Tweeddale Bloodstock

About

Missthecuddles, our 9 year old mare by Gold Well retired from racing after placing second at Chaddesley Corbett in May 2023 and the decision was made for her to become a broodmare. We later gained the addition of star, a 5 year old filly out of Great Pretender and at this point the bloodstock was established.

Our broodmares are constantly at pasture for the duration of their pregnancy in a large herd with acres of grassland and natural shelter and automatic water troughs. When grass is limited during the autumn and winter months they are given hard feed and haylage in order to support themselves and the growth of the foal. Between four and six weeks prior to foaling the mares are brought into large foaling boxes and constantly monitored to ensure both mare and foal are safe throughout the final stages of pregnancy. They are registered with the local equine veterinary hospital which is home to reproductive specialists who oversee the entirety of the mares pregnancy.

In addition to this, we also have a bloodstock syndicate, which provides members to be involved in Thoroughbreds prior to their racing career.

Missthecuddles

More commonly known around the yard as Autumn, she is owned by Charles Cormack and is a 9 year old mare by Gold Well. Missthecuddles is your stereotypical mare who loves nothing more then to pull a face but deep-down loves attention and affection. While with Ross, Missthecuddles has ran on fourteen occasions and has placed on five of these. She currently has one foal to Foal, Tweeddale Sky

Tweeddale Star

Tweeddale Star, known on the yard as Star is a 5 year old mare, by Great Pretender. Star is a well bred and good looking mare with a kind nature and therefore the decision was made to to use her as a broodmare. Star unfortunately was not ready to be covered this year so is currently enjoying time away at grass in order to be covered early next year.

Meet the Foals

  • Tweeddale Sky

    First foal of Missthecuddles

  • Breeding Timeline

    The breeding timeline of a thoroughbred can be complex due to industry standards. This should provide a simplified explanation of the process which is taken by Tweeddale Bloodstock

  • Covering

    Our mares are covered between February and June, however, we aim to have them covered as early as possible in order to give them an advantage come racing as all racehorses are aged as of the first of January. Unlike other disciplines cannot be bred by AI meaning all breeding is used via natural covering.

  • Pregnancy & Heartbeat Scan

    15-17 days after covering the mares are scanned by the vet to ensure that there is a pregnancy present. 25-30 days after covering, the mares are scanned again, this time to ensure that there is a heart beat

  • October Scan

    Stud fees are payable to the stallion owner/stud on the 1st October therefore scans are carried out to ensure that the foal. In most cases if the mare is no longer in foal, then no stud fee is payable by the mares owner.

  • 4 - 6 weeks prior to foaling

    Once October scans are completed the mare returns to the herd for the remainder of her pregnancy.

    4-6 weeks before she is due to foal she is brought into a large barnwhich consists of large faling stables where she remains under constant supervision while the foal is born

  • Foaling

    As soon as the foal is born, we ensure that hey are to feed off the mare and are steady on their feet. There is also someone around to support the foal when needed. In addition to this the quality of the mares milk is checked

  • 0-3 Months

    During this time the mare and foal remain together in a stable surrounded by other mares and foals. Once the foal is strong enough then they have access to day time turnout with the mare, slowly progressing to a heard where they are able to establish relationships with other horses.

  • 3-6 Months

    At this point the mare and foal are turned out full time together. The mare is still feeding at this point and receives a hard feed which the foal will also eat a small amount of. Once teh foals become more independent, then a feed which only the foals can access is placed in the field giving them a constant supply of feed and the mares recieve feed in troughs

  • Weaning

    Foals are weaned from the mares at 6 months old, this is done in a way which causes as little stress as possible to both the mares and the foals.