Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Feb 15, 2016 (IV)

choi

(10) Thomas Prior, American Stud. The profitable second life of the world's fastest horse.
http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-american-pharoah-at-stud/

four consecutive paragraphs:

"The breeding shed is a short walk from the main stallion barn [at a 2,200-acre farm in Versailles, Ky that is called Ashford Stud]. Inside, big blue pads, the kind you might see in a high school gym, line the walls. The floor is cushioned with the chopped-up tire treads used in playgrounds to soften falls.

Minutes before American Pharoah enters the shed for his first real tryst this month, a handler will lead in the mare. Brown leather pads [as shown in the last photo whose caption reads, 'Leather kicking boots' to prevent the mare from kicking (or back-kicking) and injuring the stud] evoking 1920s football gear will be strapped around her lower legs. Near the center of the shed, she’ll be positioned in front of a mound of synthetic matting. That’s when a miniature stallion, Ashford Stud's resident fluffer, will arrive and climb the mound of mats so he can get high enough to jump her. A thick apron tied around his waist will keep him from taking things too far.

"That’s American Pharoah's job. As he's led toward the mare, a small crowd will converge upon the scene. One person, wearing a helmet, will stand in front of the mare, manipulating her front leg, forcing her to shift more of her weight to the hindquarters to prevent back-kicking. Another person will handle the twitch—a stick with a loop of rope on the end, which is tied to the mare’s upper lip [in penultimate photo whose caption is: 'Twitches, used to steady a mare during covering'; raising it helps keep the mare’s head up, which keeps her backside down. Somebody else will stand directly beside the two animals, ready to provide Pharoah with a delicate assist, manually steering him into position if necessary. (It reduces the need for multiple jumps.) A fourth person will capture everything on video, in case lawyers, insurance investigators, Jockey Club officials, or anyone else needs to review the footage.

"Pharoah, by this point, will have already caught an up-close glimpse of a female. 'Before his first time, we'll bring in an old mare that's basically bombproof [not destructible],' Barry says. 'What I mean by that is, he can jump up and down on her to figure out what we want him to do. Once he figures that out, he should be set.'

Note:
(a) American Pharoah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah
(won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015)

(b)
(i) "tire treads"

tread (n): "the part of a wheel or tire that makes contact with a road or rail"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tread
(ii) fluffer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluffer
(According to some pornographic actors, such as Aurora Snow, James Deen, and Keiran Lee [the first is a woman and the last two, men], fluffers do not actually exist)
(iii) "Twitches, used to steady a mare during covering"
(A) twitch (n): "a loop of rope or strap that is tightened over a horse's lip as a restraining device"
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twitch
(B) horse breeding
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_breeding
(section 10 Covering the mare: There are two general ways to "cover" or breed the mare: live cover)

(c)
Not just humans. Animals need to learn how to mount, too -- through trial and error.
(d) There is no need to read the rest.