Baloubet du Rouet temperament and conformation

[Lord_Helpus]

I have tried to research my questions, but the information I can find seems to be all about Balou du Rouet.

Can anyone tell me about Baloubet himself?

Specifically, does he have any conformation issues which he tends to pass on?

What kind of temperaments do his babies have? I have heard from one source that the babies can be “tough” and are not suitable for an ammie to handle right away. Someone else has said that his babies are laid back and easy to handle.

I am guessing these differing insights might be a result of knowing the Balou babies which seem to have wonderful attitudes. But from these comments I cannot tell if the temperaments of the Balou’s come from the sire or the dam.

[beowulf]

Most can be tricky, but once figured out, quite easy, very willing temperaments. There’s a poster on this board who said something about his entire sire line being quite tough, IIRC.

As far as conformation, he’s not without his faults yet his flaws have done very little to hamper his success. I’d only use a very straight/correct legged mare who is a consistent producer with him, preferably one who is compact - he has very crooked front legs and is over at the knee - he is also straight and camped out behind. IIRC, he does contribute height.

[ladyj79]

My rider is close with RP, we talk about Baloubet a lot. I’d say that temperament will be more of an issue than conformation. This is a line that should be professionally developed by an atuned rider. Even Nelson didn’t get the ride out of Baloubet that Rodrigo did.

That said, I saw someone was selling a dose of Baloubet recently, and I really wanted it (particularly since he’s now retired from breeding).

[RanchoAdobe]

I would also be cautious of calling the Balou Du Rouet’s easy or wonderful attitudes. They are talented horses, but also quirky and less than amateur friendly as young horses.

[can_t_re]

[QUOTE=RanchoAdobe;8212395]
I would also be cautious of calling the Balou Du Rouet’s easy or wonderful attitudes. They are talented horses, but also quirky and less than amateur friendly as young horses.[/QUOTE]
I agree. I had two born on my farm and they were tough. And many of the ones I see at shows are very talented but professional rides.
Baloubet was not the easiest ride and Galoubet tougher. There are videos on youtube of both of them.

[ASBJumper]

[QUOTE=can’t re-;8212460]
I agree. I had two born on my farm and they were tough. And many of the ones I see at shows are very talented but professional rides.
Baloubet was not the easiest ride and Galoubet tougher. There are videos on youtube of both of them.[/QUOTE]

That’s what I have heard also.

I learned the hard way that sometimes temperament can skip a generation, too. I bred to a very sweet, even-tempered stallion (met him in person) for my first homebred, so I figured I was being smart by breeding good temperament to good temperament (mare was/is a SAINT). Turned out the stallion’s sire and grandsire were notoriously fiery and difficult - and I got a filly with a LOT of that fire and piss & vinegar. Thank GOD she also had her mother’s people-loving traits and her desire to please/work ethic because that at least balanced out the 'tude and made her safe and fun to ride, but boy was she opinionated and firey - yikes! :eek:

Now I make sure to take into consideration what is further up the lineage when I pick a stallion, and did the same when I bought my next broodmare.

So, while I have no doubt that the stallion owners who stand BdR sons and sing their praises are being honest about their boys’ good attitudes, that doesn’t mean the difficult temperament might not show up in their babies anyway.

[snaffle1987]

He made an appearance undersaddle last year… see here: Not sure who is riding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePWn3sulM7M

He looks great for his age but still a handful!

[Sacha]

I’ve had a lot of Baloubet offspring through my hands from the ages of 4 upwards. As a generalisation they tend to have upright shoulders and the neck set is never perfect. They are not the easiest in their mouths (possibly due to this) but really have scope over a fence. Perfectly easy to handle on the ground, just the mouthiness to get over under saddle which could make them tricky in their flatwork.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=snaffle1987;8212932]
He made an appearance undersaddle last year… see here: Not sure who is riding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePWn3sulM7M

He looks great for his age but still a handful![/QUOTE]

I’m going to wager that was one of the rider’s least enjoyable life experiences! :lol:

Baloubet was saying, “this is ridiculous!”

[belgianWBLuver]

[QUOTE=snaffle1987;8212932]
He made an appearance undersaddle last year… see here: Not sure who is riding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePWn3sulM7M

He looks great for his age but still a handful![/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8213045]I’m going to wager that was one of the rider’s least enjoyable life experiences! :lol:

Baloubet was saying, “this is ridiculous!”[/QUOTE]

I’m thinking are you kidding me? - Those French and their super charged emotional “retired equine” presentations - You bet he’s saying WTF to all of that.
FWIW if it were me and my guy, I’d be hanging off the rafters and he galloping around the arena in a panic :lol:

[VirginiaBred]

@snaffle1987

He made an appearance undersaddle last year… see here: Not sure who is riding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePWn3sulM7M

He looks great for his age but still a handful!

Isn’t the OP asking for information on Baloubet?

[can_t_re]

[QUOTE=VirginiaBred;8213222]
Isn’t the OP asking for information on Baloubet?[/QUOTE]

Yes, the video is of Baloubet du Rouet. Sacha gave some helpful info on his offspring as well.
Baloubet’s “official” website: http://www.baloubetdurouet.com/english/history.html

[buschkn]

The BdR gelding I had was one of my favorites. Scopey, sweet, blood. But he was coming 7yo when I got him so I didn’t know him as a baby.

[Hillside_H_Ranch]

I agree with most of the information here. Baloubet, as his sire Galoubet, is known to be very difficult and hot. When Baloubet first came on the breeding scene he was ridiculed as a breeding stallion due to lack of good tupe, his very crooked front legs, and the typical Galoubet head/neck/shoulder. Now that it’s been proven he can produce internationally competitive horses he is more frequently used. But the mare needs to be very carefully selected and one should be prepared for a non-ammy ride.

[J-Lu]

[QUOTE=Hillside H Ranch;8213595]
I agree with most of the information here. Baloubet, as his sire Galoubet, is known to be very difficult and hot. When Baloubet first came on the breeding scene he was ridiculed as a breeding stallion due to lack of good tupe, his very crooked front legs, and the typical Galoubet head/neck/shoulder. Now that it’s been proven he can produce internationally competitive horses he is more frequently used. But the mare needs to be very carefully selected and one should be prepared for a non-ammy ride.[/QUOTE]

I’m sorry to be be picky but this in an interesting thread to me. What did you mean in the “bold and blue” above?

[Didi]

I think she means “type”?

[Hillside_H_Ranch]

Yes…sorry for the typo!! It should read “due to lack of good type”. Darn phones…

[oldernewbie]

I saw a guy today with a lack of good tupe - it looked like he had a mop on his head.

Sorry, bad joke, but I did see a bad one.

Carry on!

[J-Lu]

[QUOTE=Hillside H Ranch;8214046]
Yes…sorry for the typo!! It should read “due to lack of good type”. Darn phones…:)[/QUOTE]

Oh geez, how obvious!! (palm-to-forehead) Thanks!

[Lord_Helpus]

In case no one could guess I was asking because of my filly. I was wondering what BdR’s front legs were like and whether he was known to sire tough offspring.

My filly is straightening up, but she has huge knees (not epiphysitis, my vet has been out) which make her look tied in below the knees. My vet will be going back in a month to see how her knees are doing and, depending on their current state, she will be taking x-rays to look at the growth plates. (this is all she has told me, so I cannot answer questions since I do not know more.)

Perhaps her knees are huge because she is going to be big boned all over (her hind legs are big). But at this stage we don’t know that.

She is correct in front, so I don’t have to worry that she takes after her daddy in that respect.

Here she is about 2 weeks ago:

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp25/PeteyPuppy/Dottie%20at%203%20weeks_zpsmx0ofjec.jpg

She is, evidently, also quite a pistol and is not enamoured of people. Right now this is not my problem, but she will be coming home this winter and I am wondering if she is something I can deal with. Obviously things can change in the next 5 months, but I am trying to find a friend for her. However, if I need to send her to a professional baby raiser, I won’t need to find another filly of the same age.