Looking for anecdotes/opinions about these breeding lines, particularly in regard to an amateur looking for more of an all-rounder than a top dressage horse - and this would be my first horse to start from
the ground up. I enjoy hunter pacing, attending event camp (like, event camp for weenies, 2’6”) and easily going off-property for lessons and other outings.
Would love to hear about experiences with character and soundness. Thank you!
I think you would get better information by looking at the sires, grandsires and dams instead of looking so far back in the pedigree. Bolero is probably 16 generations back these days, Furioso/Florestan pretty far back too. Lots of other ancestors in the current mix. They were stamping sires and their influence endures but I would look at the horse and then one or two generations behind that. Everything else is pretty diluted.
maybe I am mistaken about what I thought those things meant. I don’t know anything about breeding and I was not previously considering a warmblood. The sire is Fabregas, dam is Baroncelli x Acord II.
I don’t have personal experience but Fabregas is supposed to pass on amateur friendly temperaments. I do have a friend with a Baroncelli mare. She is a small mare and has a lovely temperament and has produced extremely well with Falsterbo and my friend’s Fransziskus stallion. So that has been a good knick with her mare.
thank you!!
All I can say is that you ride the horse, not the pedigree. If I recall, the W-line was started by FLÜGELADJUTANT…
I am away from my books, so will have to look up, but AllBreedsPedigree has his lineage
Fluegeladjutant Hanoverian (allbreedpedigree.com)
He was considered the foundation for the W-line as he sired Wöhler. I am dating myself as the W-line has pretty much disappeared from the Hanoverian lineage…but here is some info
Woermann – the first? dressage sire… – The Horse Magazine
Bridlewood Farm is owned by a vet and has some interesting “old names” in their lineage…again…these are people who have been in Hanoverian breeding, “in the beginning”…Ditto with Mo Swanson and Rolling Stone Farm
it is a weanling 
What’s that supposed to mean? You ride the horse, not the pedigree. I like to buy long yearlings so I can start horses they way I want. I bought a horse after looking at the pedigree…both dam and sire line. He was by a famous sire. The horse was a disappointment. That horse got sold to get the next…see below.
A friend and I have half-brothers. They are day and night. I bought mine sight unseen after I had ridden her horse when she was injured (non horse). Her horse reminded me of my heart horse, a fabulous stallion. The brothers are totally different. She got the better horse.
It means they can not ride it yet, it is too young, so they are asking what people generally feel about horses with that pedigree
Seems like a fair question.
Clearly the OP will look at the horse in front of them and see what it is like, but they are wondering something that is a pretty typical question.
I buy youngsters before riding age…and I can tell you that when I have “bought the pedigree” (2x) I have been disappointed. When I bought the horse in front of me, I have been pleased with the final product.
OP, this is slightly off topic but I’ll chime in on buying the horse vs the pedigree.
I bought a 3yo this year and was exclusively looking for 2-4yo mares that were unstarted. Personally, I am not experienced enough to see what I want in a weanling or yearling. In a 2-4yo I can see movement and jumping style in a chute. I did look at pedigree before I chose horses to fly across the country for, but I ended up with a mare by a stallion that I didn’t even know and a damsire I was only slightly familiar with. I met the dam and got videos of half and full siblings.
IME I think bloodlines can tell you something, but each horse is an individual so at least meeting it and ideally seeing the siblings and dam are important steps.
Thank you! I wish I could get something closer to being ready to be started, but budget-wise that is unrealistic. I do have several people that are more experienced to help me, but everyone I’ve asked has said looking at the sire and dam will be imperative in deciding.
My best friend has an (unrelated) horse from this breeder that she purchased as a yearling, the horse is now 4 and gets better every day. This caused me to consider a different direction than I was thinking for my next horse.
I’ve never purchased an unstarted horse, much less an actual infant. This will only be my third horse, ever. I am not sure how to assess whether I can expect it to be sound of mind and body. The more experienced friends I have helping me advised me to ask about the pedigree.
The foal is adorable, and I realize buying any horse is taking a risk. I’m trying to stack the cards in my favor of having something that is sound to work for a long time, and happy to tolerate an amateur, at least to the best of my ability.
Totally understand the situation. If I had to look at a weanling, I would look at movement and jump style (but I think you’re looking at dressage? so just movement) of the baby itself, its parents, and any siblings you can find. Show records are kind of a toss-up because you never know what program the horse is in and the capability of the rider. I would also see if you can find video of parents or siblings being ridden, especially by an amateur since that is what you are looking for.
Are you able to meet the baby? If so, I would ask if you can handle it at all when you are there. I have had literally every single situation you can think of When it comes to asking to handle horses I’m looking at. Some farms let you just touch them and run your hands over them, some farms will let you out in the field of babies or let you work them in the round pen or lead them, depending on their age and training level of course. If you have any ability to handle the baby yourself or direct someone handling it, I would ask that they can introduce it to different places on the farm or different objects than it has seen before, maybe a tarp or a beach ball or something else relatively scary for a weanling. I would look for bravery and how long it takes the baby to figure out the puzzle, if it is curious and wants to check things out that’s a huge plus. If it just says no and tries to run away that would be a negative in my book. Also when I was looking I wanted something that connected with me personally. So a baby that was interested in me when I came over to say hi or handle it was an automatic win. In fact, the two that I purchased both came over to check me out as soon as I met them. None of the others really cared about me or why I was there.
I’m sure there are a lot of other very experienced people here that can chime in, but that all worked for me really well.
This is hugely important to me, and one of the qualities that my friend’s young horse just oozes - she’s constantly asking to be brought up and loved on, compared with my two - mine know I’m there for them, and they are happy to come up, but they just aren’t craving that interaction like my best friend’s horse.
I thought about asking to meet the baby, but the farm is pretty far (in another state). I will continue to consider that, though, I very much appreciate this perspective.
You’re welcome! I flew across the country three times to look at horses and purchased two of them. It was not cheap but having a personal connection was for sure, one of the most important things to me. There were some horses that I really really liked on video that just did not connect with me at all in person. I also saw some things in person that video did not show, including something on a dam of a horse I was looking at (because she happened to be at the farm) that caused me to pass.
I actually ended up buying two horses that were not my first pick when I booked my flight to go see them and their farm mates. You never know what someone has at the farm that you might like better than the one they sent you!
I’m glad you said this, gives me a bit more to mull over. I was mostly thinking about not gaining enough information to justify adding however much it would cost to do that to the purchase price, but considering I don’t see myself being able to part with them once they are family… the connection factor would be very significant to me. I probably should not decide without meeting.
Same. Once they are with me they are with me for life! I would definitely ask about any other potential matches available at the farm you are going to and if it is a pretty horsey area then you can see if there are any others in the area you can take a look at. This group on Facebook is very active and is where I found one of the mares I bought: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1594051341106886/.
I am not as well versed in dressage breeding, but you could also post here in a different topic to also ask for farm recommendations in the area you are going to.
Then include radiographs of C6, C7, T1, and T2 in your PPE imaging by an experienced (!) vet.
I doubt the breeder is going to let you radiograph a weanling. And it won’t tell you anything at that age. There are a lot of considerations besides genetics when you are trying to access a foal’s future soundness. Like the environment it is raised in, nutrition, handling. And babies are notorious for trying to kill themselves.
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