James , Joy and their three girls relocated to South Africa from Zimbabwe in 2006, settling on the farm in Muldersvlei in 2009. They were always involved in the breeding of thoroughbred horses and growing flowers. History
There are plenty of quotes about learning from past mistakes to build future success. Oddly, other than ‘success breeds success’ there seem to be fewer about success in the past leading to future glory. Success is difficult to measure and different people see success in different ways. However, doing something that leads to a desired result is generally an affirmation that you are doing something right. People who measure this sort of thing find that people doing something that leads to success will most likely continue doing it. But I don’t think you need a research degree to work that out. Generally speaking, most of us have to gain experience from the school of hard knocks and do our own learning from making our own mistakes. Smart people learn from other people’s mistakes. Really smart people learn from others’ success. With the vagaries of genetics, breeding horses is something of a dark art. Achieving success once might be considered lucky. Considering consistent success therefore is either the realm of great fantasy, or great skill. Someone who has had a pretty solid schooling in the science of breeding success, is Sandown Stud’s James Armitage, who has recently become the third generation of the Armitage breeding dynasty to produce a Gr1 winner.
