Selle Francais - Can someone tell me how to answer the question...

Erehwemos

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..."Is your mare a Thoroughbred?"

She is Selle Francais X Arab (dont know how much Arab though). I often get asked if she is a TB - I guess she looks pretty TBish - but often when I turn around and say actually no, she's SF x Arab, it sounds a bit high faluting and fancy
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Is the Selle Francais basically a French Thoroughbred? Would I be better off just saying yes, she is a TB with a bit of Arab?

Silly question, but one I am never quite sure how to answer in case I make myself look silly....Selle Francais is such an unnecessary mouthful if it pretty much amounts to French TB
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selle francais is a french tb isn't it?

ets i should read the whole post first lol from what i have been told selle francias is french tb but i would put my life to it
 
The Selle Français was named a breed in December 1958, with its first stud book published in 1965. The Selle Français was created by crossing regional breeds with trotters, Thoroughbreds, Arabians, and Anglo-Arabians. All stock was registered in the stud book with pedigrees tracing back generations, making the Selle Français one of the few Warmblood breeds to have received very little foreign blood.
The most influential breed was the Anglo-Norman, developed in Normandy in the 19th century by crossing Norfolk Trotter, Thoroughbred, and Arabian stallions to refine the local mares (which themselves traced back to the medieval Norman war-horse). About 90 per cent of today's Selle Français trace back to this breed. Other regional breeds used to influence the Selle Français were the Charolais, Corlay, Vendee, Anjou, Ain, and Ardennes.
A small number of Thoroughbred stallions influenced the breed. The first was Orange Peel who stood at the national stud from 1925 to 1940. His grandson, Ibrahim, also had a great influence on the Selle Français. Furioso, who is thought to be the most influential Thoroughbred in warmblood breeding, Rantzau and Ultimate were also incredibly important in the Selle Français breed. The names of these three Thoroughbred sires can be found in virtually every successful modern Selle Français.


Brand of the Selle Francais
Today, there is still quite a bit of cross breeding between Selle Français and other breeds, making it suitable for a wide range of activities.
Ultimately the history of the breed goes back much further. For centuries, testing and perfecting the sports horse was a consuming passion in France, in the same way as horse racing in the UK. To put this in context, as long ago as 1665, France established its first National Stud,which has become the Haras Nationaux, a network of 23 state-run stud farms dedicated to improving the quality of performance horse breeding
 
So, on that basis, when people ask if she is a TB, the answer is actually no!
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It must be one of the most confusing breeds to actually define - although as you pointed out DD, so are all warmblood breeds really.

GwenLP - thanks for finding that info, it is all pretty complex isnt it!! Ibrahim was Ellie's great great grandsire
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Mine is 100% selle francaise and if people ask me what it is I say its selle francais-a warmblood, thoroughbred, french thing!
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and in my OP the best thing in the world
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Mine is 100% selle francaise and if people ask me what it is I say its selle francais-a warmblood, thoroughbred, french thing!
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and in my OP the best thing in the world
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[/ QUOTE ]

Awww bless!!! At least I'm not alone in being unable to answer with 100% precision...it seems SFs comprise so many other breeds, lol!!!

What is your horse's breeding? They might be related
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whatever she is, she's beautiful. i love the 2007 photo! x

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Awww, thank you! I think she's a stunner but then of course I am biased
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If you look closely at the pic, you can see she has her eyes shut...a common Ellie trait in photos!
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Hah! My boy is Arab x Selle Francais too (never come across another). He's half and half though so normally I just say arab x, or arab x warmblood. He is very araby-looking though. He is also the cheekiest horse I've ever met.
 
Used to share a Selle Francais and they are fab.

I always used to say that Selle Francais is a french warmblood but that they have more Arab and TB in them than some of the other warmblood breeds.

I now have a french TB ( ex racer) which is classified differently in the studbooks. Pur Sang as opposed to Selle Francais.
 
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Hah! My boy is Arab x Selle Francais too (never come across another). He's half and half though so normally I just say arab x, or arab x warmblood. He is very araby-looking though. He is also the cheekiest horse I've ever met.

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Awww bless, I've never come across another one either!
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There is a chance Ellie could be half and half too - we know nothing of her dam other than that there was Arab there somewhere - but given her TBish looks, I'd say it is unlikely! My saddler says she has a typical Arab shoulder, and she definitely has an Arab tail,but other than that....
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Do you have any photos of your boy?
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