Statistics from The Jockey Club for the 2011 North American breeding season show the number of stallions that serviced mares fell 11.5% and the number of mares bred declined 10% when compared to the same period a year ago.

Based on the Report of Mares Bred (RMB) received through Oct. 12, 2011, The Jockey Club reported that 1,935 stallions covered 36,504 mares in North America. Based on reports through the same period one year ago, 2,186 stallions had serviced 40,576 mares.

The annual RMB includes the number of mares bred to each stallion and represent approximately 90% of the mares that eventually will be reported as bred in 2011. The Jockey Club estimates an additional 3,500 to 4,000 reports of mares bred to be received before the end of the year.

Among the top 10 breeding states and provinces by number of mares reported bred in 2011, only the Canadian province of Ontario reported stallions covering more mares than in 2010, as reported at this time last year. The number of stallions in Ontario fell from 78 to 71, but the number of mares bred through Oct. 12 rose just under 1%, from 1,383 to 1,396