What breeds of horse do you NOT like?

I am not keen on huge over-sized warmbloods. If I need a big horse I would go for an Irish Draft. But my preference is for smaller medium weight horses 15 - 16 hands, even though I'm tall. I love Welsh cobs, smaller WBs, Arabs, and TBs, but am not keen on traditional coloured cobs. I would not say I actively dislike any breed of horse. The only horses I really don't like are nasty aggressive and/or dangerous ones. Temperament is the number one thing for me and I would overlook any of the aforementioned 'dislikes' if they have a kind, affectionate temperament with a bit of spark and personality.
 
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Rollin said:
I have no particular dislikes - only individual horses I have come across who I would not consider owning. What a lot of people dislike arabs. Here are two of mine, stallion endurance and SJ and his full sister (in sheepskin noseband) who has jumped 12 clear rounds from 14 starts this year. You could put a child on the stallion's back, he is a pussycat.
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Gorgeous... but those ARE proper arabs.... not the arabs most people here dislike - the seahorse head ones.
 
There's no pure breed that I dislike. All can be aesthetically pleasing to me if they are good examples of their particular breed, but my preference is for British native pony breeds, British and European heavy horse breeds and Irish Drafts.

The 'breed' I really dislike, is the non-breed, irresponsibly bred, random parentage, low value animal that looks like a cut-and-shunt and has terrible general conformation and in some cases actual deformities. I'm for licencing of breeding in order to prevent this sort of animal ever being bred. Among my native ponies and hunters I've got one of these poor, unfortunate creatures who was irresponsibly bred, then irresponsibly sold to make a riding pony for a novice owner even though it has a congenital deformity that means it should never be ridden. We helped the buyer out by taking him off her hands when she learned her error and couldn't bear to pts. He's living here as a happy companion until his deformity means that he's no longer able to live comfortably and then we will pts, so I speak from experience when I say a BIG DISLIKE of the non-breed.
 
Not a big fan of anything with high knee-action - my dodgy knee means I can't really do much rising trot; so bumpiness is a bit of a bug-bear.

Similarly, I struggle to spend the time crouching necessary to get feathery or white legs looking smart, hence I try to avoid them. This means I tend to prefer dark, solid colours over greys and splodgy types (not that I don't think they look pretty, but having a grey atm I really wouldn't look to buy another).

Also not a fan of trying to climb onto anything over about 16hh or so. Too far to climb. Not fun. Give me a proper small hunter any day (15.2hh is big enough that I don't feel too tall, but small enough that I can actually mount from the ground if I have to).

So, yeah, as long as it's put together well enough that it shouldn't break; isn't going to try to kill me; and is a practical size/colour/type with a low, swinging trot, I'm happy.
 
I love to see good examples of most breeds. However, given that I don't have the time or facilities to keep half of them, I satisfy myself with anything which meets the following practical criteria:
Short - so I can get on from the ground easily, saddle or no, and doesn't chew up the field too badly
Hairy - so I don't have to rug it
Fat - and remains so without much help from me
Happy (to include sound, mannerly and kind)

Generally that rules out TB's, Warmbloods, Connemaras and mares.
I have also never forgiven the haflinger which bolted with me in harness when the carriage failed to jump the barbed wire fence behind it. :(
 
Anything with skinny legs that comes with a full gargantuan wardrobe of rugs!

Seriously. :)

Give me feathers and bone any day of the week. Then again I own a cob and a fell, so!
 
I have a seahorse headed arab and luckily I like him very much. :D The grey is high % Crabbet, so her head is less dished.



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I don't think that the in-hand arab people do the breed any favours when they do things like shave around their eyes, wind the horses up so much in the ring and breed for the head shape only. It's a sad really as it's a very old and great breed.

PS. I love Rollin's Shagya Arabians. :)
 
going slightly against the grain here- Warmbloods- I've never met one that's had any brains whatsoever and compared to my natives they are so complicated! very much a generalisation though and I'm sure there are some lovely ones out there that i just haven't come across!
 
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The only horses I don't particularly like are the ones bred/ produced to have exaggerated features, such as arabs and welsh ponies with extremely dished heads, halter bred QH's, TWH's etc.
 
I don't think theres a particular breed I dislike but there's certainly features I wouldn't have on a horse.

I prefer finer breeds of horses with minimal hair, but by finer I dont mean scrawny has to be well put together.

So I tend to lean towards a tb, warmblood, arab and sports horse etc.

Wouldn't buy a cob coloured or not, not really anything short, hairy and overly chunky. I tend to prefer horses to ponies in gereral too.
 
Really not a fan of Welshies. Not their looks, they are beautiful but all the ones I've come across have been both silly and ungenuine.
 
I don't hate any breed. But wouldn't really look at a warmblood or coloured cob.

I am completely biased for Friesians. I have never met any horse breed more handsome, flashy, friendly, kind, safe, mannerly, intelligent... ( ok will stop) :p
 
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nfpony said:
going slightly against the grain here- Warmbloods- I've never met one that's had any brains whatsoever and compared to my natives they are so complicated! very much a generalisation though and I'm sure there are some lovely ones out there that i just haven't come across!
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Funny I've just bought a giant WB. Never had one before and have only really owned natives or part breds natives until this day. He is not complicated tho, far from it. I just point him the way I want him to go and he goes. He's friendly too and never spooks or gets wound up. In fact he makes my natives look dangerous. I love it but as you say, rather different to what I am used to.
 
windand rain said:
being extremely shallow I dont like horses with ugly heavy heads so if any breed has a big head I probably wouldnt be interested. Not keen on cobs for that reason
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I used to feel exactly the same. Forty years later one of my best ever horses is a Clydesdale cross with a Roman nose.

Nothing wrong with how you feel now, but you might change in future like I have.
 
Rollin said:
I have no particular dislikes - only individual horses I have come across who I would not consider owning. What a lot of people dislike arabs. Here are two of mine, stallion endurance and SJ and his full sister (in sheepskin noseband) who has jumped 12 clear rounds from 14 starts this year. You could put a child on the stallion's back, he is a pussycat.

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Rollin has no-one told you Arabs can't jump !?!? :D
 
I don't seem to get on with Appaloosa's for some reason.

When I was a kid I went on a trekking holiday and my designated pony was an Appy, it was a thoroughly nasty little beast and in the end I had to be given something else.

Years later, I was looking to buy a horse, and went to see one, and it just took one look at me and put it ears back and swung its head as though to bite. That was a very quick viewing indeed!

More recently, I went to see one which was advertised as the "perfect family pony". It tanked with the owner on the end of a rope through the leccy fencing, and then once tacked up decided it wasn't leaving the yard - where it proceeded to nap violently and bronked. Horrid thing with a nasty piggy eye. That was another quick viewing! I couldn't wait to put space between myself and it (and the owner for that matter).

Shall avoid Appy's in future! (no offence to anyone that has one LOL). Its a real shame as they do look SO gorgeous!
 
For my sins (and I should really know better by now!) I like my sharp, hot headed, fine horses, PREs, Arabs (proper ones), Welsh ponies. I used to work with TBs and warmbloods and loved them. The more sensible ones, cobs, heavies, ones with lots of bone and feather etc just don't excite me, although I do envy their riders a nice sensible xc session once in a while! I think it's the sharpness of the brain that interests me though rather than just the looks. My sharp clever little horse learns everything lightening fast and whilst he can be ridiculous he is also brilliantly easy to work with when training or on the yard. My sisters more sensible horse looks at me like I'm an idiot if I try to teach him the silly stuff I do with mine. And the haffies, cobs and highlands I know treat you like a doormat to be walked over if given half an inch so they wouldn't be my cup of tea (but I know their owners certainly wouldn't swap them for my bonkers beastie so we are all happy!)
 
tallyho! said:
Coloureds. Obviously not a breed, as you can get many breeds that are coloured but the whole two-tone thing just doesn't appeal to me.

Strangely enough, I do like a spotted horse. Just the way some brains work I guess :)
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Aww c'mon Tallyho, how can anyone not love mine ? :D

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Rollin said:
I have no particular dislikes - only individual horses I have come across who I would not consider owning. What a lot of people dislike arabs. Here are two of mine, stallion endurance and SJ and his full sister (in sheepskin noseband) who has jumped 12 clear rounds from 14 starts this year. You could put a child on the stallion's back, he is a pussycat.


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He's lovely .
 
It's funny because even though I've never disliked any breeds, coloured cobs used to be quite low on my list of breeds that I'd like to own. Now I have one, with a white face and a partially blue eye to boot, and I'm a complete convert. At least I know that nobody else will want to steal her, poor love!
 
KatPT said:
For my sins (and I should really know better by now!) I like my sharp, hot headed, fine horses, PREs, Arabs (proper ones), Welsh ponies. I used to work with TBs and warmbloods and loved them. The more sensible ones, cobs, heavies, ones with lots of bone and feather etc just don't excite me, although I do envy their riders a nice sensible xc session once in a while! I think it's the sharpness of the brain that interests me though rather than just the looks. My sharp clever little horse learns everything lightening fast and whilst he can be ridiculous he is also brilliantly easy to work with when training or on the yard. My sisters more sensible horse looks at me like I'm an idiot if I try to teach him the silly stuff I do with mine. And the haffies, cobs and highlands I know treat you like a doormat to be walked over if given half an inch so they wouldn't be my cup of tea (but I know their owners certainly wouldn't swap them for my bonkers beastie so we are all happy!)
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Oh dear my highland is totally bonkers, fast furious and on the ground manners to burn she thinks she is a lipizzaner including airs above the ground, passage, piaffe and any other move you can think of to keep you on your toes. Luckily she is only 13hh so lots of fun
 
windand rain said:
Oh dear my highland is totally bonkers, fast furious and on the ground manners to burn she thinks she is a lipizzaner including airs above the ground, passage, piaffe and any other move you can think of to keep you on your toes. Luckily she is only 13hh so lots of fun
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Your highland sounds my sort of horse then! This is the problem on steriotyping a breed just based on the examples you know I suppose.
 
I don't dislike any particular breed, but do think it's "horses for courses". I love seeing Shires and Clydesdales being used in harness, but wouldn't want to ride one. Standardbreds are the same - fantastic when racing, but again I don't want to ride one.

Horses that are bred for colour (like Appaloosas) depress me, when it is all about the colour and nothing else and I can see some other breeds going the same way - the more I see of Freisans, the less I'm likely to want one.

It seems that becoming popular in the in-hand show ring is the death knell for any breed that originated as a riding or working horse. Sad.
 
The only ones I dislike are those which have been overbred for the sake of human idiocy and vanity so the animal suffers as a result.

And I only 'dislike' those poor creatures because of what's been done to them by us, and the health issues we've bred into them ... crass apes that we are.

That includes dogs, cats, horses ... you name it. It's why (I'm sorry to say) my lip curls to think of many showing classes these days. Breed standards of short muzzles, flat/dished faces, reduced stature, small skulls, sloping backs, tiny legs, no hair, bulging eyes ... need I go on?

Surely the original idea was to show what a breed can achieve and how well it can do the job for which it was bred. Now it seems to be about a weird anthropomorphic exercise to please some bizarre human ideal.

An indicator of how true this is?

How many 'pet' species do you see these days where you are warned to watch out for a known breed defect before you buy one ...
 
JillA said:
Coloured common cobs that you see advertised as "stunning". They may have brilliant temperaments but they really are old fashioned vanners, fine to drive but not designed to be ridden. Short backs, coarse bone, lumpy uncomfortable rides IMHO
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Yes and so ugly and horrid, I mean just yuk .....course and common.........no doubt got those freaky blue eyes too.......stuff of horror .





 
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