Breeding dilemma - horse or pony?

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Top Hat

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Hi All

I have a super small Kwpn brood mare. Both her sire and dam sire rank very high on the dressage stallion rankings and both competed very successfully at international GP. In fact, so did her grandsires! Before an accident she had a super trainable temperament.

Anyway, my dilemma is what stallion should I consider. I'm seriously considering putting her to a good successful pony (i have at least one in mind) and hoping to breed a top competition pony (dreaming is allowed) but what if her foal ends up over height!

Is there a market for extremely well bred talented but SMALL dressage horses, say around 15h? She has already had a couple of foals and they are exceptionally beautiful and move like stink!
 
Are her other foals small? Is her family line? Breeding is about genetics, not just the individual. Of course it's also a bit of a crap shoot but you can narrow your odds!

While I know there is a market for smaller dressage horses, it's not a big one and it's very niche. People expect to pay much less for a small prospect as resale is limited and options are fewer if you're producing professional quality horses.

If you're going pony make sure you do your research as 'just over' is, of course, no good. With a mare with normal sized genetics make sure you select a stallion that consistently produces under height. Most of the large pony producers I know prefer to use smaller mares as the mare TENDS to have more input into height.
 
Thanks for your reply TarrSteps. that is my dilemma....I want to produce professional quality! My mare is by Gribaldi out of a Rohdiamant mare, so her lines are good but not necessarily small. Her previous foals look to be mirroring the stallion's height, maybe a bit smaller. Around 16h1, where she is 15h2.
I just have this notion that her perfect husband is a certain 13h1 pony, and if it stays pony sized could be remarkable, but if it ends up slightly over height, will I end up funding it's eventual retirement, and all the years in between where no-one wants to buy it and we end uP producing it ourselves (my rider is only 5ft 2)

Hmmm.
 
My mare was 15.1 we did the odd bit of dressage but it was never something I wanted to do, although she was well schooled. I once saw a dressage rider (really good one) sit on her and my jaw dropped... Even though I knew she was good (the horse that is) she was amazing with this rider! I could have sold her 1000 times over but thankfully never did. And this rider said that if ebs was younger she'd have been after her for herself (ebs was 14 then) so yes, for the right super talented small horse, then there is a market, but it is a niche market. And I think sometimes some people like to see a horse of that size under saddle and with a certain level of schooling, it makes them see past the height and see the talent and that its worth buying
 
It doesn't sound like she would reliably throw small enough foals and you may well end up with something oversize.
Having tried to sell a lovely dressage mare who was just under 16hh, lots of people had said they were after a small horse, but when it actually came to it, I had very little interest.
If you don't mind me asking, who is the pony stallion you were thinking of?
 
Faberge, I was thinking of Caesar who I fell in love with some time ago! I just have a notion that he would really complement her especially as she seems to reliably stamp her foals with an extremely uphill frame. The only criticism of her, and I'm not entirely sure it is a criticism any more, is that she could maybe use a tad more bone, which he would supply.
 
I have searched for small dressage horses so many times and always ended up with bigger as i couldnt find quality 15.2's.

I recently bought a caesar pony and I am hooked! Now thinking of putting my bigger mare to him. The temperament is superb and 3 months after backing pony is better in attitude and versatility than my 6 year old.

I wouldnt hesitate, if the offspring comes out bigger its likely to have a great temperament and trainability anyway :-)
 
Top Hat I have the very same dilemma. I have a little mare (15.1hh) who I would love to breed to a very smart pony stallion also with top notch breeding. I have the same concerns as you that what if the youngster grows over height. My mare throws small. She herself was a bit of an oddity as all horses in her lineage are all over 16.1hh as far back as you look. My fear is that when she was bred to a 17hh stallion the youngster will only make 15hh at maturity, and I keep thinking what if I breed her to the pony stallion and the youngster does the opposite to what is usual and it makes the same. There is a market for small competition horses but it's very limited.
 
When I put my Weltmeyer 4yo on the market a few years back I sold him very easily as not only was he seriously talented and a temperament to die for, but he was 15.1hh and his selling point was that he was a purpose bred dressage horse in a small packet. A lot of ladies dont 3want a giant, especially as they get older.
However they tend to want something well produced and going well so you might end up keeping it till it is 4 or 5 and you may find the cost of raising it and producing it to that age is more than an eventual selling price
 
My 4 yo was from gribaldi mare and as a maiden they chose a small stallion 15hh. He is currently 16.1hh bigger than both parents. Gribaldi wasn't small
 
volatis said:
A lot of ladies dont 3want a giant, especially as they get older.

However they tend to want something well produced and going well so you might end up keeping it till it is 4 or 5 and you may find the cost of raising it and producing it to that age is more than an eventual selling price
Click to expand...

This describes exactly my friends position at the moment. She has been searching for 12 months plus, for a 15h/15.2 correct small riding horse stamp to show/dressage up to elem/med.

Hens teeth to say the least. My friend is a little older, barely 7 stone and rides very well, but does not want a pony type. The quality small riding horse is not out there. Even small compact and with bone TB's cannot be found. Plenty of ponies or TB weeds though.
 
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