Kareen, I’ve heard that the top German trainers say that a good horse is never a bad size. It’s the movement and presence that count. Also, Lendon Gray very successfully rode her 14.3h Connemara/TB cross in Germany and wowed the crowds and judges with her performance. I remember for one of her musical kuers she did a 5 loop serpentine in extended trot that brought the crowd to its feet as none of the horses could fit 5 loops in the arena. I can understand that you have a much larger market for ponies for dressage, jumping and eventing there than we do here, but I find it very hard to believe that a pony that goes oversize is worthless there.
To hluing: Re. Hemmingway if you email me privately I’ll be happy to share pictures. I had the pleasure to ride him before he went over.
Re. pony mares I assume the import costs on mares (adult ones I mean) would prevent many interested breeders from importing grown up, inspected pony mares. Plus the real good ones aren’t exactly cheap. Some of these little ones sell for more than an ok quality warmblood…
Now that I am getting into ‘family things’ I will certainly have a closer look at ponies again for sure 
I kind of never forgot when my dad sold my ponies pretty much underneath my butt while I was gone for a short vacation grr… Sure enough they can be as rewarding as big horses
RAINBOW: oh I was talking about a mature welsh B mare (5 years and older).
~K
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hluing:
I too need a kick to get pics of my two new mares updated to the website.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
2 new mares…pony mares? Do tell us about them!
I know all too well what it is like to have horses far away from home. But be reassured that your boy worked beautifully and looks very happy and perfectly cared for.
Bump…I know there are more people out there breeding these ponies.
I went to Higlife farm yesterday and looked at thier stallions: Bodyguard and Luxus. Both very nice stallions. Bodyguard was quite small, might be a good choice for the larger mares.
I would also love to hear about people who crossed small warmblood mares woth ponies. I have a 15.1hh Trak mare I am stallion shopping for. Thanks
We’ve bred our ISR sportpony mare to Makuba two times and had two super boys (one premium and one just missed it had a 7.9) - one is owned by Barb Young and is 14.3 and the other is with us for sale and will be about 15H. They are just small warmbloods with terrific movement! We then bred this ISR mare to the Welsh stallion Wynnbrook Starburst and had a superior pony boy who will stay pony (very refined) - he was high score colt at his inspection with a composite score of 8.3. We are keeping him as a stallion prospect.
We bred our Welsh mare (a Gayfields pony by Sleight of Hand) to Makuba and have a gorgeous black bay sabino with blue eyes! He just missed premium 7.9 and we are keeping him as well. He will probably finish medium. This mare also produced a super Welsh B colt - chestnut sabino - that is now coming 3. We are hoping he will mature medium and be approved & could attend the 2006 testing. While he’s a full Welsh he has really super movement and a tremendous uphill trot.
We also have a coming 2 yo 3/4 welsh 1/4TB filly by BF Oliver Twist who will finish medium and we are hoping to breed her to Daily Hero.
The ISR & WELSH mare are in foal to Oliver Twist for May 2005 foals. Hoping for at least one palomino filly!! Both mares are chestnut.
We intend to expand the sportponies and cut back a bit on the WB’s. We just love them and the market for them is growing. Also many women and young riders want smaller WB’s so if the foals go over we have what they need. …Warmbloods that were left in the dryer too long!!
There was a neat looking black German Riding Pony in the COTH Pony Breeder issue…
Mary Lou,
I agree with you that mare base is VERY important. However, as other threads have discussed the weak dollar makes importing GRP’s very expensive currently.
However, if you study the pedegrees of GRP you will see that they are a blend of English Pony Breeds, Arabian, Tb, and warmblood. Some stallions are even F1 crosses. So, there is no “pure GRP”. The same inspectors are inspecting and approving the pony mares in the US as in Germany.
My mares are as follow:
- Welsh-Tb mare-13.3hh MMB Weser-ems, had premium filly this year by Makuba
- Arabian-14hh, sportpony type. MMB Weser-ems, had premium colt in past
3.Trakehener mare by Martini-15.1hh, will be inspected next year.
All three of these mares are quite different in breeding, but are all appropriate sportpony types.
I agree that most people are now breeding US pony mares to imported stallions. I would suspect that in the future, more and more mares will be imported. BUT, in the meantime, we can still breed athletic and beautiful ponies
But the Euro situation is the real “stinker” in the market!!
German Riding Ponies are a breed at this point. In the pony’s passport and pedigree papers under breed or race, it will say “Deutsches Reitpony” and in the pedigree, “(DR)” will appear next to the name and id. number of the pony. If there are other breeds in the pedigree those will be indicated such as “(Welsh B)”. There are “pferdstammbuchs”, ponies are inspected, registered, tested, etc. just as the warmbloods. And just as the warmbloods, each region of Germany has it’s own German Riding Pony brand, many are one version or another of an oakleaf, with/without acorn, etc. Stallions must be approved, nice mares can be inspected to become SPS’s. Just as with the warmbloods, outside ponies/horses can be approved to bring in certain desired attributes.
In terms of jumping ability - they are bred for jumping as well as dressage ability. Again, as with the warmbloods, some bloodlines produce better jumpers than others. And in terms of the importance jumping carries, at the licensing and 30 day tests, a stallion’s jumping ability and technique carry just as much weight in the scores as gaits, second only to interior qualities (disposition) and rideability. At the Bundeschampionats, there are national championships for the pony jumpers, up to 6 year olds I believe, and separated between stallions and mare/geldings. The ponies must be pony size and ridden by someone under 16 years old.
What has so endeared the GRP’s to me is their disposition and other “interior qualities”. As I mentioned above, other than rideability, this is the most weighted factor in stallion approvals. Kindness and work ethic is bred into them because they were bred for children to show in dressage, showjumping and eventing. Kids start many of the stallions, many of the ponies on the FEI Pony teams are stallions. That alone speaks volumes to me for disposition appropriate for the child, AA and older/smaller riders.
Do you think we will have an American Riding Pony down the road? What would be the type? The purpose? How would it be developed? Should there be a registry? Approvals? Would it be a type of sportpony? Is it the same as a sportpony?
Forrest Flame
I know that pony! My old instructor, Wendy Mattes, owns Caramel Crunch and Social Graces. I had the pleasure of watching her ride Gracie recently in a clinic with Klaus Balkenhol, and I must say that she has a ton of presence! Her little colt, Fendi, is quite the little spitfire as well.
