Lord Helpus, what a beauty!!!
Thank you Lady AJ.
I have been [semi] hysterical since she was born and was not 100% perfect, like all the other babies I see on the foal thread.
And I have been making other people crazy with my fussing.
She is a lot better than she was at birth ---- and I have been assured that she will be fine by the time she is 6 months old.
I have bought babies before, but never an in utero foal (especially one like her); I am not sure that my temperament is suited for living through the first 3 months of a foalâs life. From now on I will stick to buying foals/weanlings when I can see what I am getting.
Hopefully I will look back at this phase and realize what a stupid worrier I was/am. It is because of all of you (thank you for the PMâs to those who have sent them) that I am starting to relax.
Very exciting and nice baby, Lord Helpus!! Congratulations!! What is the damline? Is that the true dam or a recip mare â sheâs nice.
PennyG
[QUOTE=TKR;8215993]
Very exciting and nice baby, Lord Helpus!! Congratulations!! What is the damline? Is that the true dam or a recip mare â sheâs nice.
PennyG[/QUOTE]
If I am right, the mare is Call Me (Parlay), 1994 (Cassini I x Colorado). Looks to be the true mare.
Lord Helpus, your foal looks like she is just about completely recovered from angular limb deformities at birth, and as those go, pretty mild. And very pretty! I have been breeding a few foals a year for a very long time, and I have never offered an inutero foal because I just canât get myself to feel okay about showing pictures of a new born with issues that Iâm reasonably certain will be fine by three months, but that might have an owner hysterical. And I would venture to say that some sort of angular limb deformity is almost always there. I had my first windswept foal a couple of years ago, and if I had to show those pictures to a proud new owner, Iâm sure everyone would have been hysterical or worse. But all good by three months. 
As far as temperament, foals are all over the map in that department, even full siblings. I do believe that temperament is very heritable, but with a friendly mare that is easy to handle, by the time you take her Iâm betting your foal will be manageable.
[QUOTE=beowulf;8216000]
If I am right, the mare is Call Me (Parlay), 1994 (Cassini I x Colorado). Looks to be the true mare.[/QUOTE]
Yes, the mare is Call Me/Parlay, and the cross of Cassini I with Baloubet du Rouet should be an outstanding one. I am thrilled to be able to own her, but since she is who she is, I have been especially worried that she will not be perfect.
Everyone who has seen her has told me to relax; that she will mature into the horse I had dreamed of. And now, at 1 month old (she was born 6/4/15) I believe them. But I have been a wreck for the last 30 days.
She will be registered in the Selle Francais stud book, so she will not have to be inspected for several years (if at all).
That alone has calmed me down because I was worried that she would have to be inspected in 4 - 5 weeks if she was going to be registered with an European registry.
What do people do if they have a late foal who needs time to unfold and straighten up? I am now aware that not every foal hits the ground ready to be awarded premium status in the first several months. And I would have hated to send her to an inspection where she was given a lower score because she had not yet reached an important milestone.
[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;8216061]
Yes, the mare is Call Me/Parlay, and the cross of Cassini I with Baloubet du Rouet should be an outstanding one. I am thrilled to be able to own her, but since she is who she is, I have been especially worried that she will not be perfect.
Everyone who has seen her has told me to relax; that she will mature into the horse I had dreamed of. And now, at 1 month old (she was born 6/4/15) I believe them. But I have been a wreck for the last 30 days.
She will be registered in the Selle Francais stud book, so she will not have to be inspected for several years (if at all).
That alone has calmed me down because I was worried that she would have to be inspected in 4 - 5 weeks if she was going to be registered with an European registry.
What do people do if they have a late foal who needs time to unfold and straighten up? I am now aware that not every foal hits the ground ready to be awarded premium status in the first several months. And I would have hated to send her to an inspection where she was given a lower score because she had not yet reached an important milestone.[/QUOTE]
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No foal/horse is perfect; thatâs not attainable and if thatâs the goal you will be unhappy.
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No one can predict how a foal is going to matureâŠbelieve me. They all change incredibly, some for the better, some for the worse, both physically and in personality.
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Foal inspections mean nothing for future performance, so Iâve stopped worrying about them. In fact, several registries donât require foal inspections and if I have the option I have started leaning towards using one of those registries. Foal inspection scores are nice if one is trying to market a baby, but other than that, there is truly no correlation between foal scores and how the horse later does under-saddle and in sport.
Part of raising a baby is enjoying the experience, watching the changes and knowing your future partner from the very beginning. Even the tough ones have their own rewards. I know itâs hard, but try to sit back and enjoy the ride!!
I do not agree on the statement regarding the typical head/neck/shoulder of Galoubet A. Having owned two direct daughters and a Quick Star daughter, the neck set and shoulder and humerus angles have all been very good. Two have the Galoubet head derived from the French Trotter dam, Viti, and the third is very pretty with very slight dish. The Galoubet A daughters both have correct legs and good angles and 6 of 7 foals have been correct with the one having slightly straighter hock angles like Galoubet. The Quick Star is slightly toed in like her sire, but has now produced two for two straight legged offspring with very good angles. I have not bred a BdR so cannot speak to his tendencies, but did feel the need to share my experience with Galoubet A and his son, Quick Star. When breeding these lineages, one is breeding for high performance not usually the inspection site champion and in general, the two are different horses.
The âvery difficult and hotâ label gets thrown around a fair amount on forums and blogs and generally by those not breeding Galoubets or at least, not many of them. So the label takes on a life of its own passed from one to another. A more accurate judgment would be highly intelligent, sensitive, and not easily forgiving of trainerâs and riderâs faults. They do not suffer fools easily. However, they respond very well to vaquero horsemanship and to genuinely educated, compassionate, and fair riders and trainers. If they trust you, they walk through fire for you. Needless to say, not a typical ammy ride.
[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 itâs 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 agree with the above post. The strong temperament came via Galoubetâs mother who was a snark, hated pulling a cart, but proved she could jump. Awesomely well as a matter of fact. There are a number of pics with Galoubetâs flattened ears and curled lips at the jumps. He challenged every jump with attitude.
But when breeding also note that certain recessive genes tend to skip a generation - talent, temperament, etc. Not every offspring gets the same mix of recessives so you have to look at the background sires & dams as a whole and decide if you like the family. The lineage is very talented and very successful. Some pick up the trotter look, some pick up the wilder nature, most pick up the insanely talented jump ability. If temperament is an issue for you, then go with the B line a number of generations removed from Galoubet as the influx of mare lines can mitigate those issues.
Galoubet (Alme) and Furioso is proven jumper nick so the BdR x Parlay foal is promising!
I also have a ton of experience breeding with the Galoubet blood, but not with BdR. I had a direct Galoubet daughter for years and had 5 foals from her, three of which were daughters (one I still have). Letâs remember that every foal has a mother, too, so the traits obviously vary from generation to generation. I, however, am not the one who originated the thought that Galoubet has a particular and easily identifiable head/neck/shoulder set. Thatâs a widespread opinion held by the French breeders and can be found in many of the book and magazine articles reference Galoubet. I just happen to agree with it, based upon the daughter I had, and her offspring.
Just to clarify, I happen to like the extremely hot, sensitive and somewhat tough nature of this line. Many, many top jumpers have a moreâŠchallenging temperament and Iâm in the camp of breeders that feel that true international horses NEED that extra fight and spark to succeed at that level.
And I completely agree that âwhen breeding these lineages, one is breeding for high performance not usually the inspection site champion and in general, the two are different horsesâ.
1 Like
Thank s to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I am learning a lot; most of which I should probably have researched before buying this filly in utero. 
But, it seems that I am getting what I wanted, even though I had not done my homework.
I have no plans to ever ride this filly. She will be backed by a specialist in backing young horses. I prefer to have Western riders start young horses; they are very focused on teaching a young horse to move all its body parts, not just how to W,T and C. Waldo was doing shoulder in and haunches in before he had a bit in his mouth. (He was started in a bosal and did not graduate to a bit for 2 months.)
With Waldo, after being backed, he had 5 months off, and then went out to Ky to be started by my friend Karina Busch, at Halcyon Hill Farm. She had him for 5 months and he came back knowing balance, leads, changes and was jumping small courses (he was 4). He had another 5 months off before going into real jumper training with Harold Chopping and has blossomed into a young jumper who loves his job.
I am big on giving young horses intensive training for several months, followed by several months of âbenign neglectâ (turnout and trail riding), followed by another 4-5 months of training, etc.
This is how the filly will be started. I hope it works as well with her as it did with Waldo.
âExtremely hot, sensitive, and somewhat tough nature of this lineâ is a reflection of the individual or individuals stating this and his or her skills, and not of the horses themselves.
We have had three stallion offspring of Galoubet mothers ridden by the children of a well, known vaquero colt starter on their 5th or 6th time under saddle. The words the colt starter used to describe these young stallions were âvery balanced, elastic, intelligent, very responsive, soft, gentle nature.â If they trust you, then they work with you. (This same vaquero colt starter will also say he cannot understand the âAmerican fear of riding and handling stallions. If they are well trained, they are like a mare or gelding and same should be expected from them.â) His son was 9 years old riding a 3 year old and then a 4 year old stallion just started under saddle and being ridden for the first time away from home. Of note was the soft, educated hands of both the colt starter and his son. Far from hot or tough which they can be made into in the wrong hands. Sensitive yes, but in a good way again if in educated hands. Not an American ammy ride nor the average pro ride. A true horsemanâs ride but a dream at that.
I think it is important to separate the perspective of some from the reality of what a horse is, or is not. Just because they can be beyond the skill set of some, does not mean they deserve to be wrongly labelled and to have that label perpetuated. And one can always choose to gain the skills that unlock the talent rather than lay blame on the horse.
Finally, I do not think 5 offspring all from one mother constitutes a lot of experience. First, it is a biased and narrow experience being all from one mare. Second, 5 is not a sufficient number for any analysis. We have bred just over a dozen from 3 different mares and that is not a world of experience either number wise. But what is of note is the fact if handled correctly, they all behave in the same way and that can be quite good (or bad depending).
[QUOTE=Hillside H Ranch;8221028]
I also have a ton of experience breeding with the Galoubet blood, but not with BdR. I had a direct Galoubet daughter for years and had 5 foals from her, three of which were daughters (one I still have). Letâs remember that every foal has a mother, too, so the traits obviously vary from generation to generation. I, however, am not the one who originated the thought that Galoubet has a particular and easily identifiable head/neck/shoulder set. Thatâs a widespread opinion held by the French breeders and can be found in many of the book and magazine articles reference Galoubet. I just happen to agree with it, based upon the daughter I had, and her offspring.
Just to clarify, I happen to like the extremely hot, sensitive and somewhat tough nature of this line. Many, many top jumpers have a moreâŠchallenging temperament and Iâm in the camp of breeders that feel that true international horses NEED that extra fight and spark to succeed at that level.
And I completely agree that âwhen breeding these lineages, one is breeding for high performance not usually the inspection site champion and in general, the two are different horsesâ.[/QUOTE]
Itâs ok; we can agree to disagree As I said, Iâm not attacking the lineâŠI like the blood. Iâm not sure, though, why youâre singling me out, though? I certainly am not the only person on this thread who described the Galoubet â s in that way. It is common knowledge. âŠread Chris Hector â s bookâŠread interviews from Rodrigo where he describes Baloubet, himself. Iâm using their words because they happen to also mirror my experience.
Regardless, the op has a lovely filly and what sounds like a good plan for herâŠI wish her all the best. I also hope you continue to enjoy your Galoubet bred horses as much as I have!
well and truly pleased with our BDR filly
sheâs only 2 so I donât know how sheâll be to jump under saddle but sheâs very reasonable and tends to listen to what I askâŠnot hot or spooky about anything.
www.sporthorse-data.com/d?i=10944963
sheâs inspired me to try again.
of the BdRâs registered on USEF, a significant percent are child, ammie and hunters, so I wouldnât think theyâre all tough, hot or complicated.
The Balou du Rouet son, Banderas, is definitely not quirky or temperamental. A young teenager rides him. As a stallion, Banderas has produced some really nice offspring. My Banderas colt was exceptional and definitely did not have any quirky behavior at all and he was out of a sensitive Belisar/Actueel mare. The colt is friendly, intelligent, and has a super temperament and lots of jump.
The recently deceased Balou du Rouet son, Bon Balou, also did not have quirky temperament whatsoever. He was often hacked around the farm and he had an incredible jump to him. His temperament and character scores were top grade.
So, while the comment about the Baloubet and Balou offspring might be generalizations, it is certainly not true of every horse in this lineage.
[QUOTE=rodawn;8241969]
The Balou du Rouet son, Banderas, is definitely not quirky or temperamental. A young teenager rides him. As a stallion, Banderas has produced some really nice offspring. My Banderas colt was exceptional and definitely did not have any quirky behavior at all and he was out of a sensitive Belisar/Actueel mare. The colt is friendly, intelligent, and has a super temperament and lots of jump.
The recently deceased Balou du Rouet son, Bon Balou, also did not have quirky temperament whatsoever. He was often hacked around the farm and he had an incredible jump to him. His temperament and character scores were top grade.
So, while the comment about the Baloubet and Balou offspring might be generalizations, it is certainly not true of every horse in this lineage.[/QUOTE]
Agree! My husband always jokes that if Amazing was a gelding, heâd be in a coma. The only time he sort of wakes up is when heâs walking to the collection shed.
[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;8215526]
In case no one could guess I was asking because of my filly. I was wondering what BdRâs 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 donât know that.
She is correct in front, so I donât 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 wonât need to find another filly of the same age.[/QUOTE]
Your baby is lovely! I am thinking she will unfold/balance out and she does look like she will have good bone throughout.
My Galoubet mareâs second foal, my filly, was not enamored with people the first month or two. But she is a curious thing and once we got a halter on her (I waited waaaay too longârooky mistake) and could get her in a smaller area she really came around. She spent the winter with other babies her age, but it was good to get some handling in with her first, since she was pretty âmehâ on the humans. She is a TOTAL sweetheart now at age 5. I just adore her personality (especially now that she lives with me and we âhang outâ together. After weaning she was basically handled for trims until her yearling year, when I showed in handâso itâs not like I was working with her daily at all. I bet your baby comes around. I took her through Lyonâs âBringing Up Babyâ because I wanted some kind of guide. It seemed to work well for us. I am not a baby guru.
She is sensitive and forward under saddle howeverâmaybe the BDR offspring are a bit quieter. Her mother, the Galoubet daughter, had what I would call âstrong opinions.â Iâm really excited to put her back into consistent work this fall for a bit, as I havenât kept her going uner saddle at this pointâjust 30 days here, 60 days there. Mine was also really slow to mature physically. She always looked a year younger than her age group until she was four. I despaired a bit when she was a yearlingâŠI donât know if thatâs from the Galoubet side or notâŠ
Her mother, the direct daughter, was straight behind, but her front legs were just fine. She had an average head imo. You can see her build here (keep in mind sheâs a teenage broodmare) https://youtu.be/WT3EZRZLE5M
Regarding your other question, I am worried about the straightening! My mare is due a little over a month before inspection next year. If she goes late or the baby is born a little crooked it really will mess up my plans.
I had a Balou du Rouet colt in 2007. Really big joints but he grew into them, never had an issue. I had a filly in 2012 that had swollen knees for the first few months of life but is three now with no problems!
That being said, my Balou colt was very difficult. Very hot, sensitive and at times quite argumentative.
Your filly looks nice, good luck with her!
My Baloubet daughter is as sweet as they come, very honest and always trying to please. Iâm a mediocre, out of shape ammy and the only issues I have are due to her athleticism and amazing scope. We have to manage her to avoid over-jumping or I wonât be able to stay with her. Sheâll never be a packer because sheâs just too athletic and sensitive. In that sense, she would be best suited to an ammy with ability to do more, or to a pro. But I keep her in a program and she goes around quietly in the hunters.
She has great, straight front legs and big, powerful hind legs. Sheâs a bit narrow and lanky.
Lord Helpus, hope your filly is doing great!
