Horse Breed Rambles Bigger or Better?

[pips&peeps]

I get really sad when I go to the QH Breed Shows. I see yearlings that are so pumped up they can hardly walk and resemble marshmellows on sticks....

I also look at the horses that win halter classes that can hardly walk 20 steps. How can that be desireable? You can't ride or do anything with them.

I also notice that most of these horses are wound up so tight their spring is going to break at any moment.

I think my horse has done well at shows and he is lucky he gets to be a "horse". He gets to roll in the dirt and run around, not cooped up in a stall 90% of the time.

 

[luvanimals3]

I work at a quarter horse barn and help train show horses and these people have top of the line show horses and are absolutely beautiful and proportioned well, but I would choose my Qh/Thoroughbred trail horse over a show horse anyday. He is twenty, I still ride him and he has aged rather well! I think a big thing is that training a horse and expecting them to do things at to young of an age can cause problem later on especially when certain problems have been continually bred into a horses. Even my boss says that she thinks that the animals have been so inbred(in away) that it just continues to cause problems.

 

[jessieloveschicks]

Finally a post I have an intelligent answer for!lol
I am actually an agent,and do consulting for various breeding programs. The breeds change because that is what the show system rewards. We go more extreme to a fad each year and eventually,have animals that do noteven resemble the breed standard and are basically completely incapable of doing the job at all the breed wa s create d for. It is simply the desire to have teh "best" and whatever that may be is not important,the ribbon is the deciding factor,end of story. Horses especially are expensive,so most people can only afford to breed when they know they can sell the foals,or have agood reason to be spending the money. It is a very sad state of affairs that we see in most animal breeds that are bred strictly for show,and one that will not change,until the judges change what they are rewarding.
On a side note, Foundation Morgans,my shoer is Bill Heib,who is a old and very well known breeder of old style single footing morgans. He has alot for sale right now,and at very reasonable prices. Wonderful people wonderful horses... Diamond H Morgans, most Morgan folks will recognize the Dia H horses....
If I work myself up in to a full rant, I will never stop..

 

[EweSheep]

Jessie, go for it and let loose of your rants LOL! It might make you feel better!

I didnt know of a thing of single foot Morgans, and it made me wonder if you were talking about the Rocky Mtn Gaited Horse?????

If Justin Morgan was alive today, he would be disgusted with the breed today. I agree with you Jessie, all in the name of judge's picks and what the public wants. Sometimes the shows are audience applauded picks of certain horses, the louder the applauses/cheers, the more the judges would pick the winner that had the loudest calls.

Some handlers would announce "this horse is so so name and he is by top champion horse in teh US, blah, blah blah. UGH!

Others would befriend a judge, smooth talk the judge to place ribbons for favors or anything similar to it.

Also the miniature horse breeders, particuarly ONE I know, this guy will sell you anything under the sun and say this is better and he has been reported numberous times by the law. UGH! I drove by his farm a couple of times and seen smoke and it stunk HIGH heaven. No wonder he got so many dead horses on his farm!!! And the type he breeds does not show the best of either the Morgan/draft type or the Arabian type. Quantity, not quality may be his agenda.

I think the shows needs an overhaul as well as some of the top officials in breed registrations! They need to read the history and if one decided to do that, he probably would be the person to unseat the chair from office.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Enh, I honestly don't know what's currently going on at Piber, the Spanish Riding School's own stud farm, because I sort of fell out of touch with the Lipizzaner world at about hte same time as the SRS was privatized (privatization seeming a rather ominous step)... but at least up til 2000 or so, Piber and the SRS were still breeding quite correctly, for appropriate size and soundness and temperament and for proper 'character' of the breed.

Private breeders, however, not necessarily so much

(There is a lot of variation, though, and some *good* breeders even here in North America).

I wish people would chill on what a horse looks like, and worry more about a) its inclination to remain sound for a good long working life, and after that b) athleticism for its intended discipline, which has *something* to do with conformation, but not necessarily the aspects of conformation that get faddy in the show ring.

Personally I think that buyers have as much or more to answer for, in terms of causing counterproductive fads, than show judges do.

Pat

 

[farmerlor]

We have an appy and a QH. The QH looks pretty true to breed except her back looks shorter than I remember the breed having years ago. Are we breeding for shorter backs now? My appy has all kinds of QH in her bloodline but her papers declare her to be a purebred appy and worst of all she's about pony sized and has a distinctly arab head. Very pretty girl, don't get me wrong but she doesn't look like anybody's idea of what an appy should look like.
I prefer my drafts. Nobody's messing with them.

 

[CarriBrown]

I think they are breeding for shorter backs. I prefer a shorter back but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

 

[EweSheep]

Unless someone decided to breed a Percheron to a TB to get a hunter's dream LOL!

Nothing wrong with crossbreds in what you wanting to do with them, jumping, riding, eventing, carriages, etc. but to specify a breed, that would be a problem but I know not every offspring would carry all the traits but some of them may be an odd duck of the progency. Most breeds try to do carbon copies of their own breed type.

Lately I have seen shorter backs on QH but not too short that the tail head is much higher like an Arabian or shorter croup. Sometimes you will find long backs and goose rumped ones UGH! I like big hindquarters to show power but not a Mr Universe type of muscles back there otherwise its useless!

I dont know if Impressive is still popular or in the futurity, I have seen alot of Peppy horses in there.

 

[farmerlor]

Oh yeah, our QH has a butt on steroids. It's like "eeewww". LOL! I just read an ad for a horse for sale that talked about how wonderfully small the head is and realized that I've seen that claim quite often lately. Is that something new too? Is there some reason why we're trying to breed our horses to be bigger but the heads smaller?

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:

What????!!!!!!!!!! QH supposed to be smart! Now they're going to breed the brains out of them????