The Thoroughbred horse off the track

Good or bad for breeding riding horses (Quarter horses, jumpers, dressage horses, etc.)?

I have come here to find out as much as I can on this subject.

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Cochran on March 20, 2011 at 2:45pm

Oh, Arabs are not quiet animals, if anything they are even more reactive than TBs--if ridden poorly. Arabs often have extremely sensitive mouths and these horses do not like being ridden in contact with a snaffle, they quiet down when ridden with a curb on loose reins. The bedouins did not use bits, so the horses were not developed for riding on contact, unlike the TBs, Barbs and Turkomans.

The wonderful thing about pure Arabs is that they are more interested in humans than any other type of horse. An Arab is more likely to leave its herd to investigate a person at the fence or just sitting in the pasture. Arabs will often come up to a person, even a stranger, and eloquently (for a horse) try to communicate with them. When I was going by Arab farms I had a disposition test for the adult breeding stallions, if the owners would let me go into the stall and the stallion, unheld and after a minute or so of communicating, would let me kiss him on the nose, the stallion passed my disposition test. Only once, in about 50 regularly handled stallions, was my request to go into the stall denied. Needless to say I was not interested in any of his get. Once an Arab gets to know you he or she often will forgive bad and painful mistakes by its owner/handler/rider so long as the horse knows that you are consistently trying to do your best. I do not recommend Arabs for beginners, but if the beginner is willing to listen to the horse and to be sensitive with the horse it has worked out well. Of course there are exceptions, but with my first Arab stallion, I told my grade school age boys to run to his paddock if weird people came around and we were not in sight. They fed him, they were his kids, he had a good disposition, and I knew he would defend them if necessary. Not so with my second stallion though. It, as always, just depends on the horse.

If my life depends on my horse I want an Arabian under me, and failing that a good part Arab or a good TB. Notice that it does not have to be a good Arab.

I warn you, I like Arabs even more than you like good TBs. Just my opinions, of course.

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Permalink Reply by Elles Prins on March 20, 2011 at 4:12am

Hi Vickie, there is Hyperion behind Biscay, Hyperion seems to work well for breeding a riding horse. Do you mean the horse Milling by In The Wings or the 1940 one by Mieuxce?

A very, very good Dutch bred jumper Authentic has the blood of Furioso TB, Fra Diavolo TB, Harphortas TB, Kalabaka TB, Red Star TB, Fox Cake TB, Katell TB and Lucky Boy TB. Pedigree at allbreedpedigree

Pedigree on paardenfokken.nl 71% blood within his last generations! The only horse with as good as no TB blood in his pedigree is Uzela (light farm horse/carriage type of horse).

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Permalink Reply by Elles Prins on March 20, 2011 at 4:49am

We Dutch "steal" the blood in our so called Dutch warmblood horse from everywhere.

For example Heartbreaker: Nimmerdor is called a Dutch warmblood but he is by a German Holsteiner and out of a Koridon TB daughter. The dam Bacarole is by a so called Dutch warmblood horse Silvano but Silvano by a Selle Francais stallion out of a daughter of a Holsteiner stallion. Out of a Uppercut TB daughter who is out of a El Gaucho daughter. None of these TB's were Dutch breds because The Netherlands hardly breed any TB's. Even the Gelderlander mare Hetty has Selle Francais and Holsteiner behind her. So you should take the word "Dutch" with a reasonable pinch of salt. It is the same thing with Jazz who also has Trakehner blood and Swedish warmblood Pedigree of Jazz

Breeding values jumping

Breeding values dressage

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen K on March 20, 2011 at 9:44pm

Hi Elles - I found this video and thought you might find it interesting.

http://review.barnmice.com/2172/thoroughbred-race-horse-rehab/

Hope it helps you in your quest for TB knowledge!

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Permalink Reply by Elles Prins on March 22, 2011 at 3:05am

Hello Kathleen K, thank you for that link. I had a short look at it but did not have the time to look at it thoroughly. I will certainly do so later on.

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Permalink Reply by Elles Prins on March 22, 2011 at 3:33am

I just came across this horse and he looks nice doesn't he?

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Permalink Reply by Elles Prins on March 22, 2011 at 4:25am

I like this horse as well. I do like the Caro blood but does anyone know horses with Caro blood performing outside of racing?

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Permalink Reply by vickie lawson on March 22, 2011 at 4:58am

hi elles: yes that is a fine line for riding horse. the old mare was a champion for my daughter several times over. we bought her at 11 yr i think, from a farrier who got her as a bad debt repayment. she seemed to appreicate our intervention and once she got used to us and this work ethic thing, she was great for my daughter. and very pretty too. her 2 offspring i have are very lovely, very tainable and uick to learn. i also have had 3 tb's off the track besides her which were all lovely.

i too love the arabians. i used to ride them for several breeders in ontario when i was a teenager. lovely, intelligent and willing to please.
i now have so many that i love, it is hard to know which to ride.

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Permalink Reply by Elles Prins on March 22, 2011 at 6:19am

When I once went to America I saw El Prado. He looked like a very nice horse to me.

Worldwide there are so many people enjoying the TB or TB cross horse for riding. It is a shame there is not a separate studbook for the riding horse TB or an organisation that keeps track of riding horse traits in TB's. But (ofcourse) with regards to the TB it is all about racing normally.

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Permalink Reply by Elles Prins on March 24, 2011 at 4:09pm

Look at these handsome guys, wow!

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Cochran on March 24, 2011 at 4:44pm

Hi Elles, another book I HIGHLY recommend is "Points of the Horse" by M. Horace Hayes. The subtitle is ": A Treatise on the Conformation, Movements, Breeds and Evolution of the Horse." This is a great book, though in the one reprint I got (1976?) the photos were quite blurry. It is well worth getting the original editions where the photos are good. There is a big difference if you are visually oriented like I am. I consider M. Horace Hayes the most knowledgeable horseman of the Victorian Era. M. Horace Hayes wrote many important horse books of which "Veterinary Notes for Horse Owners" and "Stable Management and Exercise" are the best known.

And yes, those guys are handsome, however in the conformation photos most showed light bone below the knee. The few that had decent bone had the plainest heads, for example Orpheus Faget SF and Quack AA. Nice horses, I'd like to ride ALL of them, but then I am not riding cross-country at speed over difficult jumps. For that I would want good bone and good wide knees and hocks. Such horses are often not considered as good looking as their lighter boned competition.