Bucks
Dan Burstein - Stallion Manager
Dear Friends,
Good morning. The stallions of Fashion Farms near New Hope love their work. Not only do they live the life of Reilly, they’re rewarded for doing what comes naturally. Every time they perform, they get a gingersnap cookie.
When we left the column last week, I was about to reveal some of the ins and outs of a stallion manager. Mighty Betsy and I met Dan Burstein through his wife, Jill, who designs stained glass. The Bursteins have an interesting hobby. When she’s not sculpting and he’s not managing stallions, they run a business called New Hope Stained Glass. It’s very different from raising and breeding horses.
The Bursteins came to Bucks County seven years ago, summoned by Arlene and Jules Siegel who are among the major horse racing families in America. The Siegel’s’ sell and race standard bred horses. There are 190 horses that Dan Burstein and his team cares for on the three Fashion Farms occupying about 300 acres in Buckingham, Solebury, and Upper Makefield Townships.
Some of those acres began as William Penn land grants. Residents should take a page out of the Siegel’s book. They’ve placed conservation easements on their land so developers won’t be able to build 1,000 Mac-mansions on that land some day.
One of Dan’s major assignments is collecting and shipping semen from the stallions. Artificial insemination is a safer breeding method. Mares don’t get hurt in the process. Mighty Betsy and I watched one of Dan’s stallions in action.
“Real Artist” is a 12-year-old stallion that understands biology. Dan led him into an area where a stallion, “Real Artist,” took a lustful look at “Kiss Me, I’m Lucky,” a beautiful mare in heat. Dan and a helper attached “Real Artist” to a fake horse and the deed was done.
Poor “Real Artist.” He’d been fooled, but he received an award anyway…a gingersnap cookie. The mare got one too.
“Real Artist” goes to work once each day, four days each week and produces more than 10 billion sperm each time. It’s enough to breed 15 to 20 mares. Sperm from the stallions at Fashion Farms is sent all over the U.S. and the stud fees range from $3,500 to $7,500.
I asked Dan how many shipments he sends annually? “Maybe 400, plus, per year,” he replied. “Fed-Ex told me that we’ve increased the shipments by 36 percent.” The day of our visit, Fed-Ex was delivering sperm to nine mares in Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio.
The stallions have their own individual paddocks, which are clean as a whistle. They reminded me of the stables at the Greenbrier in West Virginia, one of the great watering holes in the world. Like the Greenbrier, the stables at Fashion Farms smell only of leather and hay. Besides, “Real Artist,” MB and I met “Broadway Hall,” “Tagliabue,” and “Village Jolt.” Their names were “Real Artist” and “Village Jolt.” which spoke volumes about their staying power.
Dan knew that horses would be his life from the get go. As a nine-year-old camper, he loved the outdoors and horses in particular. At the Craftbury School, affiliated with the University of Vermont, Dan spent a year divided into three parts: cows, horses and forestry. “After one year,” he said, “I knew my life would be with horses.”
He transferred to Ohio State University and won his degree in horse management. Dan spent 15 years in Upper New York State, working on horse farms before getting the nod to move to Bucks County. Here, he breeds standard bred mares and delivered 54 of the farm’s foals this year.
Dan’s daughters are embarrassed about what he does. “Our kids won’t go into the horse business,” he laughed.
It was fun wandering around those stables, I must say.
And getting a cookie for good work makes sense. Dan Burstein has it absolutely right. Awarding cookies for going the extra mile works wonders. His stallions love it…they’re eating right out of his hand. As for me, I prefer peach-flavored cookies, not ginger snaps.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith