Pedigree vs fitting the bill?

Nudibranch

Nudibranch

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What is a horse's breeding worth to you? Do you place a lot of importance on it or not?
I'm just curious because I'm buying a youngster with unregistered parents, in fact there seems to be something of a question mark over the sire! Perhaps paying almost the asking price is paying too much, but he has a good temperament and will hopefully make the sort of horse I am looking for, so for me he is worth the money - which is not a huge amount.
 
Bloodlines are very important to me. So much so that I won't even look at a horse that doesn't have the lines I want. That's not to say that I buy just any horse who has these lines, they still have to fit a multitude of other criteria.

For others bloodlines are not important. It's the individual's choice.
 
im not too bothered, if i was going to sell on then maybe a little more thought would go into it but nah i have a 2yr old with no registered bloodlines at all (supprised she has a passport if im honest) and a gelding who we bought for his jump and ability to do what we wanted him for - he does have good bloodlines but thats just a bonus and we were unaware until we received his passport :)
 
Because it's something I don't know much about, the last 2 horses I have bought have been on the basis of looks, movement, temperament etc.
But in both cases I have found out after that the bloodlines were good which made me think it was something I should research more in the future.
 
:) The most perfect bloodlines in the world don't mean a horse is going to be anything but the animal that is standing right infront of you at that particular moment in time. Pedigree animals still have conformational faults, still have personalities, quirks, faults etc. I think selective breeding gives you a head start in what to expect but it isn't infallible.

For a riding horse I don't care if the lines go back to Eclipse (hundreds of thousands do - so what?) if the horse is what I want then I'll have it, papered or not. So yes, if the cap fits....

Breeding, I won't breed from an unregistered mare of my own. I like certain lines and am getting good youngstock from them.

I will breed my stallion (who does go back to Eclipse, as do all my mares - whooppee!:rolleyes:) to unregistered mares that are suitable - why? Because if I don't breed them then the owner will just go and use another stallion and they may as well use mine and have half a known pedigree.
 
I was shown my boys breeding going back several generations but tbf it ment nothing to me :o I did a bit of research on his sire but that was it. He fitted the bill of a nice pony that with work could do the job I wanted him to do, he was the size I was looking for, I clicked with him and he was in my price range. He then passed the 5 stage vetting with flying colours so he came home.
 
It matters little when buying a gelding, you are buying what you see, to a some extent same with fillies, but if considering breeding then she needs to be top class in her conformation and/or her abilities.
If the pedigree is known it gives you hope that you are going to see something which resembles the breed standard, but there are no guarantees, it is buyer beware.
I have been disappointed several times, once went to see a New Forest, described as four, it was really poor, my two year old NF looked a lot more mature and put together than he did.
I noticed they had a poor old mare in a corner stable, I asked, turned out this was the Section D they also had advertised, I think both horses had been bought from a sale, what we call "the dregs" . These "dealers" soon went out of business, as buying cheap rubbish is not a good way to make a name for yourself.
 
I look at the animal standing in front of me, if I like it I don't care if breeding is unknown of if it's dam was an absolute donkey! Unless I am planning on breeding from the animal, unknown parentage is of little importance to me.

If I am buying a broodmare I will of course study her pedigree, but I wouldn't buy her for her papers alone. I would critic the animal in front of my eyes and if she had the perfect temperament and conformation I would buy her without any breeding.

So many "well bred" horses are terribly put together. A pedigree doesn't guarantee you a sound horse.

I positively avoid horses from certain lines. Temperament is key to me and some bloodlines produce temperaments I don't like.

I have had well bred horses and I've had heinz's, there are good and bad in both.

In my opinion attitude is everything, you can have a superstar on paper but if his heart isn't in it you are going no where. Equally I have known horses who have reached the big time on heart alone, in spite of possessing a set of dodgy legs!
 
All my 3 are well bred, but it doesn't mean they are superstars, one has the potential one day (time will tell if I have the potential though :o), the other two, well, one is retired and I knew she would never be a superstar but has Mill Reef, Shirley heights and Northern Dancer in her lines, she dishes and is very unbalanced, my youngster, out of an international dressage horse, but I don't think he possess the same quality as my zangersheide, but I think he is going to be a darn sight easier to train. Its nice to have well bred horses but I don't think its the bee all and end all :)
 
I don't really care about breeding, I don't even mind what breed it is! As long as it does the job and is suited to me I don't care whether the horse is well-bred or what breed it is to begin with :) xx
 
Blood lines mean nothing to me as I happy hack. If I wanted to do something more then maybe I would look into it. Personally their temperament is the most important then whether they load, good in traffic, good to catch etc.
 
I think it depends on the discipline you are breeding for. If I was breeding for dressage for example - and particularly if it was a horse I was going to sell, then I think it is important, however for racing, I don't think it means a thing! I have a mare who is really well bred but was totally unsuited to racing and a gelding who came from a totally unknown sire and dam, but won several thousand pounds racing.....
 
Most people only become interested in the breeding after the fact - say if they had a very good one by a particular sire or out of a certain mare...
 
Before looking at a horse to buy you need to look at the bloodlines to see if it will perform in the way you want. The dam is 60% and the Sire 40%. We have in the UK(apart from TB) no detailed EBV produced with BLUP. This is something the Dutch,Danes and Germans have very accurate and detailed databases of and this has helped them develope an export business of their horses. The reliability with stallions with hundreds of progeny has proved this. Once you have decided that this is the potential horse now look at the individual and do the normal examination
 
In racing circles breeding means every thing when you are looking at a sales catalogue , top bloodlines from a fashionable sire will fetch much higher prices [50K to 100K or more] than any others.
When I look through a catalogue, I know i can't buy anything above £6K for example [so i will not go to the premier sales] but I may be able to identify a few untried horses which have been privately bred from a mare with a solid pedigree. I will go and look at these first and judge them on conformation and action.
A racehorse costs maybe £10K per annum, therefore it needs to win over 20K in a few years to be considered a good buy if the owner was looking for a winner [some are just happy to watch their horse run competitively at local tracks and they can be picked up for well under £10K
In a top racing yard, time and time again we look at the sire, [not many people will send a poor mare to a good sire], in a National Hunt yard there will be horses by Old Vic, Accordian, Kings Theatre, Kayf Tara, Alflora, Presenting and so on.
In a flat yard,i it is Nashwan, Galileo, High Chaparral, Montjeu, Cape Cross, Pivotal etc
There is a whole sector of the industry who specialise in judging and buying bloodstock, for owners and trainers who need to fill their yards with good horses.
 
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For a riding horse I would always buy on fit for purpose - rather than breeding. My new mare is by a Clover Hill stallion - but I still would have bought her if both of her parents were unknown as I like what she is.
 
As I always buy youngsters (usually weanlings) breeding is hugely important to me.

Knwoing which ways certain lines mature and how they tend to be under saddle helps me to make a judgement on how I think the horse will end up.

I use bloodlines to decide which horses to go and view and then decide on what is in front of me.
 
breeding doesn't impress me i'm afraid, met too many of the 'oh my horse is by Donnerhall you know' like it's some kind of designer label and therefore i should be in awe and tell them at every opportunity how wonderful their horse is!:rolleyes:
there's no guarantee in horses so i would always go for what appealed to me personally and what suited my needs rather than purely a name which pleases the masses.
 
Breeding does matter to me, but no more than temperment or conformation.
My TB is by pivotal, and I got him given to me off a racehorse trainer who said he'd payed almost 60k for him, but considering pivotal's stud fee was 80k that's a big loss! My mare has goodlines, which means I can at least consider breeding from her, but my loan horse has totally unknown breeding, yet is one of the safest horses I know, who can happily compete at RC level!

If for breeding then lines do matter, if not then I don't really look at them tbh :o
What's much more important is that individual horse :) some horses with unknown breeding turn out to be superstars :)
 
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