Buying a well bred horse to enjoy as a RC allrounder

Kitsune said:
After a discussion with friends last night.

Do you think there is anything wrong with buying a well bred animal, just to enjoy as a RC allrounder? Do you think its a "waste", or that the horse will inevitably be too good to just have fun on etc?

Or do you think that a horse is a horse and has no idea of its breeding and even if bred in the purple can enjoy a quiet life as a happy RC allrounder?

Thoughts!
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong at all. What matters isn't breeding, but whether the horse has the right attitude for the job you're asking him to do and you like the horse and enjoy riding it at that level.

Main thing I'd be a bit wary of these days is buying a professional's ex-competition horse as an allrounder, whatever its breeding. It could be an amazing schoolmaster for someone, but chances are it could also be a bit quirky, and won't necessarily have an all-round education.

I bought a beautifully bred failed ex-dressage mare who came from a professional's yard and she turned into a wonderful RC horse and allrounder over time, but when I first got her, she'd barely ever hacked (no '5th leg' or self preservation at all!), was very green jumping and spun when a leaf blew the wrong way!
 
I haven't read the answers so don't know if anyone's mentioned this.

I agree with buying the best for your purpose and budget but spare a thought for the breeders who might have had very high hopes for their youngstock. Many of them would think it would be wasted only at RC level and would have wanted it aimed higher. Whether it reaches those aims or not is neither here nor there but it's having the opportunity to do it which is their priority.
Take two names out of the hat, Mill Law and Grafenstolz for instance. Breeders wouldn't have gone to the expence of using those stallions on something just to sell it into a RC home down the road, they would have wanted more from it and would be disappointed if it only reached that level; I know I certainly would.
I have a youngster for sale ATM, now while I don't think he'll be a world beater, I do want much more for him than to just be a happy hacker, that would be a waste of his abilities even though he won't realise this and as long as he's cared for properly, that is all he will be worried about (me too I might add) Is it wrong for breeders to want the best chances for their youngsters too?
Anyone who does pick up a nice well bred horse somewhere, well good on you, I hope you have fun and success but bare a thought for the breeder too and let them know what their 'child' is up to, many would want to know, I know I would.
 
Don't you think that the breeders should just be happy that the animals they breed are going to a good home? If they want to be sure that their bloodlines are shown off in competition the only way to ensure that is to do it themselves.
 
I think 3 things can make a horse less than ideal as a RC all rounder and all are apparent in some well bred horses.
1. A horse bred for big paces - especially if it has an extremely active hind leg can be uncomfortable and can unseat an amateur or less able rider. I don't think it's desirable unless you want the paces for a specific discipline.
2. Big jumping horses which naturally bascule and give fences lots of air, can also be uncomfortable and unnerving, this can be as a result of breeding.
3. Temperament, horses bred for professionals to ride can be completely unsuitable for your average RC owner. Overseas this is far more commonly recognised.

I can't think of anything more suitable for an average RC rider than a good british bred TBx native/cob/ID/shire/CB. Decent movement, honest/ brave jump, sane & easy to do 99% of the time. We've done ourselves a big disservice with our infatuation with continental horses to the detriment of home bred 'native' or hunter types I think.
 
xspiralx said:
I don't think the breeding matters at all to be honest, it depends much more for me on the individual horse.

However if the question is more "buying a talented competition horse to use as a RC allrounder" then I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but it depends on whether the horse is suitable for the job really.

For example I know lots of talented competition bred horses that wouldn't really be suitable as RC allrounders because they don't have the temperament - too sharp or quirky - bred for top performance rather than rideability. More than capable of doing the job, but not necessarily much fun to do it on.

So I'd say there is nothing wrong with buying a really quality horse to do lower level stuff, but only if the horse has the right attitude. No point buying a super smart horse with all the scope in the world if you can't enjoy it.
Click to expand...

^^ This. Obviously the better bred the horse the more statistically there is a chance of it being talanted but I think this is a good post.

FWIW my pony is very well bred - I would love him to end up as a riding club alrounder. Not sure we'd get on the showjumping team tho - he's a 13.3hh Fell pony!!! :D
 
Last edited:
Can I ask a cheeky question Kitty, just sort of sneak it in,

My horse is by Sir Game, we also have his full brother on the yard, both of them are funny bu$$ers. Is that inherited from the sire? We also had a half sister, (same sire) Known to be quirky or just products of their environment?
 
Tinypony said:
Don't you think that the breeders should just be happy that the animals they breed are going to a good home? If they want to be sure that their bloodlines are shown off in competition the only way to ensure that is to do it themselves.
Click to expand...

From a breeders point of view no.

Obviously any breeder worth their salt want the best for their horses and that's including a good home but if I'd spent years (and my family had) putting a lot of time and money into perfecting a breed and producing fanstastically well bred horses and the pedigree to match for a specific job then I'd want to see them doing it, it's what good breeding is all about.
 
Kenzo said:
From a breeders point of view no.

Obviously any breeder worth their salt want the best for their horses and that's including a good home but if I'd spent years (and my family had) putting a lot of time and money into perfecting a breed and producing fanstastically well bred horses and the pedigree to match for a specific job then I'd want to see them doing it, it's what good breeding is all about.
Click to expand...


and if a breeder has put a lot of effort into bloodlines and record, then obviously they would want something to reflect the work they have done and also to act as a bit of an advert for their breeding programme.

So I am a big fan of the ISH, not the warmblood crosses so anything with Ricardo Z in it doesn't do it for me, but something that has proven lines is of interest. So previous boy was out of Coevers Diamond Lad (KOD) so I was pretty sure I could expect something that could jump (correct as it turned out). New boy is out of Crannagh Hero, out of Blue Henry, so good proven jumping lines and both stallions have the reputation of passing on good temp to their stock. I do place a lot of reliance on breed lines as have seen for myself how a stallion really can pass on certain traits, not always good ones either! but I am only an amateur. I will never hit truly giddy heights eventing (frankly if I make it back to Novice I will be delighted) but I did want to give myself a better option. My mare was not well bred (irish cob mare x TB) but was well and truly proven by the time I bought her which was more important. Would be a little less happy to take the risk of buying a youngster with no history and no idea what could influence him/her from the breeding side.
 
Luci07 said:
and if a breeder has put a lot of effort into bloodlines and record, then obviously they would want something to reflect the work they have done and also to act as a bit of an advert for their breeding programme.
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly that.

But seen as I'll never breed a well bred horse or have the money to buy one, I'll never have to sorry about it.:D

But if for example I had did manage to breed a 'one off foal' from a very good mare and stallion (say it was the one thing in life I wanted to do, even if it was just the once), I'd be happy to see the horse go off and do what ever, so long as the it was a good home, I wouldn't gain anything personally or financially by only selling to someone who wanted to compete at top level.
 
TBH, if its a gelding it really doesn't matter how it is bred, thats an aside. It could have the best breeding in the world and still be completely useless.

Mares and stallions are a bit different though, although I wish some people would not bother keeping their (imho) sub standard horses as stallions, they are not good/talented enough to breed from, geld them and let them have an easier life imho :)
 
I think it entirely depends on the horse's temprament. Which can be influenced by breeding- but sometimes isn't! My young horse is well bred, his dam is a clover hill mare and his dad has sandro, nimmerdor and purioso bloodlines amongst others. Admittedly he was sold as unregistered otherwise I probably wouldn't have looked at or been able to afford him but I then got him DNA tested and have full papers. He wouldn't mind at all being a RC allrounder but let's not forget even within the RC realms, there is a world of different levels of rider. I'd like to think I am a decent RC level rider and he will do Rc teams, probably intermediate level (1m) next year when he is rising 6. However I'm not sure he would pop round 2'3 courses easily as he does have a big jump and would potentially unseat a less balanced rider, even on the flat he has a LOT of power. But top end RC allrounders often compete affiliated too .... So in answer to OP in probably depends on the horse, it's temprament and what level of RC competition you are talking about!
 
Not sure about well bred necessarily but it does give you alot of confidence to ride a horse with scope and ability.

As a amateur rider, it's nice to work so easily within your horses capabilities and have a bit of room for error rather than having to nurse a horse around that is working closer to its limitations.

I took mine to his first event at the weekend and although the course was 70cm, looking at the photographs he clearly decided that the jumps were in excess of 1m.

He's a tb and I didn't realise he had good sportshorse lines till I posted in breeding and people got very excited about his breeding.
All the conversations I had with the seller were about temperament, easy going and laid back came up alot and that was my focus - I didn't want anything complicated but a bit of talent does help.
 
I think so long as the horse fits your requirements then it doesnt matter if the horse has good breeding, however, good breeding doesnt always mean they have inherited the sires/dams athletic ability.
 
ecrozier said:
But top end RC allrounders often compete affiliated too .... So in answer to OP in probably depends on the horse, it's temprament and what level of RC competition you are talking about!
Click to expand...

Agree with this - when people on here talk about RC/PC allrounders (particularly with regard to pricing), it is obvious that people have different ideas of what these all-rounders really are. The BRC and PC area horse trials, for example, range in height from around BE Intro to BE Novice, depending on whether you are classed as Novice, Intermediate or Open, so a horse doing these would also easily be capable of the lower levels of BE. However, for some people the definition of a RC allrounder is a happy hacker who might pop out to the local show once in a while and jump round the 2'3" class or do the walk and trot dressage. So the term covers a wide range of animals!
 
I think you should ignore breeding unless you want the horse to breed from!
Pick one that you like and that suits you, if that happens to be the offspring of an Olympic horse fine, if it happens to be out of the milkmans horse fine, as long as it's capable of what you want who cares if it could or could not do more.

The horse is only wasted if you dont enjoy it and can't handle it.
 
TGM said:
Agree with this - when people on here talk about RC/PC allrounders (particularly with regard to pricing), it is obvious that people have different ideas of what these all-rounders really are. The BRC and PC area horse trials, for example, range in height from around BE Intro to BE Novice, depending on whether you are classed as Novice, Intermediate or Open, so a horse doing these would also easily be capable of the lower levels of BE. However, for some people the definition of a RC allrounder is a happy hacker who might pop out to the local show once in a while and jump round the 2'3" class or do the walk and trot dressage. So the term covers a wide range of animals!
Click to expand...

Very true.

As much as anything I do think it would be a bit of a waste to go out to buy a super talented competition horse to just be a happy hacker or pop round the minimus class at a show.

However if someone wants a horse to compete regularly at 90cm - 1m level when the horse might be capable of 1.20cm - I don't think there's anything wrong with it.
 
It doesn't matter at all. We are selling an event horse who's parents are both advanced eventers. One person rang and said I only want to do dressage and start at BE90 and work up, do you think he'll mind? my answer was 'not at all as long as he's fed and can go out in the field etc he'llbe happy' Go for it, buy the best you can afford.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top