Why do people own warmbloods then?

tinker88 said:
Infact i dont really think i know any "crazy/hot headed" warmbloods, just the wrong riders on them. I think they are very sane horses with talent....... as long as they arnt too closey related to a TB.
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I had to chuckle when I read your reply, I have a WB X TB yearling filly, this is she....

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Do you think she is lulling me into a false sense of security?? :D
 
Why? Because my 15.2hh little kwpn mare is the most generous horse I have ever ridden! She gets me out out every horrible scrape I dare put her in and always tried her best although is a real troll on the floor. My 16.2hh very flash well bred kwpn is a different ball game all together and is too clever for her own good. Safe to say I prefer the little one!
 
I have not found warmbloods (and what I call a warmblood is a horse of / decended from horses of continental breeding) to be hot-headed, usually the opposite.

I would not give one field room as I find them dim, most are not of a sensible size and they are not as tough and sound as other types/breeds. They are usually easier to ride though!
 
I have a 2 year old wb, beautifully bred, lovely mover and she's very nice natured.
I'm a cob fan myself, wouldn't touch a wb as I'm just a happy hacker but my daughter loves to show jump and therefore needs the right type of horse, she's currently got an irish sports pony, her wb is for in 4/5 years time. Once backed and working away, I'd not be able to afford a horse of her calibre, hence I've gambled and bought young.

Have to say, I find her boring in comparison to a yearling Welsh section D I have, she's just got so much more charachter and is much more fun, I suspect also she will be a far bigger handful !!

I think there are good and bad in every breed, I know cobs that go like trains and wb who are really sweet and lovely calm rides, I think a couple of people made the point of it being the owners, I couldn't agree more, I've seen the most placid of horses turned into horrors in the wrong hands x
 
We cheated - ours is on loan! It turns out she's the nicest, most generous and kind person (and that's before you get to 'the jump' she has) you could wish for.

Not what I'd have bought on first inspection, but since I am a hopeless judge of potential a decent trial is a must for me, and loan is the perfect answer. I haven't found a single thing I dislike about 'our' chestnut dumblood, and even her leadrope-eating habit doesn't wind me up now..

I confess, her breeding was the last thing I was considering when she was offered to us. I still don't really acknowledge we have one! She's a superstar, then a horse (albeit little) then she's a chestnut mare, then she's a warmblood.
 
Well mine was a rescue, but i have to say hes the most well mannered horse out of all the TBs/Cobs Ive owned

Ridden not so much but i think like all horses it depends on the individual
 
I crossed my TB mare with a WB Grand Prix dressage sire to produce something more sane! It worked, too. I've got a fabulously trainable and sweetnatured horse.

I guess it's like breeding anything: temperament is paramount. Breed two viscious dogs and you're very likely to end up with a litter of viscious tempered puppies. Breed from a talented but highly strung and difficult horse and equally the offspring are likely to acquire a complicated temperament.

I think it's quite unfair to label the 'warmblood' as being difficult and highly strung. Surely they were bred to be precisely the opposite; and only unwise breeding has lead to a decline in straight forward trainability and temperament within certain WB lines.

As for owners buying horses unsuitable for them.... Hell, that's been going on since time in memorial and always will! It's nowt to do with WB's. Just what's in fashion. Back in the 70's and 80's it was the TB considered en vogue for the wanna-be novice to show off on.
 
Blacklist said:
Technically Thoroughbred (hot blood) X Shire (cold blood) = Warmblood!!!!!!! Quite a few people own these do they know that they are Warmbloods?
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Strictly speaking true, as in hot + cold = warm. But, in reality, modern day WB breeds tends to be a long way from their cold blooded ancestors!!
 
I own one cos I was given one... and he's great. Don't get me wrong, he bites and kicks and is a pain in the back side in the stable and certainly not a novice horse from the ground but he's trained to grand prix and competed at this level for a short while yet I can still put a total novice on his back and he takes it in his stride. He's taught so many people what passage 'feels' like and how to train a pirouette. and even tho he's an evil git he's one of my best friends.

Blitz
 
I have two warmblood ponies, who are both more sensitive than my TB (she wasn't off the track though!). Their sire is a medal winning pony, yet only few of his offspring are quoted on his stud site as having made the grade, and none in his discipline (dressage). With the two I have, I would guess that part of the reason is how incredibly sensitive they are. Both are real sweethearts, but it took five months to find a bit one would accept and take a contact in, and the other is currently having hissy fits if I ask her (ever so gently) to flex in one direction or the other. One I've had 10 months from backing, and is now an absolute dream to ride, yet still very sensitive and you can't ever make even a little mistake or she gets upset. Finding a child to take her further is proving a nightmare. She is simply too talented, and too sensitive for most children - great fun for me though! The other has been backed two months now, and I'm slowly wading through the tantrums I had with the first one last winter lol - at least this time I know what the end product will be so know it's seriously worth it!

Both ponies won't spook and are very laid back in themselves, but incredible sensitive to ride, from the first time you ever sit on them. That makes them good competition horses, safe as houses to hack out/take to shows etc, but does not make them good for those whose aids might be approximate and who make mistakes.

So maybe these people who buy warmbloods, just don't realise what they're getting into? I got the second pony very inexpensively as she needed an adult/experienced teenager to back her and bring her on, and I'm just lucky enough to be small lol!
 
hey hey my first post on H&H!
Well I have (as you may guess from the name!) a 7yo Trakehner mare. She was bought for my daughter to compete in dressage on, and they are coming along very nicely. We didn't want a big horse, a grey horse or a mare so what did we get? Yup! A huge grey Trakehner mare! And this wasn't on impulse, she was the first horse we saw but we said never get the first one you see but although we looked a lot more we never saw one we clicked with like we did with her. A lot of people said wth are you getting a Trakehner for, they are mental! Well yes she does throw her toys out of the pram now and then but less as she matures, and she is just the sweetest natured creature. She is 17.2hh and I am 5'nothing and she and I get along just fine toodling out on a gentle hack while Sophie does all the hard work with her!
 
dominobrown said:
Why do people who (no offence to anyone because I am one of them:o), got out and buy a flashy hot head headed warmblood, with top dressage/event/ show jumping lines when they are not good enough riders to handle it?
I can come up with endless cases where people have spent large amounts of flashy horse and can't ride them, trading them in for something smaller and hairier (cue- cob!).
Seriously why buy Olympic prospect to do the odd riding club/ unaffiliated dressage comp and are absolutely terrified of it?
There seems to be so many good flashy horses standing in fields doing nothing, when infact your cheaper bog standard, Heinz 57 would of been better!
Opinions, and please don't be nasty!
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Beats me totally unless it's because they like to flash the cash.
 
I have 3 warmbloods (actually, 4 if you count my grey - he was sold but I had to take him back as woman was overhorsed!).
I love them as a breed, for me they have the right level of weight and bone (though this is variable) but also can be light in the hand & athletic (some of this depends on training).

I think in some part it is the imported warmbloods that are the 'trouble' because first off, the netherlands/belgium/germany etc like to keep the good ones, so the ones that are imported over here are not always best in class examples (with exceptions, of course). Let's face it, if you are on the continent I reckon you can do quite well selling WBs to the brits - better than in your home country.

Secondly, a lot of these WBs are bred on professional studs, kept in a routine, given the right discipline and ridden by strong capeable riders (quite often men). Then they come over here, get bought by someone who probably is a decent sort of a rider, but is no way near like what they are used to & someone who thinks they have to feed WBs lots of cereals. So they try it on (like any horse with half a brain) and because they are powerful animals, people get scared/overhorsed.

So IMO it is down to the fact that they are horses that haven't made the grade who are trained by professionals & then allowed to get away with murder in their new homes.

Though I do think that this can happen with any breed.
 
Interesting points in that last post. In fact I live in Belgium and Perzka came from exactly the type of stud you describe (although the people there are really nice and v professional) with that sort of background too; However with the help of Sophie's instructors ( the first one helped us find her), we have brought her on at a reasonable pace and not pushed her too hard too fast, which I think is a problem with a lot of good WB's , they show promise then are pushed too hard and being sensitive souls just can't take it after a while and rebel. For instance the leap in what is required in 5yo classes and 6yo classes is huge - like going from primary school straight to uni imho- which is why we did 5yo classes but then went down to "ordinary" dressage classes after that.
 
I have a warmblood largely because it was free. Reason it was free?? Owner with loads of cash got it as his first horse off the boat from holland cos it looked good and had top bloodlines and turned poor pony into a psychopath that no-one would touch.

A few months on a muddy farm in Yorkshire, plenty of turnout with a sensible 30 year old ID/TB for company, a new saddle that fitted (unlike the tres expensive albion he came with that had him in agony) plus regular work and he is the most chilled out awesome little person ever and I wouldn't swap him for any cob/TB/ID/etc or the world!! There's no way that I am an "olympic" prospect by any means - even if the pony might be - but he is working/competing and happy and well and no bother at all!!
 
dominobrown said:
Why do people who (no offence to anyone because I am one of them:o), got out and buy a flashy hot head headed warmblood, with top dressage/event/ show jumping lines when they are not good enough riders to handle it?
I can come up with endless cases where people have spent large amounts of flashy horse and can't ride them, trading them in for something smaller and hairier (cue- cob!).
Seriously why buy Olympic prospect to do the odd riding club/ unaffiliated dressage comp and are absolutely terrified of it?
There seems to be so many good flashy horses standing in fields doing nothing, when infact your cheaper bog standard, Heinz 57 would of been better!
Opinions, and please don't be nasty!
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On a farm that i was on there was a few people who had these flashy warmblood types, amazing breeding and so on and looked down their nose at me when a lady delivered a skinny hairy cob for me lol! but now we are all hogged off and muscled up and winning pretty much every cob class we enter at the local shows ect, and plan to do RIHS, HOYS qualifiers next year, these people are still getting 50-55% in their dressage and have yet to get a clear round in a 2 foot 6 local jumping class. Im not saying all people are like this, thats just my experience with that few people.

At my new farm i am the only one who shows, everyone events and they do good with it, decent marks in dresage and clears XC, they are sometimes let down with SJing but they get placed sometimes and do good, even though i dont do the same thing as them they are still supportive and ask when im going to shows ect and say well done.

Decent horses can be ruined by bad riders and potentialy good horses can be made awfull by bad riders no matter how much they paid for them. and equally so badly bred horses can do well with a lot of effort!

Im a cob lover and a hunter lover but i do really enjoy it when people on my yard let me have a go on their eventers and i can understand what attracts people to buying that type of horse :D
 
Various reasons; I think some people think that buying a good enough horse will compensate for their lack of riding ability, some people think they are better than they are and therefore need a super talented horse, some people like to keep up with the Joneses, and I guess some people just prefer that kind of horse.
 
I own a warmblood for no other reason than I was looking for a horse at a local dealers yard and he was there. He can be a bit hot headed, but 99% is great and now I know how to sort him out he is lovely. It was my instructor that told me that warmbloods have a fairly slow brain so if he is looking at something don't rush him, let him have a good look and process it. This has worked really well as before I would just kick on the get him past and not let him look.
 
I think for a lot of amateur riders the typical 'big paces' and automatic outline of a warmblood is very inviting. While you can obviously achieve great things with a cold-blooded horse (cob x etc) it can take a little longer to find the same feeling, so I guess it is tempting to cut the corner?
 
Read my article on the Cleveland Bay in Horse Breeders Magazine.

http://www.horsebreedersmagazine.com/ also on the Shagya Arab.

Was the Yorkshire Coach Horse the first ever Warmblood? Breeders found that too much 'blood' was detrimental which is why CB stallions continued to be allowed in the Yorkshire Coach Horse Stud Book. That stud book no longer exists.

I only have rare breeds from closed stud books. I am not being rude to warmblood enthusiasts, but hundreds of years of experienced breeding when horses had to WORK for a living must not be disregarded.
 
I have one and on the whole he is very sane and sensible. My friends cob on the other hand can be quite a challenge on the ground and ridden. The only real difference we notice when doing any fast work is that the cob gets knackered and my boy gets faster. If we get that cob fit...
 
pod said:
I have a warmblood, she is exceptionally well bred and ought to be a fantastic showjumper but unfortunately she isn't, as I bought her purely because she had pink papers and a pretty face and was big and shiny. I do look smart traipsing round the village on her though, and as an added bonus I can see my smart reflection in all the upstairs windows.
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PMSL :D


I think "warmblood" is such a broad term these days that you can't make any assumptions about how the type of horse may be. I've ridden a lot of mad warmbloods, and a few calm and sane ones. Maddest things I've ever sat on were an Anglo Arab (well you had to forgive him because of his breeding :p ) and a traditional cob - the cob was THE best fun on four legs but was totally off her rocker!

My mum's is technically a warmblood - ID x TB - but is absolutely 100% safe and sane. My first pony was a Welsh D and was 100% un-safe!! It totally depends on the horse, I think.

I suppose people buy them for various reasons - Spiral put it very well, I think. As for the people who buy a warmblood "because so-and-so on the yard has one and is winning Advanced dressage, so I want one to do that with me too" despite their lack of riding ability..? Well, that's there perogative. They'll soon discover that ANY breed or type of horse could easily take the mick out of them, talented and flashy or not. It's the individual horse's temperament and suitability that matters.

But - does that make it wrong that I can be lacking in confidence occasionally, but my next horse is to be an Iberian? Yes, lots of them would take the mick but there are lots that wouldn't... I just have to find the right one! :)

ETS: Then I can join pod, passaging round the village on a hairy shiny beast and scaring the locals :D
 
I got a nice mix with Belle as she's half KWPN and the rest TB and ID (she looks more Irish but is technically just 1/8 or something).

I think that sometimes you have to 'overhorse' yourself in order to improve. Belle was a wild choice for me - much like trakehnersrock, didn't want anything too big, grey or a mare...DOH! She has turned out to be a bit of a looney but it has dramatically improved my riding and she has also come on in leaps and bounds. She is not at all nasty, she is just testing me out a lot!

I guess when some people say they've overhorsed themselves they mean that the talent of the horse does not match that of the rider, it exceeds it. I suppose in my sense I overhorsed myself in that although Belle was not particularly talented (though she has wonderful potential), she is a lot of horse for someone like me to handle and has been a real challenge. Today I could almost have cried with happiness because she was absolutely perfect in our lesson and tried so hard, and it felt even better knowing that it's a result of time, patience and effort. As well as a good instructor!

I think really horses are just down to preference. A lot of flashy warmbloods are very beautiful and I'm sure can be a joy to ride, just as many types of horse are attractive to different people. If I had the money and time to give it then I certainly would consider having a stunning warmblood monster, but I would also consider a lovely cob (which in many eyes could be just as stunning). You can overhorse yourself with anything at the end of the day!
 
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