t any guarantees; there are always risks.

But I’m a good student, and I’ve learned a lot doing this over the years. I also have a reputation for performing. I can’t think of anything more important than that in my line of business. I sure wish I was always right. Of course, I’m not. But we are honest and will always do our best. The pursuit of perfection is a noble endeavor.

So, it never really slows down for us here at SDP. Horses don’t wear watches and they don’t look at calendars. What is a holiday? 24/7…365. We love it!