jess

It seems to be how it all works at that level in this tiny country ...
Maybe this individual is the bomb! - I don't know.   I do know there is a tendency at high levels in many organisations these days to opt for transferrable skills rather than specific subject-experts if you like.
But in my humble opinion this needs to be an approach which is balanced with people who do understand and have experience in what (commodity/service/industry) you are dealing.
And then if Iwas to play devil's advocate - I might say "never let the notion of a meritocracy get in the way of good old fashioned cronyism ...  " 
I leave it to the `cafers to make their own minds up ....

These Postmen fail to deliver.

It seems to be how it all works at that level in this tiny country ...
Maybe this individual is the bomb! - I don't know.   I do know there is a tendency at high levels in many organisations these days to opt for transferrable skills rather than specific subject-experts if you like.
But in my humble opinion this needs to be an approach which is balanced with people who do understand and have experience in what (commodity/service/industry) you are dealing.
And then if Iwas to play devil's advocate - I might say "never let the notion of a meritocracy get in the way of good old fashioned cronyism ...  " 
I leave it to the `cafers to make their own minds up ....

Thanks Nas. Interesting.
 

Col you should start a travel blog ... I'm rather enjoying (vicariously) the adventures of when Col ventures north ... keep `em coming!  
And good luck with the punting today.
PS: don't forget the women's mag market ... we will need to know who ( I'd usually say "what" - but I think the real fancy people say "who" as they wear designer clothes ...) Mrs Col is wearing at Ellerslie today 
 
 

She'd be a fascinating study in biomechanics (and in a number of other ways of course ...) -  she just looks so effortless and efficient in the way she gallops.
Paddymc summed it up .. could watch her all day.

She is a marvel to watch - when she flattens out in the straight - could watch her all day

$75 to enter "not served" in the studbook. A bit over the top I thought.

Chevy - been there in the past also and no complaints re the Haunui team.  Pretty professional outfit from my experience. 
Treat - I hear ya!  Really I do believe the luck sometimes rolls like that ... I tell ya - horses have a million ways to break your heart.   You have to be resilient to last a day in this game.  I've not had the best of fortune 2017 to be fair - but it's now 2018 and I'm full of hope once again - fed up the mares today and told them they better have champs on board or else!!
Hee hee ... best of luck to you.  And remember - like I was told a long time ago by an old sage - good horses come from good horses - champions come from anywhere.
J.  
PS:  Chevy - maybe we'll meet some day and not even know it - hopefully at the races though and not at the insolvency court ...  .. all the best in your endeavors also. Keep in touch during 2018 - enjoy your contributions here. 

The pre-formatted emails on service / scanning are standard for the big players I believe.  But I too have dealt with studs where that system was not in place and I had to ring the stud to try to find out what was happening with the mare (turned out she had probably not even been to the barn until she'd been there for weeks and then been served and missed etc).
I appreciate it when someone who is actually dealing with the mare txts or phones (occasionally) to update me in progress or lack of it.  Yes I know my mare may be one of hundreds - but it's still not that hard to do ...
J.     

Yes.  I do believe that is the most important fact of all in this.
If you have very little capacity to make money from breeding a thoroughbred race horse (whether you race it or someone else does) - why keep doing it?
Yes - like me it might be a passion - but a few more years throwing money into a black hole and I won't be feeling too passionate.   More likely I'll be quitting the game.
It takes a hell of a good racehorse in NZ to actually turn a profit over its lifetime.  THAT is a problem. 
I know from experience you can have quite a nice one which regularly weighs in - sometimes wins - and you're still considerably in the red when it retires.  

Hi Louise. Yes a good thread started by Breeder. I would not be able to justify breeding anything if I paid a stud agistment year round.  
Charged for mane pulling? OMG! Cld tht not come under the general agistment fee for caring for the horse in a stockmanlike fashion? I worked at a stud where I watched staff  do tht sort of thing while they waited in line with mares at the crush - took no "extra" time and very little effort. In many cases mares enjoyed a little bit of grooming and laxed out prior to their scan. Also grooming is a great way to check over a horse- discover issues or injuries which might go unnoticed from a "paddock look"  
Now we'e not talking the flash traditional pulling of the mane to show or yearling sales standard mind - but for broodmares I find you can do a perfectly presentable job with an old shearing comb and it is not irritating for those horses who find proper mane pulling painful ...
Personally I'd not be happy to be charged to pull a broodmare's mane ..

Perhaps if I could balance that tale a little.  Another mare was at a different stud and the service in terms of communication was great - starting with a phone call from the broodmare manager to say she had arrived and had walked off the truck in great nick and he was just about to take her to her paddock.  As a hands-on owner who is actually pretty fond of her horses I appreciated that and it got us off to a great start! 
Mare (a maiden) was not quickly in foal and I'll never know whether she was down the queue for the sire or really was "springy" for all those weeks - however plenty of mares are like this early in the season and I am inclined to take them at their word.  The stud kept in touch with how she was going (unlike those studs when you hear nothing and the only way you know what's happening with your broodmare is by deciphering the vet bills!).
Mare was returned in foal and in fine condition.  I have no doubt the stud made a tidy profit from agisting  her for several months but there were no unnecessary items/treatments on the accounts and so I have no complaints there.
I liked the way that comms were not just with an office manager who had never laid eyes on my mare (some comms were with her and she was perfectly nice and efficient) - but I'd get calls from time to time from the broodmare manager who was actually dealing with my mare.  I realise for owners who only see their TBs on raceday this might not be a big deal.  But I really appreciated it.     

IMO small breeders get hammered.  A few dollars off a service fee here and there but otherwise no discounts (and at times, inferior service) from the various providers they need to patronise in order to keep and breed horses.  The bills are astronomical even for 1 or 2 mares.  Sometimes it feels like we are subsidising the studs.  And most of us don't have a pretty little 50 acre block on the edge of town to sell off to release some funds ... 
I acknowledge that the big boys are in it for the money and it's a business for them to run the best they can.  But I wonder if their lack of altruism is contributing to the death of breeding the NZ TB - that if they had a different attitude towards "home" breeders, that things would be in slightly better shape?   
 

I reckon Huey ... and durability / soundness??

Greetings fitzy ... yes perhaps you are missing something ... such as the fact that sometimes that which costs the most does not turn out to be best!  Along the lines of all the glisters not being gold ...
LaZip can speak for himself but I thought at least part of his point was - that to sell something for big money at the yearling sales is success of itself to some.  Regardless whether that horse turns out to be a success on the racetrack.  To others the greater measure of success is producing (or buying) a successful racehorse.
And to some, success is to be named/famed as the person at the sales who spent the most or bought the highest price yearling.  To others - it would be to buy the most successful racehorses per dollar expended - bang for your buck if you like.
I'm sure there is room for each of these operators - and we can all choose who to support - or to emulate.
Kind wishes
Jealous, pathetic, moronic Jess.  

Scooby I was reluctant to bother replying to that but can I just say - there wouldn't even be a racecafe if the only ones allowed an opinion here were people who had done it +/- been champions at it ...
And I can't be bothered offering my credentials to try to justify what I thought was a respectfully expressed observation ... 
J.

Scooby I was reluctant to bother replying to that but can I just say - there wouldn't even be a racecafe if the only ones allowed an opinion here were people who had done it +/- been champions at it ...
And I can't be bothered offering my credentials to try to justify what I thought was a respectfully expressed observation ... 
J.

Scooby I was reluctant to bother replying to that but can I just say - there wouldn't even be a racecafe if the only ones allowed an opinion here were people who had done it +/- been champions at it ...
And I can't be bothered offering my credentials to try to justify what I thought was a respectfully expressed observation ... 
J.

Congratulations on your win at Avondale today.
Didn't follow the races closely today but noticed you standing in the stirrups for quite a distance as you rode down to the gates - hands held high with your grip on the horse's mouth being used to balance yourself in this upright position.
Pretty hard on a horse's mouth to ride this way ... have a look sometime at a rider like Chris Johnson and how kind he is to his horses and what beautiful hands he has ... not only is this a kind way to ride - but it often pays dividends and you regularly see Chris get the best out of his mounts without punishing them.  And some owners are a bit particular about seeing their horses treated well ... I know it makes a difference to me and who I like to see aboard mne ...
Just my 2 cents worth to take or leave as you please ...  all the best, J  

Scooby I was reluctant to bother replying to that but can I just say - there wouldn't even be a racecafe if the only ones allowed an opinion here were people who had done it +/- been champions at it ...
And I can't be bothered offering my credentials to try to justify what I thought was a respectfully expressed observation ... 
J.

I think the fact NZTR  & NZRB seem to both  have cultures of excess doesn't invalidate criticising either or both.
I find all the travel examples raised by SMD and yourself in this thread as troubling.
The problem with any organisation such as these (and Govt/Councils etc etc) is they spend what they want as the bottom line result has little impact on the individuals etc working there.. Contrast that with business owners who understand every dollar spent in their business is a dollar less that goes into their pocket - so it needs to be well spent. At the moment I am trying to decide the cost benefit of a trip to an industry conference in Palmerston North (!!!) later this year just to put that in context.
Your point regarding the Racing Act stands alone and is well to be heeded

Cubes is pretty sure the Hesmeister has never met the neighbours.....

Scooby I was reluctant to bother replying to that but can I just say - there wouldn't even be a racecafe if the only ones allowed an opinion here were people who had done it +/- been champions at it ...
And I can't be bothered offering my credentials to try to justify what I thought was a respectfully expressed observation ... 
J.

Ha  N1m!  - no pressure ... but hopefully they acquit themselves well! 
Have been keeping an eye on the Burgundy horses generally though ... hopefully Puha has a nice one