Don De Marco

[Janiz]

I have my eye on a 4 year old mare by Don De Marco, as he has been producing for a while now I would love input on his offspring and how well they are performing in dressage? Does he stamp his offspring in terms of size, temperament, dressage capabilities?

[Mardi]

The Oldenburg NA website has some helpful info on him.

Here’s some info on his offspring:
DEFIANCE
2013 born colt, by Don De Marco* out of Clarice HWF, owner/breeder : Trisha Urban, Hamburg, PA
2013: Dressage at Devon:

• ISR Oldenburg NA IBC, 69.100%
• 2013 Colts & Geldings, 5th place, 74.900%

DON DE DYOLL’S SHOOTING STAR
2013 born filly, by Don De Marco* out of G.M.A.‘s Fancy Pants, owner : Kristy Ernst, Loveland, OH, breeder : Gina Benson Cook, FL
2014: USDF Breeder’s Championship Series Finals, Yearlings, 2nd pl.
2014: GAIG/USDF Breeders’ Championships North Central Series Finals,Fillies, 3rd Place Median Score 73.55%
2014: USEA FEH Area Eight, Yearlings, 2nd Place

DONNA GIANNA FF
2013 born filly, by Don De Marco* out of Merry Lift, owner/breeder : Alison Childers, Rome, GA
2014: Young Horse Show Series Finals, High Point Oldenburg N. A., In-hand Yearlings, 8.03%
2014: Young Horse Series Horse Show, High Point Oldenburg, N. A., In Hand / At Liberty Yearlings, 80.5%

SAN MARCOS DE COLON
2013 born colt, by Don De Marco* out of Miss Florence, owner/breeder : Jean Corbett Fowler, Covington, GA
2014: USEA Future Event Horse Competition at Cedar Ridge Farm:

• Yearling Class, 1st place
• Colts and Geldings 3 Years Old and Under, High Point Award, 80.55%

Don De Marco’s damsire (First Class) was known to be prepotent, as was his father, Furioso II. Don DeMarco has the stamp of First Class, and it looks like he passes that on to some of his offspring (looking at the photos on his website). First Class had a super temperament; he was ridden by Steffen Peters in the early 1990’s.

[FatCatFarm]

I have been watching DDM from the sidelines for a while and he does seem to be a stallion that produces better than himself. I have liked many of his babies.

[ShannonD]

Please do your research on this stallion, including his 70DT scores. He is only eligible to produce Old/ISR foals or Book II with RPSI.

1 Validation S 135.85 128.08 (1) 140.66 (1)
2 Chicardo * 128.58 125.82 (2) 128.12 (2)
3 AB Whittier 117.49 120.19 (4) 110.44 (4)
4 Sir James 112.24 120.44 (3) 100.44 (7)
5 Sandro Fidelis * 104.52 106.16 (5) 101.69 (6)
6 Acclaim * 98.19 90.49 (7) 108.57 (5)
7 Flint GSF * 96.88 97.14 (6) 96.18 (8)
8 Casallio S 95.03 82.19 (12) 114.54 (3)
9 Goldmaker * 88.70 85.94 (11) 91.25 (9)
10 Gulf Rising * 86.95 89.10 (8) 87.50 (10)
11 Bound and Determined GSF * 86.31 88.56 (9) 83.03 (12)
12 Balanchine * 84.36 86.02 (10) 86.17 (11)
13 Don De Marco * 57.57 61.49 (13) 60.68 (13)

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-375311.html

[Hillside_H_Ranch]

Agree with ShannonD on this one. Do the research. Temperament is a factor in the stallion testing, as well. The info on this guy is out there, you just have to do a bit of internet searching.

[ponygirl]

He’s literally 30 minutes up the road from me and I have seen his kids flitting around. Lots of them for sale… There are better options.

[DownYonder]

I agree with many of the comments posted above. Do your research.

Some other points to ponder:

OP, you didn’t say what your goals are. Are you looking for a lower level Amateur mount? Something to do the Young Horse classes with? Something with FEI potential? I think his oldest foals are just now 6 y/o, so it is impossible to say yet what his stamping abilities are regarding dressage offspring.

Here is a link to the USEF page for his recorded offspring.
https://www.usef.org/_IFrames/Searches/horseRecordingResults.aspx

Not very many of them (none of them?) have dressage results past Training level, so again, it is too early to judge.

Also - every horse has a mother, and dam lines can be very, very powerful. The traits of a dam line can easily overcome the traits passed by the stallion - esp. when the stallion is not known to be prepotent for stamping his foals with desirable dressage traits out of many types of mares. So look at the 4 y/o’s dam and her family - what have they accomplished in dressage? (And I will go out on a limb and say that he is not the type of stallion that usually attracts the very best mares.)

OTOH - if you like the mare and she seems suitable for your abilities and goals, then why not?

[Janiz]

Thank you for all the information! There seems to be somewhat limited information out there as most his offspring are still on the younger side and limited show records.

Amateur friendly temperament is higher on my list than FEI potential. It’s a very pretty mare, on the smaller side 15.3, black with four white feet/socks and wide blaze. Modest movement I would say, no FEI potential but good enough for ~4th. I am very impressed with her temperament, first time with side reins and dressage saddle and she was super, tried so hard. Very calm, doesn’t spook at anything, she’s more relaxed than my 15 year old mare the breeder has both the dam and grandmother, good bloodlines but more on the jumper side.
There’s definitely better stallions and breeding options out there but finding a good temperament is much more important than the FEI movement for this amateur! Thanks again

[pinecone]

You also have to think about which breeders you want to support with your money.

[back_in_the_saddle]

If you’re only looking for a amateur level horse and good temperament is important you have to look at the horse in front of you and not be ‘as’ concerned about bloodlines, etc… You definitely should ride the horse before buying to really know what kind of horse you have under you since temperament is so important. On the ground personality and under saddle personality can be two totally different things. Personalities can vary between horses with the same sire so again, you really can’t go from general opinions about what a stallion stamps temperament wise. Ride the horse and then decide. If you can’t ride it and temperament is important don’t buy it. I was always told… Don’t buy a horse if you don’t feel comfortable cantering on the first test ride.

I know nothing about the stallion in question other than it’s my opinion based on how the licensing situation appeared to go down, that it was handled very poorly and ISR/OLD did nothing to help themselves in the eyes of experienced breeders.

[Janiz]

So far so good, on the first visit I got on her and walk, trot, canter very kind and sensitive after only 3 weeks under saddle. Second try with side reins and dressage saddle, both me and my trainer were impressed by how much her movement improved in front with my dressage trainer working her more on the bit and forward. Doesn’t react to a thing, big trucks etc passing by, and tries so hard. Having her on trial this week and nothing but good things to say about her. Such an easy keeper and settled in right away. My only concern would be the smaller size, 15.3, as I got quite the legs but she may grow and bulk up with training and added grain. I am definitely a newbie to dressage breeding and bloodlines but always find it interesting to hear others impressions of the stallion (and mare bloodlines), especially breeders with experience

[cjgatesman]

My Arabian mare is in foal to Don for an April baby. I could be wrong, but the tone of this thread appears negative?

[Serious_Leigh]

You’re not wrong. I’d say the stuff posted here is very tame compared to some of what I’ve seen. DDM and his owner don’t have a lot of fans, and with good reason from what I’ve heard.

[epowers]

Don De Marco failed his stallion testing in a rather spectacular fashion. ISR/ONA did some extremely artistic “recalculations” of his scoring and went ahead and called him approved, in spite of the fact that his original published test scores would have to have been nearly doubled to be considered passing. I certainly hope he produces better than himself, unfortunately in this case that really isn’t saying much.

[FatCatFarm]

[QUOTE=cjgatesman;8461662]
My Arabian mare is in foal to Don for an April baby. I could be wrong, but the tone of this thread appears negative?[/QUOTE]

Gee, whatever gave you that idea? Yes it is and I get it, he, like another stallion I know of, Donnermeyer (Swedish and not approved), with similar lineage, did not mature as expected and neither did well at inspection. Despite this, both have produced very nice ammy friendly horses and have their own following within those circles, and their stud fees reflect that. Neither stallion owner seems to have trouble selling their foals I’ve noticed in the $20k and below price ranges.

[epowers]

It’s really a shame… Ammy friendly shouldn’t be synonymous with “mediocre”, and I think we are all doing ourselves a huge disservice as an industry to perpetuate that. A horse doesn’t need to be a poor athlete and bad mover to be suitable for an amateur. It’s silly, really… there are many, many perfectly lovely stallions who passed testing with flying colors, and are approved with reputable registries, who produce delightful quiet, amateur-friendly offspring. So, so what, he produces ammy friendly horses? I don’t understand this (rather popular) point of view that quality and being ammy friendly are mutually exclusive, but it always seems to be the go-to argument for stallions like DDM.

[FatCatFarm]

Yep and it should be noted that if a mare owner will watch the stallion service auctions that start happening shortly after the first of the year, you can get some really great deals on breedings to approved stallions in all the registries and who don’t have the cloud of having failed an inspection or having only passed by a slim margin - both true with regard to these two stallions - following them around.

[Wits_End_Eventing]

We have a 4yo by Don De Marco (http://www.witsendeventing.com/horses-for-sale/dans-la-nuit/) who is everything we’d hoped for. Sharon LOVES her, and we will only sell her with an embryo transfer agreement. We specifically chose DDM to concentrate Der Lowe with the intention of re-breeding a filly to up the %blood. Dans La Nuit is currently with Sharon White at Last Frontier Farm and is, so far, everything we’d hoped. That said, Don De Marco’s owner was very difficult to deal with. We bought a second breeding at the ISR/OLD auction and planned to breed him to an OTTB mare who has produced one of our best foals to date. DDM’s owner almost refused to honor the contract because our TB wasn’t registered OLD and has since changed her breeding contract to require the breeder to register the foal because she was appalled we were breeding “mutts”. We probably won’t use this breeding and will NEVER purchase another breeding from the owner. I firmly believe Der Lowe is an amazing and hard to find horse to concentrate for eventing, it is a shame DDM’s owners are so difficult.

[3phase]

Lovely @ witsend
I’m not only drooling over the Der Lowe in her but Lanthan. Thought about breeding my mare to Lanthan but not sure how his frozen will do for a maiden mare.
Sad the breeder was difficult - you give DDM a good plug too on your mare’s page. Wonder what the breeder will say when your mare does really well in the Event world?

[thatmoody]

Just my own personal experience but my trainer has one of his babies, and we are just now getting into putting him to work (he’s 3 now). THE steadiest baby I’ve ever been around - I’ve handled him since he was a weanling, and seen him in some serious situations, and he’s been just fantastic temperament-wise. Kind, steady, but with JUST enough fire to give him good potential. Time will tell about his under-saddle temperament (she’s taking him VERY slowly), but I’m expecting good things. Movement-wise, he’s good but not spectacular, but has good shoulder freedom and a nice elastic walk. I don’t know about ALL of his babies - I am sure his reputation around here tends to attract people who aren’t going to show as much, and I’m suspecting you’re not going to see a lot of activity from his offspring, although I think there will be one or two who come along who are really nice horses.