British Breeder Magazine May 2020
Magazine for breeders of British bred sport horses. Includes breeding industry news, updates, interviews, profiles and reports.
Magazine for breeders of British bred sport horses. Includes breeding industry news, updates, interviews, profiles and reports.
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Article - INTERVIEW<br />
Coping with<br />
Coronavirus<br />
Interview with Tullis Matson<br />
of Stallion AI<br />
How has the Coronavirus<br />
Lockdown affected you?<br />
For us, the effects of the coronavirus<br />
outbreak and subsequent lockdown<br />
were pretty immediate and far reaching.<br />
One of the hardest things to have to do<br />
was to cancel our annual Open Day and<br />
Stallion Show. It was clearly not possible<br />
to run the show under the present<br />
circumstances, but that didn’t make it any<br />
easier. It was a shame for all our stallion<br />
owners and breeders who were looking<br />
forward to the day and who value the<br />
opportunities it provides. It’s always a<br />
great event to kick start the breeding<br />
season, and very uplifting to see people<br />
interact with our stallions and having a<br />
lovely time.<br />
What was clear from the outset was that<br />
we had to look after our staff and their<br />
families, as well as the safety of our<br />
clients in all our interactions. Everyone<br />
is affected in different ways, and every<br />
member of the team is highly valued.<br />
We had to consider the needs of those<br />
who are themselves vulnerable and<br />
others who have vulnerable relatives<br />
at home. Others are affected because<br />
they have children to look after at home.<br />
Where we can, we have reorganised our<br />
administration, so some of those tasks<br />
can be carried out from home, reducing<br />
travel and enabling better distancing on<br />
site.<br />
The complications with horses are, of<br />
course, that they still need looking after,<br />
regardless of the global pandemic. The<br />
exceptional level of care and service we<br />
offer to our stallions and their owners lies<br />
at the very heart of our philosophy as a<br />
business, and is not something we were<br />
willing to compromise on. We therefore<br />
initially radically reduced the number of<br />
stallions on site. Of course it was really<br />
tough for us to do this, financially, as<br />
well as emotionally, because we hated<br />
having to disappoint our many loyal and<br />
valued clients.<br />
The wider impact of how we conduct<br />
ourselves as an industry is very important<br />
to us. While breeding horses might<br />
seem like the most important thing in<br />
the world to us, we have to accept<br />
that the outside world sees things very<br />
differently. We have to be sensitive to this<br />
and understand that our industry is not<br />
seen as an “essential business” to those<br />
outside equestrianism. It is for that reason<br />
that I think we have to show that we are<br />
doing our bit to help our country through<br />
this crisis.<br />
To help where we can, and to set a clear<br />
signal that we care for our communities<br />
and the wonderful work done by our<br />
NHS and all healthcare professionals,<br />
we have set up a programme of sending<br />
out gloves and alcohol spray, which we<br />
produce in our lab, to those who need<br />
it. In this way, we have already donated<br />
over 2,500 gloves to carers in our<br />
community, and we will keep going and<br />
doing our bit.<br />
What measures have you taken to<br />
ensure the safety of your staff and of<br />
your clients?<br />
The first and most obvious thing to do<br />
was to stop any public access, and<br />
to limit the number of stallions on site,<br />
which immediately reduces interactions<br />
and allows us to implement better social<br />
distancing procedures. Of course this<br />
all has to be done within reason, as<br />
it is near impossible to distance when<br />
collecting from a stallion, for example.<br />
We are always having to balance the<br />
different risks and keep health and safety<br />
and the welfare of our precious stallions<br />
in mind.<br />
As an industry, biosecurity is second<br />
nature to us, and we already have a lot<br />
of measures and procedures in place<br />
that, although originally designed to<br />
protect our equine clients, are equally<br />
effective in keeping our staff and<br />
human clients safe. This includes a<br />
high level of awareness of biosecurity,<br />
and the use of protective equipment<br />
as a matter of course. Our stables are<br />
routinely completely washed down with<br />
disinfectant about three times a week.<br />
We are getting through a lot of gloves in<br />
our day to day business.<br />
When new stallions come on site, we<br />
now minimise any interactions by taking<br />
the horses off the transporter ourselves.<br />
Each stallion has their personal tack<br />
locker, so we can reduce the risk of<br />
infection spreading from any equipment<br />
they bring with them. Other items coming<br />
in and out of our facility, such as semen<br />
storage containers and transport boxes<br />
for semen, are thoroughly disinfected.<br />
We are working closely with our<br />
transport partners to ensure we keep<br />
them safe and identify and mitigate any<br />
potential risks.<br />
How are things now for you, several<br />
weeks into the lockdown?<br />
I think it is fair to say that things are<br />
settling down a bit into a new way of<br />
operating. Initially, there was a lot of<br />
confusion around whether veterinarians<br />
could carry out any AI procedures at all,<br />
which had a lot of impact on demand<br />
and created a lot of uncertainty for us<br />
all. While there are still some aspects<br />
that are open to interpretations, breeders<br />
now, by and large, seem to have<br />
established workable solutions with<br />
their vets and are carrying on with their<br />
breeding plans.<br />
While we have taken the decision not<br />
to run our facility at anywhere near full<br />
capacity this season, in order to allow<br />
us to continue with our increased social<br />
distancing measures, we are now able<br />
to open the doors, very carefully, to a<br />
few more stallions coming in, and are<br />
able to support our clients safely and<br />
responsibly. These stallions are gradually<br />
“drip fed” into our facility to avoid any<br />
risks.<br />
One interesting effect of the crisis has<br />
been that we have been contacted by<br />
owners of stallions who are normally<br />
extremely busy in the competition<br />
career at this time of year, and - with<br />
all national and international shows<br />
cancelled - are now free for stud duties.<br />
How do you see the longer term<br />
effect of the coronavirus outbreak<br />
and the future for <strong>British</strong> stallions and<br />
breeders?<br />
While I don’t have any hard figures<br />
available, my initial impression is that<br />
our <strong>British</strong> stallions are getting used a lot<br />
more this year. What I don’t know is if<br />
this is because more people are wanting<br />
to breed this year, perhaps because<br />
they are unable to go out and compete,<br />
or if this is because <strong>British</strong> stallions have<br />
increased in popularity with existing<br />
breeders. The quality and choice of<br />
stallions available in this country is<br />
certainly going up all of the time, which<br />
is great to see!<br />
What I am certain of is that this outbreak<br />
has brought us together as a community<br />
and made us value each other a lot<br />
more. It has made us all re-evaluate<br />
what really matters in life, which is to<br />
show concern and care for each other,<br />
and to take responsibility in the way<br />
we run our businesses and interact with<br />
each other. The welfare of our staff,<br />
clients, and precious stallions always<br />
has to come first. Everybody has been<br />
absolutely incredible in the way they<br />
have worked together to face this crisis.<br />
There is a lot of good will and generosity<br />
out there, which will help us emerge from<br />
this stronger than ever.<br />
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