Catherston Dazzler- anyone here got something by him?

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shadowboy

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I am hopefully purchasing a little yearling from this line. What are they often like? what sort of qualities does he bring. The youngster is lovely in his own right, but being young its hard to know what to expect when hes older. Anyone know if they are successful on the competition curcuit?
 
Notoriously very difficult temperment, and tricky rides, but they are VERY talented.
There are a large amount of seriously talented horses by him mostly some four star eventers like midnight dazzler and hyde park corner, dazzling effects etc.
 
A friend of mine has a 8 month old foal by Dazzler.But as you say it's hard to tell when they are young.The filly has a very laid back attitude to life and so far is very even tempered.And a little stunner.good luck if you decide to buy the colt.He sounds lovely!.
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Echo Forrest on this one.

I haven't had one myself but I've known two. Both very sharp, 'professional' rides.
I don't know what sort of mares they were out of though as obviously that has a bearing too but Dazzler does have that reputation I'm afraid.
One of the two ended up being pts rather than falling into the wrong hands.
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Owners, a rider who competes at Inter 1 so no fool, had tried everything inc Richard Maxwell but no joy.
 
Should be fun then lol. Well i dont think this little fella will be quite that bad. His mum had 200 BD points and looked pretty chilled out when i saw her. The full brother (three years old, rising four) looked chilled when being lunged, so im hoping that he will take the mothers attitude, but i think i need to be prepared to have some battles and to have to deal with a sharp nature from what you guys have said!
 
I've meet Dazzler. He is lovely ok so I didn't ride him but I certainly wouldn't say he was nasty, sharp etc on the ground. I think Catherston have there name branded, but I don't think they are that bad. We had two by Liberator.
 
I have very limited experience of Catherston horses, but mine is by Dutch Gold and is the most un-nappy (if that's a word) horse I have ever sat on.
 
My top horse is by C. Dambuster, (Dutch Courage), and is the most laid back horse to the point of being bone idle!

Of course you can't label all their stock the same and not all Dazzler youngsters are difficult but they DO have that reputation.
 
I didn't know you had some Liberators. What are they like? Have they been slow maturing, both physicly and mentally? Liberty is by him, one of his oldest crop I believe, he's 7 this time.
 
Well one didn't grow, she is 4 and 15hh! Is going to be a fantastic little FEI pony though. Wouldn't say she was slow mentally or physically as she grew in proportion just not very big.
Our other baby is a bit slow mentally, he is 3 about 16hh but has a brilliant pop on him, cleared the 4ft fence from his field!
Both have fantastic personalities, good manners.
I met Liberator the other day, such as sweetie. He loves his cuddles.
 
old YO had two and both very lacking in the brain department handling and the the stable generally and very light of bone(but that could be as much from the match provided by the mares of course!)
not nasty just very stupid LOL
(although they would be much better on regular turnout of course so its hard to tell)
 
I was Hyde Park Corners groom. When we got him as a 4 yr old he had been in a number of homes as he was sharp to ride. However, he came right(although always spooky) and went on to be 9th at the sydney olympics as a 9 yr old in the 3 day event.
 
Yes, my friend has a 2 year old mare by him and she is for sale. If you send me a private message I'll give you the details and contact number for her.
 
Yes, there are definitely stallions out there who are more professionals rides than anything else and some of the Catherston horses are extremely difficult. Most are willing to go forward though.
 
I groom for my friend who bred a foal by him. The filly's now a yearling and is out showing inhand. She's one of the nicest natured youngsters on the yard... when she was a foal my 12yr old sister used to just cuddle her for hours!
 
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but mine is by Dutch Gold and is the most un-nappy (if that's a word) horse I have ever sat on.

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ditto. mine is a dutch gold mare and totally unnappy. Neal (her breeder) says she has more of her mothers characteristics though so not sure on this one.
 
One of my closest friends had his mare at catherston for years and bred 3 foals from her, one by dazzler and 2 by liberator. The dazzler mare is now rising 7 and a complete nightmare to handle ! very hard work at comps, wont settle etc ! but has so much talent, but really wont make the grade due to her attitude - she constantly seems worried and stressed, currently undergoing treatment by vet to calm her down but its nothing to do with her being a mare its mainly to do with her breeding, her 2 half sisters by liberator are totally chilled out, the youngest one went to her first ever comp on sat, at tweseldown and was an absolute joy ! really chilled, waited in the lorry like an angel, were the dazzler mare throws herself about. Personally I wouldnt buy a horse out of dazzler, even though when I see this mare on the xc I want her but when i see her in the dressage arena I really dont !
 
Having worked with both stallions and some of their stock, I have to say that I much prefer Darkie (Bobby at Langaller) to Libs. Darkie has tons of character, but is actually a nice horse. Libs does nothing for me - personality wise or otherwise. Libs kids tend to be athletic, but SOOOOOO laid back - almost too laid back. Darkies tend to be extremely talented, but chanelling that talent can be a challenge - once you ar on the same side, they ROCK!
 
Hi.. puzzled by some of your threads, each foal/off-spring is an individual and also most born of different mares with yet again differing temprements and initial handling as alot to do with outcome!

We have a superb mare by Democrat who has just had a Catherston Dazzler filly, the foal is superb confirmationally and has excellent temprement??

I wouldn't class the filly as a proffesional ride but i would be seeking a knowledgable home for her as she has far more chance of doing well and not being spoilt..

Any quality bred horse with good blood who is forward thinking is not suitable for a novice but equally off-spring by Olympians with talent probably wasn't bred to be with a novice.

The above broodmare/dam's 4yr is with a top 30 FEI world ranked eventing rider so we have high hopes for this little filly.

Sorry if I have upset anyone... but this rumours and silly "maybe" talk is just that... a horse is what you make it!!!
 
Sorry Panther I have to disagree.
Some bloodlines are quite definitely more difficult temperamentally than others, and although obviously early handling and training afterwards make a difference, you can't remove that part of the equation.
We started off 20 years ago breeding with the same bloodline as Crusing, although all appeared talented jump-wise and had no spooks about them etc, many were far too hot a ride to be easily trainable. The mares varied from warmbloods to Id x TB, and so we were able to see whether it was the stallions' temperament passed on or theirs.
As the females became of breeding age we experimented with different stallions, sometimes using full sisters on the same stallion, one of which is a "hot head" the other much calmer.
It was fascinating to see what passed down and what didn't.
We are now at the stage of breeding those initial mares with our present stallion, a warm blood/TB/anglo who has the most laid back temperament imaginable.
These offspring are sensible, easy to train, and jump well.
Now and again we get a throwback to that first bloodline but it's getting rarer as we dilute it.
I have seen over time various stallions produce nasty tempered offspring and that does pass on I'm afraid. (none of ours I must say, they are pussy cats)
I agree top class competition horses aren't for anyone except professionals (it's a bug bear of mine which is why I try to produce middle of the road types!)
but some are infinitely easier to train than others.
One of the outside bloodlines we used has a reputation for being sods to break..
Just incase we sent our latest away to someone else...
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So as you can see I do have good reasons not to agree with your last statement, all horses aren't what you make of them, they sometimes are what they are despite everything else being in their favour..
 
well we will have agree to disagree
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in our 20 yrs we haven't found that to be case. perhaps i have been just very lucky for 20 yrs? 150+ foals later??
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I would certainly not hesitate to use Dazzler again although now gone up to £800! And we have excellent feed back and not one gone astray...
we have several types of mare both in breed and temp and suitable to stallion accordingly, some as you say are aimed at riding club/elementary etc level... others higher of which this filly should be.
we have some Cruising lines all have been ab fab! especially the ponies we have bred.
Don't mean to be agrumentative but he has sooooo soooo many successful ofspring.. do soooo sooo well some with amaturers.. can't see the bad reputation?
 
pps...

on saying that there are definately some stallions I would never use....

saw one when standing in Wales who has moved to England about 3-4 yrs ago..... very famous stallion.... who was soo unbelievably dangerous was untrue!!!

Absolute nutcase, extremely agressive...

End of day would like to have seen him in his youth when he may have been different... years of stabling etc..

Such a terrible pity!
 
I can't comment on Dazzler because I know little about him, but know what you mean re some stallions..
We had a famous one round here (now deceased) who was an absolute ratbag..
That passes on to his stock sometimes too, immense talent but difficult horses..
 
Welding on the car???? I was thinking of his stable mate (who I nearly used) the chap that likes to sit in the dark. That does have a questionable rep.
 
Actually the particular stallion you are talking about has a reputation for having always been like it .
Think he could be exciting on the racecourse as well so nothing to do with being stabled.
Besides the stud he originally stood at are very stallion friendly and they get a good life so nothing to do with them.
 
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