Welsh section D - for dressage?? who has one?

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cobface

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Been giving a lot of thought lately to my TB (may have seen my posts) and whether she would be better suited to a more faster pace of life where she will have a proper career in sj or eventing. My passion is dressage which she finds incredibly hard/boring and would much rather be out jumping.
Still have alot to think about re my mare, i want to give her a chance......if am honest i would rather her go out on loan to someone who can bring out the best in her rather than be sold as she can be tricky and at being only 5 has been passed on alot and would hate for her to fall into the wrong hands........however its a big decision to make as i am very fond of her :(
I have a coloured cob who will be 3 next may to bring on, but don't know what my plans will be with her yet, whether to break her, bring her on and sell, am not quite sure yet.
Having 2 horses to ride and care for is no problem, i work part time and there a 5 min walk down the road so i have lots of time ( and the finances) for them.
If i do decide to loan out my TB i would be looking to get a welsh sec D for dressage and hacking.
Please can people tell me a little more about the breed and would be particularly interested in people who do dressage with theres, pics would be good. Also i would be looking for one that is at least 15hh as i am tall at 5"9, i am of a slim build and weigh 9.7st. I am thinking a 15hh is the smallest i could get away with>?
Thanks as always :)
 
I've not had one but my friend has a stunning Sec D mare that she does affiliated dressage with.

They've just got their first few points and she'll be moving up from Novice to Elementary soon.

she doesn't get to compete much as she often works weekends but the mare's done really well.
 
I have a Welshie!!! He is 16hh so you should be able to find one big enough.

I am by no means a dressage expert, but I am more than capable of doing a pretty good test and I have competed quite a lot so I am more than capable of telling you a bit :)

Welsh Sec D have beautiful outlines due to their muscular necks and most have a very good hind leg engagement and action. Even when my boy was very rusty, he tracked up beautifully. Some find it difficult to work properly through their backs (including mine) but this improves with work. The main issue Welshies have is that many find it quite hard to bend through their bodies so circles are quite hard. Like with any horse, they improve with practice. Rather weirdly, my boy finds circles hard but loves leg yielding! Another issue is more of a typical cob one than a Welsh one, but many naturally fall on their forehand.

Teddy and I normally get over 60% in tests. The judges like his natural sense of rhythm and how pretty he looks in an outline :)

Sorry, I don't have any pictures on this computer so hopefully someone else can help you. Please, please, please get a Welsh! They have such lovely natures and you can join the Welshie clique :D
 
Yes, they are beautiful, i see them all the time whilst am out competing, they always seem to go so nicely :) it would be good for me to as they can live out, the more i hear/see them the more tempted i am to get one.......
 
I do unaffiliated with mine, he is fab, but can be a bit of a div :-) Unaffiliated we compete up to medium.

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I used to have a section D for dressage , he had a natural outline and a fantasic medium trot , he just wasnt so good at the walking bits ! I love wleshies doing dressage as I think they have a natural "look at me" about them which catches the judges eye :)

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they look good with a top hat too ;)

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Love all the pictures of welshys!!

I have a 1/2 welsh d 3 year old, 15hh currently. I am going to be starting a dressage career. He has amazing paces. People have said wow at his walk which is huge, his canter is one of a 16hh horse and very flowy and his trot is high stepping with a lovely active hind.
I think I would def get a welsh d or welsh x again as they are lovely little horses :) With just as good paces as many warmbloods!
A picture just to show:
walk:
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trot:
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canter:
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I do :) I have a 6yo 15.1 Welsh D who I do BD with currently at Prelim/Novice, working at Elementary at home, and I hope to be doing Medium with by the end of 2011.

I am very very lucky that he actually moves like a WB but is so level headed :D My trainer calls him the Star Pony, ha ha.

With my trainer...

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And me...

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And the album if you want to see some vids...

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/Claire842/Victor/?start=0

I say go for it! And get a Welsh D :D
 
MillionDollar said:
I do :) I have a 6yo 15.1 Welsh D who I do BD with currently at Prelim/Novice, working at Elementary at home, and I hope to be doing Medium with by the end of 2011.

I am very very lucky that he actually moves like a WB but is so level headed :D My trainer calls him the Star Pony, ha ha.

With my trainer...

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And me...

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And the album if you want to see some vids...

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/Claire842/Victor/?start=0

I say go for it! And get a Welsh D :D
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Hes lovely, really nice!
 
This thread is very inspirational for me! Some lovely looking welshies! I've just bought a Welsh D and we're planning on doing some unaffiliated prelims soon, like others have said he seems to have a really active hind end and although he can be a bit strong/on the forehand at times he is really responsive to my aids and quick to learn. AND he doesn't need hard feed or shoes, therefore more money to go to shows! Get one!
 
fihunt said:
Speak to trendybraincell. She and Shadow just came 6th at the BD regionals at novice, and are looking to move to elementary soon I believe.
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Woah calm down there Fi...it was the Area Festival not the Regionals, we narrowly missed out on qualification for the Regionals this summer :(

But yes I do dressage with my D, he's 8yrs old over 15hh but not sure exactly how tall, working towards medium at home and about to start competing at Elementary :D

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With trainer

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I LOVE this one just for the trot :)

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Sorry I got carried away :D
 
I do dressage with my welshy too! In the last series we have done unaffiliated at prelim we always get placed 1st-3rd and just about to try affiliated prelims and my trainer is going to do novice. She is working elementary at home.
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BTW I bought this picture. This is from last season. She's going even better now:D

As someone said, it doesn't matter what horse you have as long as you put in the work. They are built like mini andalusians I think!
 
Hi,

Welsh can be very well suited to dressage but it is veerry easy to get it wrong with them too! I have a section C, he was broekn in by a good dressage yard, and started really well, but it is a constant battle to keep him that way! (due in no small part to my not being as good or comitted as the people who started him.....)

He has absolutely no problems with circles or bending, lateral work is good, but said above can fall onto the forehand - this I feel is entirely my fault. When you look at the natural movement of a welsh - it doesn;t sit well with being on the forehand!!

A lot of welshies will have shown, and if so you may struggle to convert them to dressage. They will tend to not move from behnd so well, all the action being at the front! (ok sweeping generalisation but one I make from observation)

15hh will be fine. I am a bit too tall for my boy, he is only 13.2!! And I am 5ft 6. But we manage fine, and have done unaffitiated dressage with a fair amount of sucess. - when he doesn;t completely blow his top that is........
 
Wow lots of lovely pictures on this thread. Some really lovely Welsh sec Ds.

Here are my thoughts:

If you are aiming to compete up to Elementary, I think you would be very likely to find a Welsh D that could do the job. The breed standard for Sec D has quite a long back, which could be a minus for dressage, on the other hand they are flashy, fun and could be a lot cheaper than a warmblood with dressage bloodlines.

If you are looking for a horse to compete at Medium and beyond, you may have better chances of finding a horse if you look for a breed that is bred specifically for dressage - not to say that a Welsh D cannot do it, but if you look at the higher classes most of the horses are warmbloods or possibly TBs. That being said, most of us do not aim for those classes anyway :-)
 
my welsh D goes very similar to these, their trot and meduim trots are to die for and welshes seem to take to an outline naturally. i'd be aware of their stereotypical behaviour. they are normally strong willed and good at thinking for themselves so they might not always agree with you, but get them going nice and they will go amazingly for you :) best of luck!
 
my old boy on the left in my signature did up to Medium. He has 81 BD points. We did affiliated dressage for 3yrs and he went to the regionals every year and in his final year qualified for the Area Festival Finals at the Winter Champs and went on to come 4th there aged 20. He did struggle with Medium work, but then he was 19 but the time we started working on it so I think if I'd got hold of him a lot younger (he was 15 when i got him) who knows where we might have got to.

my younger one was bought with the aim of getting to Advanced Medium at least and was headed the right way. He was competing Novice, just been to first Festivals and Regionals and got his first points, working on half pass and flying changes at home. unfortunately he's damaged his cruciate ligament and may never be more than a hack now :(

I'd say if buying one for dressage, look for a good walk - my chestnut gets 9's for his walk, but the old boy used to get a 6 with a struggle. A lot of them have very short, choppy walks and with double marks for the walk it's a big bonus to have a good one!
 
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