Baby Fever! Initial success leading to indecision.

[SanguinePenguin]

Hey ya’ll… annoying amateur/backyard breeder here!

TLDR: Looking for an eventing sire (preferably in the US, ideally in the NW) to improve movement and not add too much bone to a 17h, well-proportioned but on the heavy side of TB, Unusual Heat daughter.

I have a perfectly scrumptious filly out of her this year. Super pleased with how she turned out—great bone, sassy like mom but already train-able and smart. She’s by Clair de Lune SE, who’s just up the road from me. He’s a phenomenal jumper, and produces great off-spring; I know several of them and that’s why I went with him for my mare’s first breeding.

This time, however, I’m torn between breeding to him again or finding another stallion that will improve on the mare’s movement, lighten her up just tad, keep or add some speed, and keep the great work ethic and bravery she has consistently shown. She has wonderful feet (shocking, I know), a fairly uphill build, and is built like a brick sh*thouse.

Thanks for your ideas!

[Hawkridge]

Are these foals keepers or are you selling? What about just sticking to the same stallion if this year’s filly is great?

[Action42]

I’m extremely happy with my gelding by Coeur d’Amour at High Point Hanoverians. He’s one of the nicest horses I’ve even sat on and will be well worth the wait. He’s BIG, 17.2 right now at 4yo but uphill, so so balanced, great feet, great brain.

[SanguinePenguin]

Hawkridge, the foals, for now, are keepers. The only reason I wouldn’t breed to CDL again is because I wish to improve movement for better dressage scores. He’s a brilliant jumper, but I’d say an average mover and the filly isn’t exactly knocking my socks off. Sorry, I should have mentioned that in my initial post. With mom’s jumping prowess I don’t need to improve much on scope, and would rather try for a little more extension, without sacrificing speed by getting too heavy.

Action42, I’ll check him out. Thanks. What breed is the mare your gelding is out of?

[weixiao]

Navarone isn’t in the NW but might be worth looking at. He produces good moving and good jumping horses and has offspring doing well in all three disciplines.

Maybe look at some of the Wild Turkey stallions? Limoncello II might be interesting or one of their younger stallions like Coruscant or WT Leapfrog?

[Hawkridge]

@SanguinePenguin

Hawkridge, the foals, for now, are keepers. The only reason I wouldn’t breed to CDL again is because I wish to improve movement for better dressage scores. He’s a brilliant jumper, but I’d say an average mover and the filly isn’t exactly knocking my socks off. Sorry, I should have mentioned that in my initial post. With mom’s jumping prowess I don’t need to improve much on scope, and would rather try for a little more extension, without sacrificing speed by getting too heavy.

Action42, I’ll check him out. Thanks. What breed is the mare your gelding is out of?

Ah ok, I wouldn’t have thought you could really assess how well your filly moves if it’s only a few weeks old, no?
Either way, good luck with whomever you end up breeding her to
Seems like 2019 is a filly-year so far…

[SanguinePenguin]

Hawkridge, the filly is almost 4 months old.

[goodmorning]

Different ways to achieve the same results - but Donna Miller stands a couple Connemara TB crosses that will get you what you want. Cadence

I’m not sure on everyone’s proximity but Chicardo, Cabardino, Vallado, there is a Chili Morning stallion standing in CA that looks lovely, and he is not large, out of a smaller dam as well.

[clint]

In the NW, check out Dreamscape Farm’s stallion line up. They have several very nice jumper stallions with good movement, and the SO is excellent. https://www.dreamscapefarm.com/ I bred a dressage bred mare this year to Valentino, and I have seen an offspring by Checkmate that has wonderful movement. Checkmate lightened up the mare and added elegance.

[goodmorning]

Oh Valentino could work. Similar to Vallado, perhaps more refined?

[SanguinePenguin]

Thanks, all for your input. I’ve been looking at stallions with a little more TB blood–thinking Chilli Morning, though some say he’s hot (and my mare is a bit on the hotter/sensitive side.) I don’t mind a little bit of spice (pun definitely intended, mare’s name is Spicy 'n Pricey… X with Chilli Morning, I mean, how could I resist??), but I might by the time the baby is grown enough to throw a leg over, so…

I like the idea of breeding to an ISH (a la Master Imp) with a lot of TB blood.

[weixiao]

@SanguinePenguin

Thanks, all for your input. I’ve been looking at stallions with a little more TB blood–thinking Chilli Morning, though some say he’s hot (and my mare is a bit on the hotter/sensitive side.) I don’t mind a little bit of spice (pun definitely intended, mare’s name is Spicy 'n Pricey… X with Chilli Morning, I mean, how could I resist??), but I might by the time the baby is grown enough to throw a leg over, so…

I like the idea of breeding to an ISH (a la Master Imp) with a lot of TB blood.

I haven’t heard much about any Chilli offspring being hot and I wouldn’t have described him as such. He was quite nice on the ground, just a bit cheeky if he thought you might let him get away with it, and while he suited a strong/tall rider like William, he wasn’t what I would have described as “hot” at all. It seems he has quite a few offspring across the levels competing in the UK and crosses very well with TB mares so perhaps he has been put to some hotter mares and that has resulted in some spicier youngsters? The couple I have seen in person seemed to be very reasonable, not deadheads but not hot.

[weixiao]

If you like more TB blood, what about Coconut Grove if you don’t mind going frozen? We had an exceptional colt by him and in my opinion that’s the best jumping TB blood you can get at the moment.

[goodmorning]

That Master Imp blood can be tricky.

Here is the Chili Morning stallion that I think is definitely worth taking a look at - https://m.facebook.com/Coronado-Stallion-Chilli-Morning-908269356009462/

[beowulf]

Is this for UL aspirations? Or are you looking for a nice horse for LL (anything below Intermediate)?

If you want something fun and competitive, and you were interested in Navarone, I might check out Schroeder instead (he is stood by the same Stallion Owner). He is “dressage bred” but Sandro Hit does not need any introduction for eventers. He consistently improves movement on mares, and is a very nice type for TBs.

My usual suggestions for TB mares to improve movement and event suitability are Quite Easy and Tatendrang; many TBs have plenty of scope for LL endeavors and don’t need that added.

A full TB I have liked the horses I see from, (and I was skeptic of him at first!) is Artrageous.

I also have seen some very nice TBx from VDL Windsor H.

Oh… and of course… Gatsby… great on TB mares, will not detract from movement (seems to add it) buuut… you might end up with a giant. Your mare’s pedigree does not have small horses in it, and I have seen Gatsby add height.

I also do really like the Checkmate and Valentino horses I know. I think they tend to be wonderful in terms of temperament, especially taken with a Checkmate mare I know.