Help me decide on a stallion to breed my mare to! Update #120

[The Wolf Queen]

I know nothing about Gypsy horses but I would love to have one someday. Honestly I would pick Silver Fox just because hez the color of my dream Gypsy

 

[Peaches Lee]

Love the pic with the 'roo.

I would pick Bullet. Could he possibly be Rabicano too? I'm not super good with horse color genetics.

Anyways, good luck.

 

[georgialee]

Let's see...

good:
hair/feathers
rump
head/neck

bad:
narrow chest
long back


She carries herself very well and her temperment is amazing.

The stallions I listed are pretty much the best of the best and are well known in the breed.

thanks for the advice

 

[georgialee]

Quote:
I think he may be a blagdon - which is basically white past the knees and splashes of white on the chest or stomach. I had to look up rabicano - I haven't ever heard of it.

 

[wegotchickens]

I know nothing about breeding horses, but #2 is drop-dead gorgeous. I love his colors and if I could have my pick ofn them all I'd take him home

 

[kfchickenlady]

Quote:
I would go with the stallion who is strong on any weak areas your mare might have, and who has the best temperament. Next, who is the best moving and most correct? Then, you may want to consider who advertises and promotes their stallion so that any resulting foals will be more marketable. Unless you just cant afford it, I wouldnt base my decision on price alone, you may be able to deal with the stud owner, besides, that stud fee/purchase price is long forgotten after awhile, and the upkeep is the same, good luck!

 

[PuppyBantamCochin]

I just had to say....

Those are some of the MOST BEAUTIFUL horses I have ever seen.

 

[patandchickens]

Geez. Well, those websites (for your mare before you bought her, and for the stallions you are considering) give the IMPRESSION that the Vanner breeding community could not give a flying fig for conformation (since next to no attempt is made to enable the viewer to SEE it) and that color and pomp and flying hair are the main things being bred for. ("Silver Lining" especially. It's all head-shots and action shots! Sheesh)

If that is the case and it really *doesn't* matter what shape a foal turns out, then what the hell, breed for color.

If you want to keep the foal for yourself and DO care how it's built, or if the fact that next to no attempt is made to display conformation does not mean that Vanner buyers are all *that* uninterested in the subject, then I would say that OF what I can see of your mare, width may be the main thing to focus on improving. (Although honestly there just aren't any conformation shots of her, plus with all them feathers who even can tell what her lower legs and feet are like).

If you want to work towards a somewhat wider-bodied foal, you need to not only pick a stallion that is somewhat distinctly broad in the chest and hips, but also that consistantly THROWS good-width foals. I have slow dialup and am not going to wait for a hundred shots of picturesquely flying hair to load, but you really SHOULD, to see if you can get a sense of what each stallion is producing. (Obviously this is not independant of what sort of mares are put to them, but at least you can see what foals are produced). I would be leery of breeding to a youngster with few grown offspring yet, if you are really working to correct a conformation thing that is not always obvious before maturity, and I notice that at least one of the stallions you're considering is a younster himself.

I am still not sure what you are breeding FOR? (Like, what is the top priority?)

Pat

 

[wingman2008]

#2

 

[georgialee]

Pat - your post made me giggle. You're right, it's like looking at picture after picture of Fabio. It's unfortunate that emphasis is being placed on color and hair over other breed conformation points, but it is what it is for now. That is not my goal, though. I have to keep hair in mind since that's a big part of the breed, but color will come second to stallion conformation.

I would love to breed to Sir Keith, but he IS young and just now has some foals hitting the ground. A lot of foals. All but one has had color.

Bullet is proven and so is flash of gold. I don't know much about Silver Fox. I like his color but his conformation just doesn't appeal to me as much but I can't pinpoint what it is. I'm not sure on his foals - the breeders website kind of stinks.

There is another stallion - Taskin - who may be a good match for her. He's an extremely light buckskin and is very broad. http://25.media.tumblr.com/F0RoQbhM4lo2pii2e4nhHBKKo1_500.jpg