Anyone heard anything positive, negative, or neutral about this stallion. Opinions? I really like the look of him but would love some feedback from others. I know he’s pretty young yet, looks like the 2 foals the breeder had by him were both premium.
http://www.dreamscapefarm.com/HorseDetail.aspx?ID=566
Thanks in advance!
Very popular stallion. There are going to be ALOT of foals by him coming this spring. Great jump! Balou line is known for being hot though.
A friend of mine had a filly by him this spring that is so spectacular I bred my very similar mare to him. My friends filly is registered GOV and was premium at her inspection as well as being a foal of merit. I may have those terms a bit wrong as I’m not that familiar with GOV but needless to say, the inspectors were impressed with her. 
Are Balou’s really known to be hot? Balou du Rouet himself has been one of the leading hunter sires in the nation lately, hunter and hot don’t typically go hand in hand. I’ve also never met a “hot” Balou, the Bandaras youngsters I know are sweethearts and my friends Bon Balou is a super level headed girl so I guess my experience with them has been the direct opposite of “hot”.
We have had two foals so far by Amazing who is also by Balou du Rouet that were about as laid back as they could be. Now granted they are still young but they have never given me a reason to think they would be hot by any means. They are more like people pleasers than anything else.
I have one mare in foal to Bon Balou due this April and am very excited to see the results.
We also bred another mare to Bliss MF, another Balou du Rouet son, but she lost the pregnancy at 30 days. We will defiantly be breeding back.
While all the stallions share the same sire, they are all different in some ways and depending on your mare, which one will be right for her and your breeding goal.
We had one in 2013. A gorgeous filly who got her Foal of distinction at her GOV inspection. Will breed back her dam in 2015 to him, as 2014 she is under contrsct for a custom foal. I am even toying with the idea of breeding him to a dressage mare to get his great hindleg power and mechanics.
[QUOTE=Galileo1998;7393253]
Are Balou’s really known to be hot? Balou du Rouet himself has been one of the leading hunter sires in the nation lately, hunter and hot don’t typically go hand in hand. I’ve also never met a “hot” Balou, the Bandaras youngsters I know are sweethearts and my friends Bon Balou is a super level headed girl so I guess my experience with them has been the direct opposite of “hot”. :)[/QUOTE]
I have a 4yo Balou du Rouet mare that was one of our easiest, most pliable foals ever. Undersaddle, however, she is an entirely different animal. She can be very tough in the mouth, opinionated, and occasionally quite explosive. That said, she is beautiful, talented over fences, and extremely athletic. She will definitely not be directed toward the hunter ring unless she mellows with age.
I think that there is something to be said about the differences between a horse being “hot” vs. a horse with a poor temperament. My understanding is that a well tempered horse can still be hot or have poor rideability.
[QUOTE=MCarverS;7393917]
I think that there is something to be said about the differences between a horse being “hot” vs. a horse with a poor temperament. My understanding is that a well tempered horse can still be hot or have poor rideability.[/QUOTE]
This.
I had a WBxTB filly who was the most laidback, relaxed baby, not a mean bone in her body. No work ethic though, so when I started ground work and then under saddle work with her, she was awful. She wanted nothing to do with being worked. I sold her, and she was the same for her new owner - and she had a FULL vet work up done on her. Had her in training with a big German pro rider, and he did ok with her, but her new ammie owner couldn’t ride her. She sold her again, and the 3rd owner had similar problems with her as well.
So yeah, having compliant, laidback youngsters doesn’t mean that they won’t be difficult/pro rides under saddle later. The reason Balou has the reputation that he does is because of the number of offspring in Europe going under tack that are reported to be quite… “spicy”(or so i’ve been told by people with close contacts in Germany and France).
[QUOTE=Runnerandrider;7393138]
Anyone heard anything positive, negative, or neutral about this stallion. Opinions? I really like the look of him but would love some feedback from others. I know he’s pretty young yet, looks like the 2 foals the breeder had by him were both premium.
http://www.dreamscapefarm.com/HorseDetail.aspx?ID=566
Thanks in advance![/QUOTE]
I love his reaction after his second trip through the chute, in the second video.
“ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??!” :lol:
I have a 2 year old filly by Amazing who is so easy to work with, beautiful, and a lovely mover. It is good to know that there may be a difference once under saddle. Her dam was very easy and did exceptionally well in the hunter ring.
[QUOTE=justthefacts;7394789]
Absolutely super stallion & I am looking forward to meeting my Bon Balou foal in the spring. Hoping for a derby horse. Hot isn’t a word I would use to describe him.[/QUOTE]
Spacely, you were banned from this forum. You’ve created an alter just to stir.
I have a Bon Balou colt that I love- when he was inspected OLD NA Christian said that while Balou du Rouet was known for being a “firecracker” his sons seem to not pass that along- interesting that there is the saying if you like the son, breed to the sire, but Bon Balou gave me what I wanted- don’t forget the mare is a huge factor too. But I would use him again for sure. In full disclosure, my colt was not premium (missed by .2) but Christian gave him high marks and said he would love to have him in his barn. I can do everything but clean his sheath without him batting an eye, feel free to PM me for more! I could go on and on, and I researched a ton of stallions before I made my choice.
I saw Bon Balou at the stallion testing and absolutely loved him. Hot is not a word I would use to describe him either. He looked like a good solid citizen the three days that I watched him. He has an incredible amount of presence and really stood out in a very, very nice group of stallions. As an added bonus he has a wonderful owner
I have a mare that I am going to breed to him but probably not until 2015 (although I may change my mind and breed her this year once all the foal pictures start appearing on Facebook).
[QUOTE=MCarverS;7393917]
I think that there is something to be said about the differences between a horse being “hot” vs. a horse with a poor temperament. My understanding is that a well tempered horse can still be hot or have poor rideability.[/QUOTE]
The more horses I work with, the more this becomes clear to me. I have had some horses with lovely temperaments; kind, easy, happy, nice to have around that were terrible to ride. By contrast I have dealt with ones that were pigs to be around but were lovely to ride…
Poor rideability can mean many different things: tough in the bridle, spooky, stubborn, lazy… Hot isn’t something that I would add to that list though, many hot horses have high rideability for the right rider.
I have a Bon Balou coming out of my Beach Boy mare. I like the Argentinus influence to add rideability to the Balou. I chose BB due to the Argentinus dam line, the jump, his size and his lovely paces. We’ll see I guess.
