Comment

Comment by Geoffrey Pannell on September 13, 2009 at 7:02am

GREAT PIC William , I love seeing kids with big smiles on ponys( decent jump too!!)

Comment by William Micklem on September 13, 2009 at 4:52am

Love the quarter horses and without question a great cross...we just need to keep telling people and lead by example...I live in hope! Will come back to you...busy day. William

Comment by vineyridge on September 12, 2009 at 9:07pm

The native American Breeds are things like the Morgans, the American Saddlebred, the American Standardbred, and the American Quarter Horse. All have used substantial amount of TB in their creation, but all have ended up in different places. All excel at different things. The American Standardbred was imported to Europe in large numbers early in the 20th century to "improve" the trotters.

I believe that the American Saddlebred, if judiciously bred for the right traits, could make one heck of a dressage horse. I also believe that, given the huge engine and short twitch muscle fibers and their ability to stop and turn on a dime, the American Quarter Horse would have a lot to offer those who breed jumping horses. Certainly some AQHA x TB crosses were very successful in GP jumping in the middle of the twentieth century.

Once again, we go back to marketing. The WB registries are absolutely closed to all of the "native" breeds except their own.

Comment by William Micklem on September 2, 2009 at 2:43pm

Last month with my son Sam...one terrific pony...one terrific son!

Comment by William Micklem on September 2, 2009 at 1:48pm

I can assure you that the majority of horse people in Ireland and the UK do not know about the TB and the warm blood and in addition so many riders have totally unsuitable warm bloods...which is why there has been such a huge reaction to my blogs...leaving that aside, you ask about our Irish breeds...the Connemara is an extraordinary breed because it maintains it's breed characteristics even in different countries/environments... as well as the Irish Draught (wonderful blood for a sensitive yet quiet riding horse) we also have the rare breed the Kerry Bog Pony...I have one...only 11.2 and 27 years old but can still jump his own height and is a daily willing delight...longevity is a major strength of any stock...not always there in precocious breeds...William

Comment by William Micklem on September 2, 2009 at 3:15am

Wo, wo Over the Fences...communication is always difficult but the use of Mutt was my little joke...I try to keep things light and see the funny side of things...I love OKI DOKI and I love his breeding...I don't have any distain for warm bloods...and if you read my blogs you will see I continually suggest using more of our native breeds...what I don't like is the marketing white lies and common misunderstanding of what the warm blood is and can be....too many people buy into a brand with the belief they are getting the same type of breeding as another horse they know of the same breeding...but the range of thoroughbred blood can be enormous ranging from almost none to 100%..so I don't think we are so far apart in our ideas. Most people don't know that many top warm blood performers have a considerable amount of TB blood...and the right TB blood...and fairly close up in the pedigree. Thank you for your contribution. William

Comment by William Micklem on August 31, 2009 at 4:05pm

Not sure if I fully understand you but anyone with your enthusiasm is so important...it is vital that we work together and those who can bring people together to work in harmony are 'gold'...the whole sport suffers if there are factions and fractured organisations...we have a fabulous sport but so many people lack suitable horses and the branding process often works against the consumer...keep smiling..William

Comment by Over Fences on August 31, 2009 at 2:54pm

Alot of people currently registering horses AWS either have very expensive imports that they do not wish to be compared or judged alongside with say... an Appendix QH. So they just give low scores to breeds or crosses they dont like.

Others have poor quality, crossbreds that they are simply looking to register for a higher sale price.
Our Warmblood process has it's heart in the right place, but is under the control of a few affluent individuals with no objectivity, or "EYE" for the long term goal.

I feel they should be allowing all of the Thoroughbreds bred in america and competing at classical sports in as Broodstock now. So that later crosses of TB arent made individually, potentially distracting from a developing type.

Comment by Over Fences on August 31, 2009 at 2:43pm

I'm not talking about mustangs though. I think that if each established American breed. Allocated individuals for an "olympic line". We would have the beginnings of a type. These individuals would of course need Warmblood and Thoroubred infusions to be competitive, but over perhaps 50 years or so the AWS could enjoy all the success & popularity as Hanoverians etc.

Comment by Over Fences on August 31, 2009 at 2:38pm

Thank you so much for that, I feel so strongly that we need our own Olympic breed, And that not only should we include the most precious blood from around the world. We should, like you said "treasure our native blood".

Any other Warmblood I know of has it's roots in the native breeds of the area, and the best imports that could be aquired to improve upon their native traits.

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