any international buyers?

[marmite]

how do you go about buying young stock abroad?


Im looking into getting a foal at some point over the next couple of years and just wanted some pointers.

 

[RunToEarth]

Friend buys in from Czech rep, not too sure how she goes about it, she has a lot of cantacts and buys in bulk.

 

[vicijp]

Whats wrong with British?
I thought you were skint.

 

[marmite]

im talking one or two years down the line not next week,


i want maybe a andalusion or a trak

 

[airedale]

Can buy both of those in the UK - no need to buy abroad

How about supporting the hard-pressed british breeder instead of exporting your £££s for a possibly sub-standard product just 'cos it has "made in Germany" tattooed on it's arse.

 

[marmite]

I know someone who has just had a 6 month old brought over from abroad and he is lovely american paint horse but i dont get on with her so i wouldnt ask her for any of her contacts,

 

[RunToEarth]

Nothing wrong with a proper british hoss though

 

[marmite]

Not a case of it been branded im not into brand names clothes and certainly not horses they are bred to a higher standard in there own country or at least i think they look more impressive.

 

[marmite]

No not at all but this is going to be in a couple of years time by the time it will be ready to back jacob will be getting on and be having an easier life so to speak.

 

[airedale]

"bred to a higher standard" - mmmmmmmmmm - not what I've seen.

Many young horses abroad are overworked at a young age and therefore develop unsoundnesses too soon

UK bred horses are left to grow in a more traditional way and are not pressed to do elementary dressage at 2 and jump 3ft 6 as a foal - all of which have been reported in various horse publications includign nag and dog and also my own personal experience watching videos of horse progeny competitions abroad.

Therefore the long term soundness of a british bred horse is a better prognosis than an imported, over stressed whilst young, foreign flashy expensive purchase.

Before you buy abroad look at what is available in the UK - you may well be surprised at the quality.

If you - for example - read any of the breed society grading reports where the judges are from e.g. Germany - then their comments on the UK bred youngstock is that it is of as high a quality as what is bred abroad.

It's just that as UK breeding is so consistently stabbed in the back by UK horse buyers there isn't the 'press' to sound the trumpet of the quality of UK bred horses, unlike the marketing brainwashing of buyers from the media spin machine in Germany and other continental horse breeding countries.

Spin Spin Spin - if you don't believe it from the Labour gov. then don't believe it from the foreign horse breeder. Buy british

 

[Maesfen]

Thanks Airedale!

As a British breeder of British horses, I fully concur with your statement that ours are as good as if not better than the foreign bred things and with a lot less mileage on the clock as well.
I love the principle of the BYEH classes but in my view they are still asking too much of young animals. Leave to mature, they will last a lot lot longer and give you the pleasure of knowing you started it off properly instead of it being trussed up like a turkey by lord knows who when it's only two or three, but that's alright because they are foreign! - I don't think so. Any young horse deserves a decent start when it is fully mature, not before - you don't ask boys to do a mens' work, same should apply to horses.

Let's hear it for the British breeders and their brilliant produce a bit more please!

 

[bellgave]

Honestly, buying british would be very nice. But it is cheaper to go abroad. And I think you def' get more for your money. Andalucian wise, people over here just dont seem to have it right yet, thats not saying in a few years it will be the same case, but at the moment, the only really nice andys are the ones imported from spain not stock which has been bred here. Sorry.
In an ideal world we should all support GB in all walks of life, wether buying, food from tescos or horses or cars, but it doesnt work like that.

 

[bellgave]

P.S I have bought from Spain, France, Hungary, America and the UK. Its 100 times easier to buy at home, but if england cant supply what you want why not go else where?

 

[watcherathome]

If you want a trak you could look at Godington stud near Bicester, theirs are lovely and well bred..easily as good as anything you can import

 

[SirenaXVI]

Sorry Bellgrave but I totally disagree with you - there are some very nice british bred andalusians these days, yes there are some very nice imported horses, but there are also some cr*p imports, just as there are some cr*p british bred horses, the only difference being that the import has a five figure price! There has been one british bred andalusian gaining callificado (elite) status in spain where he moved with his BRITISH breeder - he is half brother to one of my own british bred andalusians.

We ALL need to support british breeders before we don't have any left

 

[bellgave]

Sirena. Perhaps it is not only the breeding, but the way the spanish andalusians are schooled, they are just more of an eyeful of horse. I 100% agree that there are A LOT of cr*p imports, as there are with any breed. I think the problem is that there arent enough top quality mares in the UK to breed from. The prices needn't be five figure as you say, you just need to buy from friends or friends of friends or get spaniards to buy on your behalf as yes the prices go up up up as soon as you are an international buyer. I am very pro UK if I cant get better for less somewhere else. All my show horses are UK bred and are fantasic and I would never look else where for them.

 

[SarahNZ]

Hmmm well buying 'British made' might not be quite as straight forward as some of you have mentioned. I am currently looking for a 2-3 yr old stallion from Dressage lines, and I can tell you that I have looked at many both German bred and British bred, and I would have to say that the British do NOT stand out at all. The prices are higher, the horses not really of better quality, and the selection alot thinner on the ground.

 

[burtie]

[ QUOTE ]
I am currently looking for a 2-3 yr old stallion from Dressage lines, and I can tell you that I have looked at many both German bred and British bred, and I would have to say that the British do NOT stand out at all

[/ QUOTE ]

To be fair Sarah if I remember rightly, you particularly wanted specific German/dutch stallions and you want to buy a foal, Given that your search was very specific I wouldn't ever count out looking abroad. Also I would have less of an issue buying a weaned foal from abroad than a 3 year old as I am not keen on the way youngsters are produced on the continent.

However I personally would still look for british. My friend has bought a stunning foal that goes back to Weltmeyer on the sire side and Voltaire/Ramiro on the dame side at a VERY reasonable price. He will be stunning and I plan to steal him from her at some point

, but you do need to be a bit more flexable with the actaul sires, in his case Weltmeyer is his Great-grandsire and his actual sire is not that well known, but I believe is graded.

 

[SSM]

Climbs onto her soapbox with a mega phone

Cleveland Bay ???????????? As good as any foriegn warmblood - hardy - can do dressage and jump - fantastic crossed with thoroughbred and you can pick up young boys

quite cheaply!!!!!!

Climbs down from soapbox

 

[the watcher]

[ QUOTE ]
Climbs onto her soapbox with a mega phone

Cleveland Bay ???????????? As good as any foriegn warmblood - hardy - can do dressage and jump - fantastic crossed with thoroughbred and you can pick up young boys

quite cheaply!!!!!!

Climbs down from soapbox

[/ QUOTE ]

SSM..I agree, but there is this current fashion for short necked fat warmbloods with vertical paces that will not go away..only kidding before I get lynched, but the fascination for them just leaves me cold.

Dales and their crosses can have a big movement too, as well as plenty of our other native breeds.

The only thing I like about the warmbloods I have met is that they don't seem to be very independant thinking, and are consequently very trainable..which I can see would be a benefit..I prefer mine to have a bit of spark but it does make them more of a challenge

 

[magic104]

I have to say that in the 80's when a WB was very vogue, people were going to the continent & bringing back some right dodgy animals, all because it was a "Continental WB" & paying over the odds. I don't think the Trakehner breeders would agree that they have sub standard young stock. It is your money at the end of the day it is not for us to tell you how to spend it. Personally I would stick with British purely because this country is trying to improve on its breeding programme, & needs all the support it can get. Unlike the continent UK do not get government backing.

 

[Tia]

It's simple. You trawl the Internet (as you would do for a British horse), you find a number that you like and you go over and take a look at them. If you buy one then you ship it back to the UK. Easy-peasy and much cheaper than buying in the UK in my experience. Having said that you do need to know what you are looking at as there is a lot of junk out there! But then there is junk in all countries.

 

[SirenaXVI]

[ QUOTE ]
but the way the spanish andalusians are schooled, they are just more of an eyeful of horse.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah sorry but going to disagree again, from a dressage point of view, a spanish trained horse is just so not correct, all flash and bluster with no throughness - yes it makes more of an eyeful but does not make for a good sportshorse, as the spanish breeders are desperate to get into the dressage market, they need to either send their horses to Holland/Germany/UK to be trained, or, get some dressage riders to train them properly in spain. For film/stunt work, of course it does not matter if the horse is correct, all that matters is that the horse looks fantastic on camera - and tbh most iberians do photograph well which is why they have been so successful in this sphere - but there is far more to them than jumping through fire!

 

[peapod]

Also climbs on soapbox with an even bigger loudspeaker

BUY A NATIVE PONY!

You want to do affiliated dressage? Get a Native. Jumping? Get a Native. Cross Country? Get a Native. Showing? Get a Native.

If for some un-fathomable reason you don't want a pony, what's wrong with Irish Draughts and their crosses?

Buy British

Also steps off soapbox and scuttles away, looking furtive.

OH, Sorry Sirena, that wasn't aimed at you!! The Curse of Quick Reply strikes again!

 

[Faithkat]

[ QUOTE ]
Many young horses abroad are overworked at a young age and therefore develop unsoundnesses too soon

[/ QUOTE ]

Sooooooo true. I remember reading, with horror, about a 3 year old dressage horse that was sold for some ludicrous sum (£65k) last year in Germany I think it was. There was a photo of it going like a GP horse - dear God, just how much work had the poor thing done to get it like that at an age when I wouldn't even have considered backing it much less working it to that extent. I woud imagine its hocks would be totally knackered by the time it was about 10.
Support your British breeder!!!!!

 

[Faithkat]

There was a very interesting auction of young sports horses at Crofton Manor, Fareham, Hampshire earlier this year (there were a posts about it on here)) which attracted some stunning stock but, sadly, very few were sold and the ones that were went very cheaply for their breeding and type. It was quite tragic to see beautifully bred youngstock (foal by Weltmeyer, for example) struggling to attract a single bid of £1000 - needless to say, the reserve was considerably higher than that. There are superb British-bred horses out there that are not silly prices you just have to look around.

 

[Faithkat]

Well Sarah - if the British do not stand out, how about this article in today's H & H?

British breeding on top in Germany
H&H staff writer

16 November, 2006

A British-bred Thoroughbred has been crowned Stallion of the Year at the Hanoverian grading show in Germany for the first time

British sport horse breeding landed a major accolade in Germany when, for the first time,
a Thoroughbred was crowned Stallion of the Year at the Hanoverian grading show in Celle.


Leading dressage sire Lauries Crusador, a 21-year-old son of Welsh Pageant out of a High Top mare, also became the first British-bred horse to scoop the award.


Bred by the former Three Ashes Stud, Lauries Crusador ran 12 times during his racing career in Britain, winning twice and finishing third in the Group One Ascot Gold Cup in 1989. He was exported to the state-owned Celle Stud in Germany in 1991 as an outcross for warmblood mares.


He became an instant hit as a sire of dressage horses. Two of his best-known progeny are grand prix horses Lesotho and the stallion Laurentianer.