Coloured Horses

There were none at the Olympics for the equestrian events however there were a couple in the modern pentathlon. I was in the stables throughout and one of the mod. pen. coloureds tried to jump on my head, nasty little thing!
At the paralympics I can remember the coloured cob and I thought there was another but I don't know whose as I only watched that on tv/spectator.
 
I asked a similar question my self a while ago, I always wonder why there are not more coloured horses at high levels..?? As a HUGE fan of coloureds it always disappoints me :(
Would love to see some nice coloured Sports Horses about...I have my baby ISH X WB who is piebald, with paces to die for. He is 3 next year and Im hoping for big things from him, he is 16hh (ish) already :D
 
I too are a coloured fan and only got to sadly see some of the Olympics and didn't see any coloured horses but this was only in the dressage/ eventing and showjumping. It is nice to see there was some coloured horses participating in other areas.

I would too like to see more coloured horses at top level but how do we achieve this when so many people are against coloured horses?
 
HeavyHorseHugger said:
I asked a similar question my self a while ago, I always wonder why there are not more coloured horses at high levels..?? As a HUGE fan of coloureds it always disappoints me :(
Would love to see some nice coloured Sports Horses about...I have my baby ISH X WB who is piebald, with paces to die for. He is 3 next year and Im hoping for big things from him, he is 16hh (ish) already :D
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I think you hit the nail on the head!
Imo the well bred coloured sport horses are still quite young and moving up the ranks atm, maybe at the next Olympics there will be more as there are quite a few coloureds at 2* level or below at the moment :)
 
bubbles145 said:
I would too like to see more coloured horses at top level but how do we achieve this when so many people are against coloured horses?
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On the contrary, coloured horses are very popular.

But probably not so much to the professionals. They don't care about the colour, just the competitive prowess and soundness.

So the question is - what percentage of coloured horses have been bred for their conformation and talent - not many I bet. Which is maybe why they don't get to the top.
 
Because (I think) there aren't the same number of established lines (performance wise) also because when you do breed from them you never really know what throw back you might get.
 
Even fewer palominos, luckily we have Treliver Decanter, but nothing in top level show jumping and eventing, or even at lower levels. At least there are millions of coloured's at lower levels now. Utah Van Erpekom competed at Grand Prix and John Whitaker had another top level coloured that died fairly young. Several coloured horses have competed at four star, and there is a top coloured dressage horse out there whose name escapes me.
 
You actually see less horses at the very top level who are coloured now than you used to. I cannot think of any decent 4* eventers who are coloured. Maybe its because top jockeys buy on talent and ability and not on colour?
 
bubbles145 said:
I too are a coloured fan and only got to sadly see some of the Olympics and didn't see any coloured horses but this was only in the dressage/ eventing and showjumping. It is nice to see there was some coloured horses participating in other areas.

I would too like to see more coloured horses at top level but how do we achieve this when so many people are against coloured horses?
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How to achieve it?
In short, breed them to be better performers. At the moment coloureds are in general nice allrounders/amatuers horses with the odd one being a bit better and competing nationally. Very few are the quality to be international horses, let alone olympic prospects. It's got nothing to do with top pro's being against a horse because it's coloured, but more likely to be against them because it isn't going to win a medal I'm afraid.

That sounds like a slating of coloureds, it's not meant to be, many of them are incredibly useful horses.
 
LEC said:
Maybe its because top jockeys buy on talent and ability and not on colour?
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Yes and the back breeding, I'm not big into Eventing but looking at the schedual/list of competitor details or whatever you call it at an event last year, you would get repetitive eye strain reading the same names over and over.
 
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LEC said:
Maybe its because top jockeys buy on talent and ability and not on colour?
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Yes and the back breeding, I'm not big into Eventing but looking at the schedual/list of competitors details or whatever you call it at an event last year, you would get repetitive eye strain reading the same names over and over.
 
In my opinion the popularity of coloureds may have actually worked against them in this instance. Many coloureds i have known have been bred to be coloured rather than correctly conformed and for some less experienced horse people colouring can actually make conformation difficult to assess accurately. I know several amateur riders who have at some point or another ended up with a horse because of its colouring rather than its suitability i also know of some very unsuitable stallions being allowed to cover mares because of their colour.
 
Its a shame there aren't really any at top level. But does anyone remember the little coloured ex polo pony than jumped clear round Badminton a few years ago...? I can't remember its name or who it was ridden by (helpful eh :rolleyes: ) but im sure it was only about 15hh and a lovely coloured!!
 
I think because they have only become popular in recent years, they have a few centuries of catching up to do :-) There are a lot of coloured harness racers though, I think (hope) we'll see more coloured horses competing at higher levels eventually.
 
Agree that to a top rider the least important thing about a comp horse is it's colour. I'd also agree that there seems to be less coloured horse competing at the top now then there was a few decades ago. This reminds me of something a top SJer of old said (I think it may have been Steve Hadley) that the top horses of yesteryear were freaks who just happened to be exceptional rather than having been bred for the job, therefore they were all breeds, types, shapes, sizes and colours. Nowadays we do breed for the job and the job does not require the horse to of a certain colour. In a way it is a shame as the showjumpers of today are less identifiable and seem to have less personality!
 
I prefer them with more colour than white like this:

Robbieresized_zps1fc6aab4.jpg


He is only little but does well against bigger horses because his confo is good (better than he looks in this picture :)), he moves well and has plenty of presence, and he has exactly the same markings the other side - often compared to a Belted Galloway :D

He wouldn't be much good in ridden coloured classes though as his tack covers his white bits ;)
 
Rowreach said:
He wouldn't be much good in ridden coloured classes though as his tack covers his white bits ;)
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Don't be silly he would, remember most shows especially county you strip the saddles off :D My friends coloured has a similar marking and due to her excellent movement she consistently beats the more 'traditional' looking coloureds. Best of look hes gorgeous!
 
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