I think Friesian owners and breeders would have a COW if you said Friesians looked anything like Gypsy Vanners. I think they look about as much the same as a Rolls Royce looks to a 1972 Volkswagon bug.
I don't think she was rude at all. 'Rude' is not the same as 'disagrees with me' or 'dislikes something I like'. She merely stated her attitude and it is a very, very commonly held attitude about the Gypsy Vanners.
The horses are indeed, not very good quality. The conformation and temperament are less important to the gypsies and are varied and unreliable. Color and flashiness is more important.
But...I think people overdo in the 'angry' department. Relax, this is the American market, it has always had a segment like that. There's no sense in getting mad about it. And no point. It's not going to change. Alot of Americans are just - they're like that. Most of them know nothing about horses, have no interest in showing, know nothing about conformation or performance - and horses are a status symbol and a lawn ornament.
AND...those people are also, if you get to know them, pretty darn nice. Many of them take very good care of their horses, are eager to learn MORE about basic care, and are kind and caring folks in general. Get to know them, and you might not be so 'outraged'.
The conformation is typically - a heavy, thick neck that keeps horses from 'getting into the bridle' like a horse with a better neck and join to the head, a straight shoulder, weak back with a slack loin, narrow, steeply sloped hind quarters, and 'drafty feet' - flat soles and no heel, or rather narrow and mule like feet. That makes for shuffling, choppy gaits. The canter is typically 'drafty', and can be hard to get the horse to canter at first, like in other drafty built horses. It's then generally very flat and 4 beat, or even pacey. They don't 'move throug the back' like sportier horses, but people typically like the 'sitting on a couch on wheels' effect that gives. In the saddle, the rider feels more small bumps and jerks than a big wave of motion that pops him out of the saddle.
When it started, a few horses were bought for a few hundred pounds or much less, and then sold in the US for incredible amounts - even as an old timer, it shocked me. Whole planes could be bellied up with weanlings jammed in side by side, bought for virtually nothing, so it wasn't about recouping investments. It was about making what many people felt was an obscene amount of profit.
The reaction of American breeders losing business to the GV has not exactly been loving acceptance. For a time, quite a few were furious and argued back that they spent YEARS culling genetic disease, carefully selecting sire and dam, and paying top dollar for registered breeding stock. Spending lots of money on worming, shoeing, vaccines and hiring trainers...OF COURSE they resented it. Not only that, their horses were intended for a USE - not just standing around looking poofy. And they worked very hard to produce good conformation and temperament. YES they resented this sudden burst of attention to the GV.
Now, things have cooled down some. American breeders are breeding their own Gypsy Vanners and selling them here. The prices are still ridiculous, weanlings are going for fifteen to twenty five thousand dollars. Many dealers didn't import a single horse, just bought horses already here.
The conformation hasn't changed much. The build is still indifferent, drafty, coarse. The colors have diversified, buyers were getting bored with pinto and wanted 'something different'. But people have to remember, this animal is not aimed at a performance market, as a whole. They're aimed at a very, very different market. The novice 'hair and color' market, that is impressed by leg hair and color. Wouldn't know how to evaluate conformation, and not too concerned about how the animal's gaits measure up to a competition standard.
At this point, it's up to the American breeders, to go for more substance - improve the conformation, feet and gaits. Show their horses in those low level performance classes and prove they're more than just poofy and colorful.
Mostly, they've been showing up in lower level dressage where they can win based solely on obedience - lower level pleasure driving, ditto. Not in top sport, where they would have to change in conformation and gait markedly to succeed.
But most people wouldn't know conformation if it came up and bit 'em. All they see is poofy legs and color, and that's all they'll ever see. The price is what they have to spend, and they like the romantic background....and the US market has always had a segment of buyers like that.
A few years ago it was Friesians, now it's GV; this part of the market is ALWAYS like that. You can't fight it, kid, you may as well relax, sit back and enjoy the show.
