What stallion would you use for this mare?

[christine48]

With greatest respect to what is a very smart horse - he is questionable as an event sire at the moment, let alone a showjumper! Poles flying all over the place on his BE record!

Craig in all fairness to him is bed to be a dressage stallion and his owner as faith in him to be a decent eventer and I think he will prove this year the doubters wrong, his few runs last year were on sticky muddy ground, I know some are good in that ground but he was green, he is a machine cross country and he sjumps on a good surface amazingly well, I should know as I owned him, he wont be everyones cup of t, but his first foals are smart and one has sold to a sjumping home.

This is why I'd never use a dressage bred stallion to try and breed a jumper. This is why the continentals line breed. Craig has never jumped a clear round SJ, and often has multiple fences down. A lot of us ran in muddy ground last year.
Don't get me wrong he is a very good looking stallion,but not a jumping sire.

 

[eventrider23]

I love Craig - most who know me know that - and I know him and his owner well. That said he is indeed not a jumper sire and not one I would ever entertain for someone wanting a jumping sire. He isn't himself, nor does his breeding say he would be. He does jump and his record sadly doesn't show this but hopefully will this season put skeptic right. He is on first glance a dressage horse but will I feel make a decent eventer. In fact I know this past winter he had two professional riders seriously chasing the ride on him, with one seriously wanting to aim him as her Rio prospect...so clearly some pros have seen the same promise. Time will tell.

Seabiscuit had it spot on actually, that he last year was jumping off a long flat stride....very very true. He had never jumped properly to my knowledge before last year and as such struggled for a while in altering his very babyish long stride and sitting collected and jumping deeper. I know this is someone his owner has been working on hard with him and his technique has improved a thousand fold. Obviously he has a long way to go but given time will prove himself and his believers right.