Here’s another one I forgot about. I considered him for my mare before I decided to sell her instead. https://www.dkusasporthorse.com/cosmeo.html
I have never interacted with them myself, but a handful of people whose opinions I trust (one is a breeder, another is an AA owner) have either bred to him or have offspring by him who love them. They tend to have white (a few are quite “loud” - big blaze, high stockings - but I think even the ones that aren’t over the top still have a few white feet/face markings) and they rave about the temperament. Easy, easy, easy to work with, handle, train. I can’t speak much of the gaits (having never ridden any of them) but they do seem to all have a good natural rhythm in trot, especially, even as young horses/just being started.
ETA:
Sent you a PM, hopefully with useful information for you!
There was a balta amour in the barn. Not my favorite, I didn’t like her way of going. She’s been for sale for a while you can see her ads on BigEq I think. She was very sweet. That’s just 1.
He comes really well endorsed by several of our COTH beeders/posters, too.
My Dutch bred horse is by Alla’Czar. In the 17 years I’ve had him, he has never done one unkind thing. He is talented, backyard adult rider friendly, and a blast to live with.
A friend liked my horse so much, she bred her incredibly talented, hard to ride witch of a mare to BaltaCzar. The resulting filly is lovely, easy, a pretty mover and super jumper. She is small, under 16h, but some of us don’t see that as a bad thing.
Thanks everyone for your input. I am weighing it all carefully. My handler has suggested Checkmate and Qredit as well. My list seems to be getting longer not shorter!
The ones I’ve seen tend to be on the lighter side, bone-wise. Nice temperments, though.
I’ve worked with two Checkmate babies so far. Both very tall and leggy, good minded and were easy to start.
How was their movement? Especially the trot?
Just ordered the tests for WFFS and red factor and agouti. I am going to be counting on you all to help me interpret the results! Depending on what they show it will tell me if I can choose one of these chestnut stallions without worrying about a chestnut foal. Yes I know a good horse is never a bad color but since we are sort of making a custom foal I want to pick my options.
The filly was a hack winner. The gelding is in a very awkward phase right now so hard to say how he’ll end up. Correct but clumsy. 
He’s a true 17hh at coming three and butt high.
I’ve bred two full siblings from Balta Czar. Yes on temperament, confirmation, soundness, feet. A very hunter person told me that he throws the slow back end power over a fence. I’ll send more I’m headed off to work.
Remember that chestnut color is a recessive gene. You might also want to look at the stallion’s get, not just the stallion himself as he may have the recessive gene lurking somewhere.
No, the tests will show whether my mare is capable of having a chestnut regardless of the stallion’s genetics.
@beowulf: Not to derail this thread, but I was really intrigued too so I emailed Hilltop and they replied that they are not testing stallions for DSLD. I’m not surprised at all, since the biopsy is extremely invasive and not entirely reliable, plus I doubt heritability is as simple as it is for WFFS, for example. Just thought you might like to know!
That was kind of my line of thinking too - that kind of biopsy, on your top studs – not a cakewalk!
Forgive the copy and paste from my FB page please.
Several people have asked for an update on a sire for Juliet’s foal so I thought I would share where we are now. We won’t make a final decision until after we get the results from Juliet’s genetic tests but we are hopeful that the next 5 weeks at Wellington will help whittle down the list that keeps getting longer instead of shorter.
One thing I have realized since talking to many breeders and handlers whose opinions I respect is there is never going to be a consensus. I was foolishly hoping that I would present 3-4 names and they would all immediately choose one of the bunch. It’s actually been the opposite, one will pick one and emphatically decline the others while adding another two or three to the list, while another one will choose one of the discarded stallions and poo poo the rest. In the end we are probably going to have to choose whichever one resonates the most with us and hope for the best. If we choose one you suggested we pass on, please don’t think your opinion was not considered and appreciated.
Off to Florida this weekend to stalk the hunter rings at WEF and see who jumps out at us ringside.
good luck! enjoy Florida and please keep us updated!
