@Warmblood1 - great posts! (I am also a student of pedigrees and dressage breeding.)
I will add that someone who is a low level amateur who has chronic problems getting to lessons on time or showing up at competitions ready to actually show at the level in which they are entered, is more than a little bit delusional if she thinks a mid-priced “amateur type” horse will automatically propel her onto the Olympic squad.
Uh, no. That’s not how any of this works. 
And athleticism, power, scopeyness of gaits, elasticity, brilliance - etc., etc., etc.
Horses with big ring talent need riders with big ring talent - and skill. They don’t get to the big ring being ridden by a middlin’ amateur.
This is such a great post! Most breeders breed for a specific market based on the pedigree they own…at least we did. We strived for great brain and trainability first for ourselves or the ammy market. The breeder of Alice Tarjan’s mare taught us so much and we used Don Principe three times, each time producing very nice horses certainly capable of perhaps higher levels in the right hands. That doesn’t mean our horses weren’t worth their weight in gold to us or their owners, but it says every horse has limits on its athletic ability just like humans. Alice’s mare, Serenade (Shrimp) is the result of many years of very careful breeding with a very specific rider in mind with very specific goals.
I don’t think anyone is putting down LK’s horses. They are nice horses. Are they part of the 1 or 2% that are Olympic quality, no. And I doubt LK could afford that level mount, much less be able to ride it, even with her “unlimited resources”. To be honest, LK isn’t an Olympic caliber rider at this time so she has no need for that quality horse until she, herself progresses much further along.
EXACTLY!!! This a 
times!!!
Exactly.
Exactly!!
(OK I did this because everyone else did)
Y’all are making me laugh. And Dear God, I need a laugh along about now. 
DP was a nice horse with a great brain and good gaits, and the combination with Rotspon (Rubinstein) daughters produced some very nice horses. And it was a good choice to put one of the mares from that combination to Sir Donnerhall to double up on the Donnerhall brain and work ethic and ability to sit, while bringing in more scopey gaits and joint articulation from Sandro Hit, along with just enough “fire” to give brilliance. And that filly luckily ended up with a very, very talented and dedicated amateur rider with very good experience bringing along young horses. I totally expect to see that combination representing the U.S. at more big international competitions.
(Sorry everyone for the sidebar.) 
I’m not sorry! This is my love! Our mare is a Royal Prince daughter and she has always overproduced, keeping that tiger walk. Her Prince babies are delightful.
Breeding is such an expensive crapshoot!
ok, now I wanna see baby pics!
Someone who is just learning how to play the violin does not need a Stradivarius.
Wait… Donnerhalls have BRAINS?! Can someone please tell our 5 year old that!
And if you straighten out the image so it’s not tilted to look artificially “uphill,” you can really see the difference. I don’t have the ability to do that; maybe someone else can.
What’s the dam line on your 5 year old? 
Like this?
Well said! 
Exactly like that.
True. But LK has delusions of being an Olympic hopeful. If you’re 41 and only recently earned your bronze, barring some miracle you are never even going to make the short list.
I just held my laptop on an angle, but yours is easier to share. 
LOL. That was not my reasoning.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
