Horse breeder: Jacquin Blom
Jacquin Blom. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Horse breeder: Jacquin Blom

Jacquin Blom was introduced to horse breeding in 2016 when he encountered the Appaloosa horse breed at a national horse breeders show.

“The love for horses has always been there, but it was only when I met the president of the Appaloosa Horse Breeders Society of Namibia that I felt encouraged to join and got registered as a horse breeder in 2017 at the age of 21,” Blom said.

According to the Royal Horse website, horse breeding is primarily a job of passion, requiring a great deal of versatility.

For Blom, his love and passion for horses were never in question.

Blom did not have any formal education when he started in the horse breeding industry, so to counter this challenge, he took it upon himself to learn from other horse breeders and experts in Namibia and South Africa.

“As a new and young breeder, I didn’t have much knowledge around horses and breeding. To overcome this challenge, I visited various breeders all around Namibia and South Africa to learn from their mistakes and the challenges that they were facing,” he explained.

Adapt and learn

He said he has observed common traits among many horse breeders that he has adopted, such as patience and consistency.

“Horse breeding is all about connecting and building that relationship with each and every horse that you train,” said Blom.

The Royal Catcher website describes the role of a horse breeder as overseeing the general well-being of a horse. This includes feeding, grooming and exercising the horse. As a horse breeder, you need to be able to recognise the individual needs of each horse and adjust their care accordingly.

Blom explained that being a horse breeder is all about improving the breed. As a horse breeder, you need to look at what is lacking in your herd and choose the ideal herd sire to address those faults and improve the overall quality and conformation of the breed.

He added that careful research and pedigree checks are crucial and need to be done before investing in a horse or any specific horse breed.

“Investing in a poor-quality horse or horse breed only sets you back and prolongs the period of achieving a quality horse,” Blom said.

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 582.19/OZ UP +0.12% | Copper US$ 4.19/lb DOWN -0.0026 | Zinc US$ 2 919.80/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 72.53/BBP UP +0.72% | Platinum US$ 990.07/OZ DOWN -0.0048 | Sport results: Currie Cup: Vodacom Bulls 40 vs 40 Hollywoodbets Sharks XV | Fidelity ADT Lions 43 vs 34 Toyota Cheetahs XV Premier League: Wolves 1 vs 2 Newcastle | Tottenham Hotspur 0 vs 1 Arsenal | Bournemouth 0 vs 1 Chelsea | Aston Villa 3 vs 2 Everton | Manchester City 2 vs 1 Brentford | Liverpool 0 vs 1 Nottingham Forest | Fulham 1 vs 1 West Ham | Crystal Palace 2 vs 2 Leicester City | Brighton 0 vs 0 Ipswich Town | Southampton 0 vs 3 Manchester United LaLiga: Atletico Madrid 3 vs 0 Valencia | Las Palmas 2 vs 3 Athletic Club | Girona 1 vs 4 Barcelona | Celta Vigo 3 vs 1 Real Valladolid | Real Sociedad 0 vs 2 Real Madrid | Sevilla 1 vs 0 Getafe | Espanyol 3 vs 2 Deportivo Alaves | Mallorca 1 vs 2 Villarreal | Real Betis 2 vs 0 Leganés SerieA: Monza 1 vs 1 Inter Milan | Cagliari 0 vs 4 Napoli | Torino 0 vs 0 Lecce | Atalanta 3 vs 2 Fiorentina | Genoa 1 vs 1 AS Roma | AC Milan 4 vs 0 Venezia | Empoli 0 vs 0 Juventus | Como 2 vs 2 Bologna European Championships Qualifying: Portsmouth 0 vs 3 West Bromwich Albion | Watford 1 vs 1 Coventry City | Swansea City 1 vs 0 Norwich City | Sheffield Wednesday 1 vs 1 Queens Park Rangers | Plymouth Argyle 3 vs 2 Sunderland | Middlesbrough 1 vs 1 Preston North End | Derby County 1 vs 0 Cardiff City | Blackburn Rovers 3 vs 0 Bristol City | Oxford United 1 vs 0 Stoke City | Millwall FC 0 vs 1 Luton Town | Leeds United 0 vs 1 Burnley | Hull City 0 vs 2 Sheffield United English Championship: Portsmouth 0 vs 3 West Bromwich Albion | Watford 1 vs 1 Coventry City | Swansea City 1 vs 0 Norwich City | Sheffield Wednesday 1 vs 1 Queens Park Rangers | Plymouth Argyle 3 vs 2 Sunderland | Middlesbrough 1 vs 1 Preston North End | Derby County 1 vs 0 Cardiff City | Blackburn Rovers 3 vs 0 Bristol City | Oxford United 1 vs 0 Stoke City | Millwall FC 0 vs 1 Luton Town | Leeds United 0 vs 1 Burnley | Hull City 0 vs 2 Sheffield United Weather: Katima Mulilo: 22° | 40° Rundu: 20° | 40° Eenhana: 17° | 35° Oshakati: 17° | 35° Ruacana: 18° | 36° Tsumeb: 20° | 34° Otjiwarongo: 13° | 32° Omaruru: 10° | 31° Windhoek: 10° | 28° Gobabis: 10° | 29° Henties Bay: 12° | 16° Wind speed: 26km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 12:42, High tide: 06:54, Low Tide: 01:25, High tide: 19:15 Swakopmund: 11° | 14° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 12:40, High tide: 06:52, Low Tide: 01:23, High tide: 19:13 Walvis Bay: 11° | 20° Wind speed: 36km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 12:40, High tide: 06:51, Low Tide: 01:23, High tide: 19:12 Rehoboth: 8° | 26° Mariental: 11° | 27° Keetmanshoop: 11° | 26° Aranos: 10° | 28° Lüderitz: 10° | 22° Ariamsvlei: 11° | 27° Oranjemund: 11° | 17° Luanda: 21° | 22° Gaborone: 23° | 35° Lubumbashi: 16° | 38° Mbabane: 16° | 25° Maseru: 12° | 20° Antananarivo: 9° | 27° Lilongwe: 21° | 32° Maputo: 21° | 30° Windhoek: 10° | 28° Cape Town: 11° | 17° Durban: 18° | 23° Johannesburg: 17° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 29° Lusaka: 22° | 35° Harare: 19° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.17 | EUR to NAD 19.59 | CNY to NAD 2.48 | USD to NAD 17.64 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.29 | EGP to NAD 0.36 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.66 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.17 | RUB to NAD 0.19 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 131.53 | USD to AOA 926.34 | USD to BWP 13.26 | USD to EGP 48.39 | USD to KES 128.48 | USD to NGN 1645.13 | USD to ZAR 17.64 | USD to ZMW 26.3 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1786.9 Down -0.02% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13998.92 Up +0.82% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 30497.83 Up +0.04% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9625.57 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 582.19/OZ UP +0.12% | Copper US$ 4.19/lb DOWN -0.0026 | Zinc US$ 2 919.80/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 72.53/BBP UP +0.72% | Platinum US$ 990.07/OZ DOWN -0.0048 |