Don Frederico- temperament

[madamlb]

And bumping again because I feel like I made this thread, I need to show the other side and actually say how hugely wrong I was.

My Don Frederico gelding, at three, is PHENOMENAL. I love him to bits. Three great paces, a fabulous attitude, quiet, sensible, kind. He is perfect. He truly enjoys being ridden and although very green is going out for trail rides, cantering around the paddock and having a lovely time. He loves any human interaction and riding is no exception.

He is dominant- or will try to be- and requires strong and consistent handling and reminders about my space vs your space but it’s not a huge problem.

He is perfect and I am strongly thinking of putting his mother back to Don Frederico at some stage.

[Sunnydays]

I am glad you bumped this up - and it sounds like your boy is a huge source of pride and pleasure.
I acquired a DF filly a year ago. She will be 3 this June 23rd. She seems a bit immature in mind and body. Her stall manners are not excellent - but she is not at all mean or aggressive towards people or the other horses. Quite athletic! I am wondering whether I should wait till the fall (3 years and 2 months old) to send her off to school - or do 2 months in April/May, then return her for undersaddle work in Sept / Octiber. What experience have others had with this split-schooling approach? Or would it be best just to wait till fall?

[DQ_Foxhunter]

I have a 6 year old DF mare,she is smallish,15.3,but I really did not want a large horse.
I love this mare,she is so sweet and talented,I bought her as a just backed 3 year old,and she has been perfect from day one.
My trainer,and every trainer I have taken a clinic with thinks she has GP potential.
She looks pretty typical DF if that helps.
Oh although I have another foxhunting horse,I have taken her out with the hounds on hunt trail rides and nothing fazed her,I think she would also make a great hunt horse!

[alexandra]

[QUOTE=Sunnydays;7413730]
I am glad you bumped this up - and it sounds like your boy is a huge source of pride and pleasure.
I acquired a DF filly a year ago. She will be 3 this June 23rd. She seems a bit immature in mind and body. Her stall manners are not excellent - but she is not at all mean or aggressive towards people or the other horses. Quite athletic! I am wondering whether I should wait till the fall (3 years and 2 months old) to send her off to school - or do 2 months in April/May, then return her for undersaddle work in Sept / Octiber. What experience have others had with this split-schooling approach? Or would it be best just to wait till fall?[/QUOTE]

I personally like this 2 step approach. But one Needs to look at what is the plan. Breeding this year and MPT ? No breeding until next year ? Showing her ?

[siegi_b]

madamlb - you WANT a horse that is a little on the dominant side in order to do well at the higher levels. Very happy to hear of your happy ending!

[Gayle_in_Oregon]

I purchased a Don Frederico, White Magic (Weltmeyer) mare BECASE she WON EVERY dressage test she entered in good sized competition before she got injured. Her lowest score was 75%! Her rider is an advanced amateur. She is not dominant here and is very easy to be around. We LOVE her and consider her very intelligent and easy to handle. She is in foal to Franziskus for June 2014.

[madamlb]

My Don Fred is now three years and three months and he is SUPER.

I wouldn’t describe him as tricky on the ground BUT he requires a firm and consistent handler- nothing out of the reach of most people, obviously he’s not a beginners horse but why would he be?

Under saddle- different story all together. He is superb. He is incredibly bold, excellent mover, learns quickly, doesn’t spook, has never bucked, he’s a pleasure to ride and could be ridden by anyone from a proficient amateur up except that he is quite a big mover.

I have heard of a few Don Freds who are tricky on the ground but awesome the moment the saddle goes on- maybe this is a common trait? Mine comes into his own under saddle- he truly seems to enjoy being ridden. He is currently growing and changing shape and his paces are developing out of sight as he continues to grow.

[columbus]

highly socialized

When you start off with medical problems that require intense handling what happens is the foals become highly socialized…more like a dog living in a house than a horse living in the barn. This affects them by raising their IQ and their understanding of human body language. You think smart is good until you have a 15.2 hand dog who doesn’t respond as you expect young horses to respond. I have been through the same thing a couple of times and I am amazed at how intelligent the babies get. It affects everything…they train more like a peer than a servant…they work you, you have been studied and they become expert on you…their fight and flight reflexes are altered…they become an awful lot like a giant pony. My filly spent her first 10 days in a intensive care stall at the U both septic and varus, She fell asleep in vet students laps while they ran in fluids. She fought back when they wanted to treat her…they laughed at her because she was so fierce, a stall shark…they put up a warning on the stall front as sick as she was she was still a very large Irish Draught foal, with attitude. It worked for me too to send my horses to a trainer when ever they seemed to get too accustomed to me and they needed to have reminders that they were just horses and live a horses life. PatO

[Gayle_in_Oregon]

I have a DF mare who is one of the kindest and easiest horses I have been on or around of about 100 or more. She won every dressage test she entered. VERY, VERY ridable. All 8s on her collective remarks in every category and even a 10 for a transition from canter to trot on the diagonal, a move that requires a lot of balance to get a 10! She was ridden by a good young amateur. I am sure she is a strong horse and not easy to muscle around so one needs to rider her correctly forward. She is having her first foal in a few weeks by Franziskus. We are very excited.