Coloured and Colours

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springfallstud

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Why do you think alot more people are breeding coloured and more unusual coloured horses now more than ever? It seems everyone now has a mare or two in foal to produce one or the other? Is there a high demand for them, why do you think the change around has happened as i rememeber when no one wanted a coloured?
 
Im breeding mine to a coloured because as a child I always wanted one. And like you said, they wernt really wanted and nothing suitable. But Im awkward and weird, so this suits me down to a T!
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I've been breeding coloured/spotted horses for 10 years - 12 years if you count buying an in foal mare! I think that a good horse is a good horse regardless of the colour.

Having said that, I do tend to choose black or bay over chestnut..
 
I know you weren't saying that all coloureds are shoddy - I think there'd be uproar at that!

I don't know if they are more popular nowadays, but I guess as I have always liked them, I wouldn't necessarily notice if they were gaining in popularity. I have been surprised by the number of coloureds in the catalogues at things like BE events though - there do seem to be a lot of them!
 
I don't think serious sport horse breeders would pick colour, for the sake of having colour but I agree there does seem to be alot of people breeding for colour. I have always liked a nice coloured but I won't forfeit pedigree, conformation and performance etc just to get a coloured, thats why I only used my first coloured stallion last year, before that i'd never owned a coloured or used a coloured because one had never come along that fulfilled my criteria for a stallion or mare but just like buses when one comes along so do quite a few! After I used this coloured stallion, I got a coloured stallion of my own but tbh I would have had him whatever colour he was! Then along came a mare, same as the stallion I would have bought her if she had been any colour. Then the mare that I used the coloured stallion on had a coloured foal! Then because of the differculties with the floods this year, two of my mares ended up going to the coloured stallion where they were staying because I couldn't get them home to mine and of course ive used my coloured stallion on a couple of my mares and now another coloured mare with fab breeding has come along! Told you they are like buses!!
 
To late to edit previous post!
But I also think you are getting alot better quality of coloured now, the colour as been bred in and then cross to top horses and crossed again and again and you are now getting some really descent coloured horses coming through.
 
Yes but all those years ago when we were growing up; the only things that you could buy that were coloured were big chunky hairy cobs/gypsy ponies.

Nowadays you can have almost any type of horse you wish and still have a horse with a unique colour.

I think people are breeding more coloureds because that is what the regular riding market is desiring at present.

As a dealer/producer I have had to be sucked into this market as I know fine well if I am sitting here with some chestnuts and some coloureds, I know most of my buyers will want the coloureds and I will be left with the chestnuts.
 
Im not sure, I kept thinking it was just a phase but they seem more popular for ever. I cant speak for the sports horse people, but I do believe the traditional coloureds are being bred because there is a big market (and therefore big money) for them abroad. To quote a friend of mine "they are in demand because over there they cant ride one side of them darling.."
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Not very PC, but maybe she has a point ?
 
I had my first coloured horse about 9 years ago and she got me hooked, I have noticed an increase in popularity over the last 6 or so years and I think this is due to the improvements in their breeding, Like HG said you can now get decent coloured sports/competition horses. Hopefully there will be even better to come with more quality coloured stallions becoming available, well i hope so anyway!
 
My first ony nearly 15 years ago was a coloured TB x and she got me hooked - I still have her all these years later and she definitely started my interest in coloureds!

I love the fact that they are a bit different, which is why I also like the spotties and dilutes - and the quality of stallions avaialble has improved rapidly over the past few generations of breeding...
 
It's not just unusual coloured horses that sell well, you will never struggle to sell a black foal either.
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or a nice grey jumping foal that moves well... but you will struggle with a grey dressage foal....

Market demand drives peoples decisions I guess, problem is that if breeding for colour alone you can end up with a number of inutile average foals and when you choose colour over quality end up with a lot of average coloured foals they will be difficult to sell or sell very cheaply.

Then there are those who do their homework and apply exactly the same guidlelines as they would to any breeding program regardless of colour. Selection through compatibility. bloodlines, movement, conformation.... that way even if you have the plain foal if he floats on air is exquisitely typy with a fab pedigree that everyone will recognise not just coloured enthusiasts your foals will sell for the same price as any plain foal. But the very best well coloured foals with all of the latter will often sell for double because they are so few and far between.
 
I have just bought a coloured colt, he is the half brother to my mare (same dam). I bought him purely because of how impressed i was with his conformation, movement and attitude, also what helped make my decision to have him was my mare, she has got so much scope and did very well at her gradings this year, it may also be one of the dams last foals.
She is black and he is coloured (black and white), i would have had both whatever the colour but from a marketing point of view i know they would prob sell quicker and this was a slight factor in my decision to buy them.
 
I started breeding them because I couldn't buy one of the quality that I wanted at the time for a price I could afford, whereas I could have bought half a dozen bay ones. I have always loved flashy horses, ones that stand out, and so coloureds were just another step in that direction. I do breed Trakehners too and love them just as much as my coloured babies, in fact the filly I am keeping this year is a chestnut.
 
Surely if you are a commercial stud then you have to make money. Therefore if the market dictates coloureds will fetch the better price, it is hardly surprising you are going to see an increase in their breeding, good or bad. There was another post re the overpriced coloureds etc, but if people are willing to pay the prices, then what is wrong with that? How does that affect anyone but the seller/buyer? The market has always been full of substandard horses, no different in the dog world. So long as the animals wealthfare is not suffering it should not matter how many coloureds are being bred. I will avoid greys just because they are high maintenance. Coloureds certainly stand out & their markings make them unique. I have noticed more coloureds out eventing & competiting now, along with the odd Pally or Appy, makes a nice change from all the bays!
 
For sure breeders go where the market is. Of course a lot have always bred how they want, and will always breed like that, but if the demand is for coloured horses, and you know you will get a good 2K on top of what you would get for a solid colour, why not have the coloured. I have no prefrence on colour, and my horse is unknown breeding anyway, I bought him for his way of going, but they have grown on me. I think 10years ago the equine majority were anti coloured, and there just was not a decent quality in them, coloureds IMO look god awful with majority white, a couple of dark patches, and those walled eyes used to be so common. Breeding of coloureds now is much nicer.
 
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