Today’s post is simply going to take the form of a list- five things I wish I could bludgeon into people’s heads regarding the warmblood breed. Here goes.
1. Not all warmbloods are made equal
There is bad quality breeding and good breeding. People breed on fashion trends which is definitely a dangerous thing to do, people use poor quality mares with the latest ‘hot’ stallion and wonder why their foal resembles a mule, people don’t bother to research pedigree and type and complimentary crosses and latent genes. When you buy your first warmblood, do some research and take the time to learn about lines and what they mean. Don’t look at the breeder with all the flashy advertising, look at someone who knows what they are talking about.
For God’s sake do not buy on the basis that it came from a big name stud and therefore has a fancy prefix in front of its name! If you do that then you can close this blog right now, you are an idiot. Look for the lines, the
temperament, the conformation and the movement.
Then look at the horse in front of you, forget its breeding. Is it really a horse you want to take home and spend time with every day?
2. Most of us aren’t going to the Olympics, don’t buy a professional’s ride!
There are some really nasty horses out there, even if they move well. People see ooh it’s flashy, ooh it has bling, ooh it can move the house down. But do you want to actually be around that horse? Remember movement is one thing but if the conformation is bad, well the horse will not be able to cope with the dressage work you are asking it to do, if the temperament is bad then you’re never going to get anywhere at all, never mind how talented the horse is.
A horse can sound like a wonderful idea in theory and you’ll see the horse from the flashy breeder all plaited up looking excellent and running away from a plastic bag on a whip looking outstanding, but when you actually have to ride and be around that horse every day? Maybe not such a wonderful idea in reality. Remember the horse you see at the auction is done up to the nines and is in an artificially created atmosphere. It’s not necessarily going to be like that once it’s covered in mud and standing in your paddock eating hay.
3. MARES, MARES, MARES.
If people stopped importing euro trash stallions that the Germans don’t want (remember they wouldn’t let the good ones leave!) and started importing premium quality mares we would find ourselves catching up to Europe very quickly. Aunty Norma’s lame, bucking thoroughbred mare isn’t going to cut it, neither is the mare that was too hot for you to ride. If you start with a poor quality mare your foal is going to be poor quality- simple as that.
4. Some stallions produce foals, others produce competitors
There are amazing stallions that make foals, and amazing stallions that make dressage horses. Only in rare circumstances are these horses the same! Look at what the stallion has done, look at what his kids have done. And please god, think twice about what you’re doing before you put down 3.5k as a stud fee for a horse that would cost 500 euros to breed to in Europe. If it had its balls at all. Have a look at the stallion’s progeny on the market, if you want to sell it, what prices are they getting? Is there an oversupply? If there is, why the hell are you breeding to it? Go buy one that’s already there!
5. You’re not buying a foal, you’re buying a horse!
Don’t get dazzled by a fancy foal. The reality is that the people actually buying the wonderful horses most of the time are not the professional riders. They are your average rider like you or me, maybe a middle aged lady with dressage aspirations and enough disposable income to get a nice prospect for the future. Dear nice middle aged lady, are you actually going to be able to ride the adorable foal once it’s 17hh of explosive movement? There are amateur friendly lines but you’ve got to remember that the horse is only as good as it’s rider, and at adult riders club you’re probably going to be happier with a clydie cross than something by Sandro Hit. Harsh but true. Go spend the rest of your budget on a Mercedes or something.
Next post will be about how to make money breeding horses (HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA) an obligitory follow up to that statement because it requires more neurons than most seem to put into it.
Happy Riding!
No comments:
Post a Comment