Why do we need line breeding? What are its benefits? What are the dangers? Right from the first paragraph the article is in full swing using the analogy of building a brick wall to suggest that line breeding is effective when it is close, but a danger when it is too close:
‘The most powerful instruments available to a breeder to book successful results are in-breeding and line-breeding. These allow him to connect bloodlines. You can see it as the mortar used for the construction of a house, and it makes that the stallions that are successively used in the creation of the individual are not stacked up like loose bricks. Too much mortar will result in concrete and unskillful bricklaying in bad quality. Balance is therefore the key word for the effective use of in-breeding and line-breeding. And when that balance is achieved, the relevant horse has a higher chance of developing into an exceptional showjumping horse. In breeding, such a horse has a better chance to make an indelible mark and to turn out to be a corner stone.”