Gribaldi

[_l_i_z_]

Just wanted some peoples opinion on him as a stallion. Am considering in year after next putting my mare into foal, to hopefully breed a dressage horse for myself.

Have heard he is really only suitable for laid back (relatively) mares as produces high strung offspring!

any opinions welcomed
thanks

 

[gemmaw]

WOW!!! very nice!!! defo go for it, well put together horse and what a mover!!!!

 

[Partoow]

Wheni saw him, he was in the open stallion class in Zwolle and he was stabled opposite . I thought he was lovely and very workable .
Since then i have had the good fortune to work a couple of his offspring and found them also very willing and active. They are 'bright' but i would'nt say at all in a negative way.

 

[Damien]

I would say it depends a lot on your mare? What is her breeding? Type frame etc?
Gribaldi will refine and produces exquisitely pretty offspring beautiful typy heads, lovely long necks and good rectangular frame. However he is best bred to mares that have a lot of power in the hind quaters as he is considered weak behind and leaves his hocks out behind him in his movement. Good suspension on the collected steps but his hind legs need to come under him more.
His foal report says much the same about his offspring. You can see this on the videos presented on youtube.

http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=gribaldi

We have one filly by him, fortunately her dam is from a very good dressage damline and has tremendous power behind so are pleased with the result. She has been very difficult to work with in comparison to our other foals and would not let her go to an inexperienced or amatuer hom. Definitely not an amateurs horse and would need to go to an experienced dressage home.

 

[Damien]

as a comparison.....

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xVXJ5bjnrsc

 

[CentrestageSHS]

Hiya, we had a 4 year old gelding by gribaldi and a yearling filly by Painted Black who is Gribaldi's son. The 4 year old was gelded as early as possible because he was a pain in the bum!!! We backed, broke and sold him on. He was very talented but very headstrong and quite fiery. He had very big paces and great conformation although a little strung out, but he was only young. He has gone to an experienced amateur who is slowly producing him as her only horse. He was big, aroung 17hh and he was dark bay nearly black. A lot of people thought he was a mare, he was very pretty and refined but certainly a little too cocky.
The filly is a different kettle of fish altogether she is absolutely jet black with no markings, very small and very timid. By the way she is growing it looks like she will not make 16hh and her dam is 17hh. She is easily spooked, very flighty and shy and has very "normal" paces. This is unusual as most of our foals are very cocky and friendly so she is quite an odd one out. She will probably make a great broodmare or nice dressage horse if someone put's a lot of time into her and takes things very slowly. I would say Gribaldi is a stunning sire and can add quality and refinement to a heavy mare. However, when crossed with a light to middle weight mare, the offspring can be on the lighter side (typical trakehner), and can be a little difficult or hot-headed. They usually make good professional horse's or succeed more slowly with an owner with just the one horse. But do beware!!!!......most people dream of their little black foal when they put to gribaldi, and I have seen a large number of bright chestnut foals by Gribaldi even when the mare is dark too!!! I don't know why but this seems to be the case?!!

If you want something a bit heavier or more reliable, go for something like Negro/Ferro or Donnerhall Sired stallions. They tend to stand a good chance of having nice paces and good confo. Our best horse is by Negro(Ferro) and his Dam is by Don Schufro (Donnerhall). This has proven to be a fantastic mix, he is extremely powerful with extravagant paces, but he is growing quite large and has quite a lot of bulk about him. It really depends on your mare, if you put a picture up of her people might be able to reccommend what they thinl would work best. Gribaldi has not got the best conformation if your mare has got poor conformation too. You could do with a more powerful stallion, perhaps like a weltmeyer son?

 

[Partoow]

Gribaldi is not weak but lacks flex in his hocks , that is the difference you are seing with Fidermark . I love Fidermark off spring but he and his off spring can also be quite hot, if temperament is something you are worrying about.
2nd gen ferro offspring are wonderful but i am biased as i have a stallion by ferro out of a Tb mare and i also now have an Osmium x ferro gelding who is gorgeous wonderful brain and all thee power in the world

 

[Tempi]

My friend has a Gribaldi horse - he can be very hot and difficult when he wants to be, he can score massive marks in a test, or he can go in and come last. it depends what mood hes in. I like Gribaldi, but i think you need to put him to a fine mare as hes quite a big build. Obviously not too fine - but i wouldnt put him to a trakhener mare, but then thats just personal preference.

 

[CentrestageSHS]

Have a look at Darryl Thickitt's website, most of his horses are by gribaldi, so might give you an idea of what they generally turn out like?
His website is:

www.darrylthickittdressage.com

 

[Damien]

A horse that lacks flexion in his hocks is considered to be a weakness, if the hocks can not carry themselves under the body it will struggle to engage, or sit in the collected work, the energy from the action travels out behind him. From a conformation and veterinary stand point the straighter non flexing hind limb is the least desirable in a dressage horse.

 

[CentrestageSHS]

Hmm not starting any arguements or debates but even though he didn't have the best back-end to begin with I do wonder if all the rollkur has had an effect on the engagement of his hindquarters? I found a small clip of him once as a two-year old and he had an extremely active back-end, more so than his front end. One of the side-effects of extreme rollkur is that the horse struggles to bring his back-end under himself and lift his forehand, another effect of rollkur is the high front-leg action paired with little impulsion or back-leg action.

Just a thought, both our gribaldi offpring have turned out with great back-ends, but that may also be due to the Donnerhall Blood?

 

[Damien]

lordy knows CS, but his foals are assessed loose so holds no bearing. I do see your point though, when you watch the videos of Ferro on you tube you do see a similar picture and Ferro is reknown for his ability to collect and sit the collected work and passes that on to his progeny too, having said that I did not notice the same weakness in Lingh despite also being ridden by Edward prior to him leaving for the US, but did notice it in Painted Black, still enjoyed watching them all nonetheless.. 8)

I can't complain about the hind action of our filly either but as mentioned the dam has the power. I would say the Donnerhall line would have had to have a positive influence and would understand why that cross would be a good choice as Donnerhall progeny do tend to have the bone substance and suspension

I just feel that for the one off mare owner their are probably better choices. Our OOseven (No red factor) If non chestnut is on the agenda, ours is an absolute sweetheart and just love everything about her.

 

[_jetset_]

He was on my short list... I absolutely love him and would certainly consider him the next time I breed from Hannah. But as P_G said, he was a bit too thick-set for me as I wanted something finer which is why I chose Pro-Set after a very long search

 

[lillie07]

I rode a youngster by him for a while, he was amazingly talented but incredibly sharp. He was PTS with OCD as a 7 year old.