RoR for dressage?

[Walrus]

After the loss of my mare I am starting to look for another horse. Looking for something young that i can develop but sane and good temperament. I'm wanting an all rounder with a leaning towards dressage, wanting to do some BD but aiming for petplan type stuff not regionals / nationals, would love to ride a medium test some time in the far distant future. I'm 5'8" and not skinny. I don't want a warmblood. On paper I am looking for an irish sport horse with a sensible outlook. However, i have seen a few RoRs which look to have a good start to retraining and a sensible outlook on life and look like they have nice paces. They are bigger, Irish type tbs from a chasing / jumping background. Am i mad, is this a thing? Is it likely to end in disaster? It's not a budget question, i'm not trying to save cash, just looking at options that are not warmblood!

 

[TheMule]

Choose one with excellent conformation with dressage in mind- uphill body, high enough neck set and shape of the neck are the hardest things to find on a TB, but there are some really quality ones out there who can turn to dressage quite happily

 

[Squeak]

I'll be interested to hear other peoples opinions on this. I have an RoR who is currently competing Medium and still progressing up the levels so it is absolutely possible and he is a really easy horse, unphased by atmosphere etc. he's easy to teach and to do the tests but I struggle to get those 70%+ scores however we comfortably get 66+ even on a not great day so I think it does depend what you're wanting to achieve.

The standard at the RoR winter dressage champs was really inspiring, personally from what I saw I thought it was higher than at the National Champs last week - a lot of them were seriously smart and I would have mistaken them for a warmblood if I'd have been at a different show. RoR have dressage at Blenheim next month if you're close and wanting an idea of what they can achieve.

 

[humblepie]

Yes definitely worth looking at. There are a some doing PSG and quite a few at Advanced Medium. Mine is ex flat horse, raced til he was 8 (old for a flat horse). When he started BD he was getting 70% plus at novice with a better rider than me and then with me he got up to medium. With the original rider he could easily have gone advanced medium and probably to PSG - it was my limit of ability and I had never done BD before. And as well as BD you have the RoR classes to do so double whammy.

 

[Walrus]

Thanks for the comments, i'm under no illusion that whatever horse i get i will be the blocker! I have never considered a TB but a couple have caught my eye. I'm a native person really but too tall, but i liked the community when i had a native so i'm looking at various options where there's something a bit more - like the associated champs, or some breed clubs or activities etc. With my mare i also got quite into in-hand work for improving posture (we managed to improve her thoracic sling quite a bit) and i'm interested in that side of things as well as Trec, which i think would suit an RoR as it's nice and calm but keeps their brains busy. But i don't know if i'm just setting myself up to fail as realistically i'm a bit rubbish!

 

[humblepie]

Just to add, lots of ex racehorses are so chilled - they have seen so much already that it doesn't really bother them. Sometimes the "doing it on your own" is the main challenge but that is just patience. I took mine to riding club clinics which was brilliant education for both of us. They generally have pretty decent manners on the ground as well and a good grounding in life.

 

[Walrus]

Thanks, in a previous life (many years ago) i used to hack point to pointers for fitness work and they were generally very sensible (although i was young and brave then! )

 

[nikkimariet]

Great horses. I miss mine dearly. Worth looking at TB heavy ISH too if a TB floats your boat.

 

[ihatework]

It's not a mad idea but at the same time not all TB are equal so you need to choose one that has the odds stacked in their favour.
Not meaning to teach anyone to suck eggs but:
Given they are essentially bred to run fast they are often not put together to find dressage easy - so you need one that is uphill with good hocks.
Their temperament varies, just like with any other horse, an some won't be enamoured with the prospect of being a dressage pony - so you need to choose one already showing some aptitude.
They come with a fairly high rate of medical issues - so do consider xrays incl back on vetting, and save funds for a course of gastroguard and decent physio.

I'd go for one that has been out of racing a few months and through a reputable rehomin/rehab/retraining yard - might cost a bit more but at least you can get a decent trial ride and good yards should be able to tell which horses might be suitable for your job.

Personally if I wanted a dressage focus non warmblood I'd go for a sporty D or DxTB, but I do appreciate they are an acquired taste

 

[tristars]

If i could have only one breed it would be tb

For every sport

As it is I have various degrees of tb small parts to almost full

Nothing compares to sitting on the King of horses

I would look for x large arse, fetlock not too long, a good neck, a super trot and forwardness

A bold attitude, and ride it if possible to see if you like riding it, if it fits you, and you can balance yourself easily

Love to know how you get on