Dressage breeding (edited) - lines when looking at horses for sale

[LadyGascoyne]

Plenty of international Iberians! There's two lusitanos competing at London Olympia this year, depends whether you want a going to be international winner GP horse or a GP horse generally. Your budget would go further for an Iberian as they are not as popular as warmbloods but depends what you want to do really.

If you do go that route then I know those lines very well

Yes but I tend to like the ones that are built like cow horses

I know there are some excellent ones competing at a high level, and there are some lovely lovely horses.

I think I’d appreciate the journey more than getting out and competing but I also don’t necessarily want to stick to the MCI classes.

 

[shortstuff99]

Yes but I tend to like the ones that are built like cow horses

I know there are some excellent ones competing at a high level, and there are some lovely lovely horses.

I think I’d appreciate the journey more than getting out and competing but I also don’t necessarily want to stick to the MCI classes.

If you did do MCI then you would get to hang out with me and surely that's the best prize

But I do like some of the warmblood/ iberian crosses, they are very nice.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

If you did do MCI then you would get to hang out with me and surely that's the best prize

But I do like some of the warmblood/ iberian crosses, they are very nice.

Ah well you’ve sold it then!!

 

[Palindrome]

FWIW the colt I know by Finest is really nice, very mature for his age and size and a lovely temperament. Was bred by a pro to go GP on.

I doubt Finest himself is what you’re looking for - he’s very spider-leggy and hasn’t competed to any useful level (though he’s already got offspring at GP) - but being crossed with a heavier WB mare seems to have resulted in a really nice horse without ridiculous movement.

Would be interested to hear other people’s experiences with Fürst lines.

I have a mare who's sire is by Furst Romancier. I saw my mare'sire when I visited the stud and he is a sweet and calm stallion.
My mare has Gribaldi on the dam side and she is relatively easy going.

 

[maya2008]

I would just like to add that a stallion can throw very, very different offspring in terms of temperament. The dam has a big influence.

Examples I have known:
- Two sports pony bred youngsters, impeccable sire successful for a long time. One became a brilliant show jumper with a fantastic temperament. One absolutely, completely, nuts. Took me 2 years to make her safe enough to sell on, and went to an adult to become a games pony with all the caveats. Only one I've ever gone through a very thorough vet workup for because she was just so reactive I wanted to be sure there wasn't a physical reason. She settled to the games pony job in the end and was very happy, but was nothing at all like her half sister. Same rider, same environment, different dams.
- Two native pony pairs I've had from same herd, same stallion. First pair: one was an absolute sweetheart but lacked confidence in himself and proved interesting to back and ride away (yet was absolutely fantastic after the first year, safe as anything), the other was opinionated as ... One, in adulthood, you could have put a small child or your granny on and they'd have kept them safe, the other still likes to bronc if over excited. Second pair: one is a totally sweet, adorable, easy going soul. The other is why I go into that particular field wearing a hat. Winter bootcamp for young ponies who like to throw their weight around is about to commence for that one and I'm not wildly looking forward to it!
- A friend bought a very, very well bred (sire) youngster at the yearling stage for quite a bit of money a few years ago. Was completely and utterly over reactive to back, and the pro trainer who she reached out to for help said that it's well known that that stallion throws a percentage of fiery but manageable and successful competition horses - but the rest are certifiably nuts. That horse put my very experienced friend in hospital and the pro trainer refused point blank to get on.

Anecdotally, I had a foal born here whose dam was too young to look after her and completely overwhelmed by the experience. My NF stepped in and helped raise her. In temperament, I could see aspects of her actual dam, but a lot of her behaviour matched 'Auntie NF' who'd taken such a large part in raising her.