Incredible incredible horse

[rebecca_yount]

Agree with Canyonoak. This is a VERY talented athlete. I have seen very few horses in my life that could compare to this one. He is amazing.

I do NOT think that the way he is being ridden is a problem at all. He is probably 3 1/2, depending when he was born, and he could be almost 4. He uses himself so effortlessly that sitting lightly on his trot and canter will not hurt him at all. If the goal of his owners is a show career, you can be very sure that they will not mess around with this kind of talent by putting a crappy rider on him who does not have the knowledge and direction to harness in a positive way his incredible raw talent.

For horses like this, like for inherently talented human athletes, things come easily. They use themselves and come on the bit almost naturally, with very little direction from the rider (if it is a good rider). This very well could be a horse who has only 30 or so days under saddle. This ride on the video was a piece of cake for him.

Thank you to the website for putting the video up–I only wish it was longer. Please don’t take it down because of the yammering of a few (envious?) people here.

How big is he? And is it Quaterback or QuaRterback? I thought on the video it sounded like the announcer said QuaRterback, like a football player?

[MEP]

A couple of points to add

Yes, there are riders in Europe who specialize in starting young sport-bred horses (and there is a group in this country who are developing a program to help trainers learn specific skills to do this - I believe Scott Hassler is one of the people spearheading this program, but someone will correct me if I’m wrong.) In addition, there are auction riders who prepare the young green-broke riding horses specifically for such presentations as we see in the video. They know what they’re doing, they ride the youngsters with confidence, and present them at their best. That’s their job and they are very, very good at it. And yes, the horses look great, but are in reality very green for what they appear to be able to do. This has already been pointed out very well in earlier posts.

Another issue - yes - I agree every sport breeds their horses for specific kinds of work. We breed for extremes, and we breed for ideal types. That’s what we humans do, obviously for all kinds of animals.

No-one here has brought up QH specifically, so I’ll use that as an example.
Quarter Horses are bred to be extreme sprinters - watch ropers, or any of the other rodeo competitions, or reining or cutting. They are superb at quick acceleration, sharp turns, and sudden stops. So, then can Quarter Horses do dressage? Of course, they can, and there are some who have done quite well, but they’re not built to move in the way that is preferred for the international level dressage competitors. And on the other hand, can my average 17H warmblood joe type horse race barrels? Sure, but we’d look silly and have a record slow time. Everybody would laugh, including me. I know, I’m here in QH country. But I just don’t see any point in critiquing a Quarter Horse for not moving like a warmblood. So why would QH or other breed owners critique a warmblood for moving in the ideal way warmbloods are bred to move?

Horses for courses.

[CrouchingCheese]

I found it!!

I found his fee, and a few nice pictures of him!

http://www.exclusiveequines.com.au/k-z/quaterback.htm

Such a gorgeous horse, and I know absolutely squat about dressage!

[monstrpony]

[QUOTE=rebecca yount;2029303]
And is it Quaterback or QuaRterback? I thought on the video it sounded like the announcer said QuaRterback, like a football player?[/QUOTE]

I have to admit, that’s the only quibble I can make–how did a horse like this end up with a name that’s even remotely like the word “quarterback”???

Seems he deserves something far more elegant. I’m of the age where I like my dottery little multi-purpose QH for myself, but that takes nothing away from being able to appreciate how special this horse is.

[rileyt]

Sadly, I think his name is Quaterback (by Quaterman)… but that’s the only flaw I see in him… Somebody somewhere left an ‘R’ out a generation or two ago, and ever since… we have “Quater–”… (who knows, perhaps it was deliberate? I should be the last person on earth to pick on someone’s spelling ability)

For the record, I think QuaRterback would’ve been a really cool name… as they are incredible athletes who lead the team.

[egontoast]

Yeah, the name sux. Sire was Quaterman I think. When I buy him I am calling him ‘Q’.

Perhaps if it could be changed to Heza Hot Impressive Quarterback, some people would be happier.

[monstrpony]

Eggie, that would be Heza Hot Impressive Doc Quarterback Chip Olena, if you please.

[egontoast]

Montrpony

:yes: :lol: :lol: :yes:

[Auventera_Two]

Well I sure hope somebody rips apart his dramatic toe flip in the still shots - tip of toe pointed straight up to the sky.

Not that it matters one bit to me…because it doesn’t.

But I’ve seen that conversation play out about 100 times here. Somebody posts a lovely, talented horse and 10 people jump on and criticize the “Toe Flip.”

So go ahead - please don’t fail to notice it on your hero, since you’ve always noticed it on everybody else’s horses!!

[Auventera_Two]

@canyonoak;2029000

I do not believe there is a park horse alive, whatever breed, that can extend and collect and maintain balance and rhythm, let alone show lateral suppleness and engagement in the same fashion as a well-schooled dressage horse.

And…why should they???

And please-- that is not because one is better than the other.

It is because the two disciplines have different priorities.

That is correct. So why did you attempt to compare the two?

[prudence]

Looks like he is not available in the US - or has not been added to the sales list.

[Gnalli]

Look, I am a die hard TWH fan, (and I do like my foundation QH), but MAN OH MAN is that animal beautiful. I like everything about him, and coming from someone who LOATHES a hard trot, I’d ride that one, and LIKE it. This horse is amazing, and even someone as unschooled in dressage (though Honey B is trying to educate me) as I am can fully appreciate that this horse is the epitome of what a dressage prospect should be. What more do you want, egg in your beer?

[Kathy_Johnson]

3 or even 3 and a half is shockingly young to ride any horse this way, at the edge of the envelope. I’ve trained enough young horses in my life to know that anything you do to them at that age is like a waking dream. It’s not training. The riders and the system are taking total advantage of a young horse’s natural talent. Look, he passages at 3!

I believe the young horse championships are just like the futurities in America, pushing young horses at 3 and 4 for the money. Futurities destroy the future of the horse.

He could easily end up like Poetin.

Do I understand it financially? Yes. Do I have to like it? No.

That is a beautiful, incredible horse.

[Auventera_Two]

What a great post Kathy. I always admire and respect your posts. You are knowledgeable and well educated in dressage.

I saw the passage too, but everybody here says its just a plain ole’ trot. :uhoh: Last time I checked, passage required collection. But the ladies here say this horse is showing no collection at all.

He is an incredibly lovely animal, but I don’t like what the humans are doing to him one bit.

[hitchinmygetalong]

@Kathy Johnson;2029585

Look, he passages at 3!

Showing my ignorance here (again! ;)) but how much of his “passage” is just natural exuberance and airtime and how much is actually trained into him?

[slc2]

he isn’t doing a passage at all, this has no resemblance to a passage whatever. he is just an excited young animal trotting around.

[Kathy_Johnson]

Hitch,

It doesn’t much matter which it is in terms of difficulty. Both (natural exuberance and training) place the same wear and tear on the joints. It’s fine for him to play like this out in the field, where he likely wouldn’t do it for more than 30 seconds, or could stop the second he wanted to, or is not held in any kind of frame. But to do this with a rider for any period of time is excessive at his age. He has not had the time to develop the muscles to sustain that kind of movement with a rider. Then a young horse starts moving too much off his joints because he doesn’t have the muscling, and over time, you develop joint problems.

In this case, it’s not training, because no three year old has had the time to be trained to that level. The horse is a superhorse, who naturally moves great. Then, take an excellent rider who is riding him in a what, fourth level? PSG? frame. The horse is ridden like an FEI horse. They are taking advantage of the horse’s natural gaits and showing them to their utmost, as is done in auction settings. This is auction riding at its best/worst.

I do love the horse, and I do understand the process. There are millions of dollars at stake here, riding on potential, or a canyonoak says, the fantasy. As my husband says, “can’t we just ruin a few of them at that price, then stop?”

[Kathy_Johnson]

he isn’t doing a passage at all, this has no resemblance to a passage whatever. he is just an excited young animal trotting around.

I’ll beg to differ. His trot has a lot natural passage, or what we might call false passage. You really see it when he enters the ring. 3 or four times after a half halt, and after the canter, he sustains quite a nice passage, which we would be lucky to see in our horses in our lifetime, and which the rider is certainly not discouraging.

Furthermore, I do not think he is in the least bit excited. He is extraordinarily submissive and calm, but he is being ridden to maximum scope every single step.

[Gnalli]

[QUOTE=Two Simple;2029641]
What a great post Kathy. I always admire and respect your posts. You are knowledgeable and well educated in dressage.

I saw the passage too, but everybody here says its just a plain ole’ trot. :uhoh: Last time I checked, passage required collection. But the ladies here say this horse is showing no collection at all.

He is an incredibly lovely animal, but I don’t like what the humans are doing to him one bit.[/QUOTE]

Two Simple, what is your opinion as to what a horse should have done to them? Just enjoy the beauty that is this horse, and quit worrying about the may happen. I dare say that many thousands of horses are started in work just as hard as this at the same or younger ages and don’t break down. Sometimes, they do, but not always. You have your way, and that is good for you. Others have their way, and that works for them too. I would really like to know why you are so negative about everything. It is really sad that you seem to want to tear down everything that is not your choice. You don’t like bits, you don’t like shoes, you don’t like showing, you loathe TWH big lick horses, you don’t like western pleasure, I think somewhere I read that you don’t like reiners (I may be wrong on that one), and you don’t like dressage horses that are so talented, you don’t like that horses are started earlier than you think should be done (although in some cases, no, in some cases its ok depends on the horse). What do you like? Do you think nothing else in the horse world has value but hitting a trail or doing endurance? My stars, can you not be pleasant or polite about anyone else’s choices?

[hitchinmygetalong]

@slc2;2029721

he isn’t doing a passage at all, this has no resemblance to a passage whatever. he is just an excited young animal trotting around.

Hence the quotation marks in my post above.

Kathy, thank you for your post. I appreciate you taking the time to explain your point so clearly. :yes: