A really good fearless pro can muscle a green horse around a course that is above the horse’s real education level, and if the horse is naturally scopey, around some fairly high jumps too. And they free jump them to get a sense of their natural scope.
Doesn’t mean you or I could take the horse to a show next weekend and not die.
I think they have to video them jumping at max height to sell them for top dollar. It doesn’t mean they are competing regularly at that level.
Most jumper training is about what happens between the jumps. Rating stride, not spooking at things, etc. So your local clinician is going about it the right way to make a solid horse that anyone can ride.
Lots of good feedback and discussion. It seems Europeans are truly the breeding pros then when it comes to warmblood prospects. Not surprising, as they have been doing it for centuries. And more of a horse based culture and industry therefore as well. If I were
twenty years younger and more well to do it might be fun to try to establish a program here… just pipedreams. For now I will enjoy my boys and try to do right by them.
My favorite was when a trainer I worked for got 6+ imported horses, everything was suppose to be 1.40+ and trainer got on and alll those horses went back to 6+ months of flat work, granted trainer is skillful enough to get on anything scopey enough and jump it around a full course of 4 foot plus jumps and make it look easy. I didn’t appreciate some of the horses we got with horrible ground manners. I was happy when I stopped grooming professionally and got my backyard horses 😂
After moving to a different state that has more livestock vrs people. Someone we run cows with has a super nice stud and multiple broodmares, they have lots of foals each years and get to pick and choose what they do and don’t keep. Similar to the other poster on here talking about in Europe how the have big groups of foals and just pick and choose.
What about Silverhorne Sporthorses and Wild Turkey Farm? Does anyone have any horses from them? Curious what the even go for. I had a horse from Silverhorne but he was always NQR, got out of horses for a bit and new owner of said horse tracked me down and turns out horse has something off. Different story for another day.
I bred my current horse - $5K before she even hit the ground (Stud fee, vet bills, board bills, shoeing, etc). By the time she was ready to start work under saddle, I probably had at least $20K in her. She did start late - I don’t believe in rushing babies and her line tends to mature a bit later. By the time she was ready to start showing, add another $10K. By the time she was ready to go to the big shows and start being seen, add another $10-15K. She’s currently leased and showing in the 3’6" juniors and on paper is worth 6 figures. But her track record would probably price her less than that because she’s been shown sparingly to be sure she stays sound and sane, so she doesn’t have the 25 page long record that people want. However, she has impeccable manners, a gorgeous jump, a piece of the hack, and can be ridden by almost anyone (but if she doesn’t like you she’ll let you know in her own way - she is a mare). Unfortunately I don’t have the bank account to make up more than one of these in a lifetime and I want to retire her here at my farm, so she won’t ever be for sale.
Can it be done? Yes. Will it ever be a thing here in the US? No - way too expensive.
No. A true unicorn has a horn and rainbow mane. Clearly.
As as far as why European breeders are much more successful than domestic? Completely different set up, a national committee that supports the cause, and acres to quality bloodlines abound.
Two observations here. EVERY foal born is not going to be successful no matter the quality of the parents and the best, most careful care and training. If that were true every young TB at the track would be fast…and they aren’t. Even full siblings in the same program are not equal. Sometimes a Jumper bred horse hates to jump or a Dressage bred just doesn’t have the gaits it’s pedigree says it should. And sometimes they die or suffer career limiting or ending injuries that are self inflicted. Nobody’s fault.
The other thing is the comparison with European imports. Every one that you see may have gone through a program but not every foal born gets into those programs. They do something we don’t over here, they cull and don’t proceed with sub standard stock.
A couple posters have used the word “cull” in describing the European program. Euphemisms aside, what does that mean? Are they sold into easier jobs, or are you saying they will euthanize young horses with issues?
Imagine they want to protect the reputation of their breeding programs, some of which are state supported, and they do have a market for those culls we don’t. No desire to start a train wreck here and it’s been discussed on here ad nauseum but many of those in that culture don’t abhor sending unwanted or unsaleable horses to the dinner table. Not all, of course, but breeding is expensive and dead serious in big commercial breeding operations.
They just don’t keep the substandard horses in their programs to break and train up and that market does exsist for those who care to utilize it.
For the record, no, I wouldn’t. But Im not a big breeding operation in Europe.
From COTH I have learned that culling jumpers who are too slow includes selling them on to be American hunters.
Actually TB are a great example of how variable young purposebred horses in a standardized training program can be. If there was a reliable recipe for winning horses, people would follow it. As it stands many young tb are rehomed in their first year at the track. And racing is a much simpler discipline with fewer components and much less schooling needed than either jumpers or dressage.
I don’t know what exactly European breeders do to cull. All that would require would be taking the horse out of the active breeding program for a registry. In that sense, virtually all male horses are culled because they are gelded and will not reproduce their genes. For mares and stallions a rigorous registry inspection program will maintain standards within a registry.
So perhaps Europeans send some horses to slaughter, or perhaps they sell them to amatuer homes or overseas, both of which would be more profitable than meat price.
The other piece of the puzzle is that in Germany at least, sport horse breeding and training are considered national industries that have government support, oversight, regulations. North America has some government oversight in agricultural food production but horses are pure free enterprise small business niche product. And if you don’t qualify for a “real” registry you can invent your own!
Because its so much less expensive to house and show a young horse there; there is just much more quantity. Here to buy a well-bred, but untested 4 y.o., you’ll pay 40,000 from a bigger sport horse breeder, that same horse in Europe is 20k.
I imported a very well bred 4 y.o. (I’m an adult ammy of less skill than you describe), my horse has a great brain and has been in full training the whole time. He’s just now at 7 a horse I can confidently show above 3’ and start to move up from there. That’s almost 3 years of full training and 6-7 A shows a year… it ads up fast. And yes, it feel like he’s a unicorn! But it’s been a slow and deliberate process.
They’re out there. I found a 6 yo NA-bred horse that had shown lightly as a jumper to 1m, athletic enough to do more, amateur brain. And didn’t pay six figures. And it was the first horse I looked at. The lack of hunter and equitation miles helped. It is a smaller breeder. And, yes, not everyone is willing to take on a greenish by some standards horse that had only done jumpers as an eq/hunter prospect.
And we we did spend months at one point dealing with a set of weird and, I now think related issues likely caused by a strange something in his hoof. So even a sound sane quality horse can have something go wrong. #becausehorse
Great answers to your question. I was not going to post until I got you your post, above.
“It might be fun to try to establish a program here”. Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 programs that have been tried (and succeeded) to create the horse you describe, yet have gone out of the business because money cannot be made in the US to produce what people want.
In the last 8 years, I have bought 5 young (weanling - 5 year old) horses from reputable people who have great mares and used the top stallions in the world.
I have paid between $7500 – $25000 for these horses and each one has met or exceeded my expectations. And every one of those breeders has gone out of the breeding biz because they are losing money. These breeders are from Western Canada, Wisconsin, Ky, Florida; I believe in buying US breds and supporting US breeders. These breeders produced more than 3 foals per year on a continuous basis so I would say that they were knowledgable and dedicated breeders, who bred and sold quality foals.
These young horses have: 1. won at dressage with multiple scores in the high 70’s, was state champion at his (then) level and also won a 6 bar high jump, clearing over 5’. 2. won in the ammie hunters at AA shows 3. was clean in every 5 year old jumper classes in Florida and, in his last class, jumped clear at 1.35m as a 5-year-old, before succumbing to a cervical neurological problem. 3. Won every dressage class with multible scores of 78, before being retired at age 6 (with DSLD) 4. Is gorgeous and talented and wonderful, but will never show his talent to the world with his diagnosis of Foraminal Stenosis.
Sadly, I see a trend here, but itcannot be caused by breeders from British Columbia Canada to Ocala Fla. And I have been in horses for 50 years. I think I have a quality program developing young horses, yet the breeders have gone out of business and I have gone out of business. Who can keep going without a positive return on investment?
