This article is causing quite an uproar over on Facebook, particularly in multiple breeders groups. Seems the author has lumped most US breeders in the same category and claims they all are using inferior stock compared to breeders in Europe. It is quite interesting that the author’s business is focused on sourcing imports for clients.
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I read that article. She blah blah blahs about American bred horses and wants us to be do better, then instead of leading by example, she imports a horse to breed.
I bred my guy out of my mare using Parco and while he’s not a 1.60m horse, he’s what is best for me. He’s a star and will take me to 1.20m 
I do agree that shows here need not be that expensive. Foothills FENCE has a $20 per class schooling show that is fantastic. TIEC also has lower cost shows too, but not like in Europe. I wish more and more shows would adopt the European method when it comes to showing costs. If we can only get rid of that pesky Mileage rule. 
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I definitely agree with her comments about the costs to raise and train horses in the US. It definitely makes it hard for breeders or young horse trainers to make a profit or even break even when show costs are so high. But I think claiming that most breeders in the US are using inferior mares and are only breeding for emotional reasons is ridiculous and offensive.
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It was a really incongruent article. I don’t disagree with a few of the points, but it was so broad-brushed and righteous that it is too abrasive to appreciate anything she says.
She haughtily attacks US breeders as back yard, uneducated and careless…while THAT IS EXACTLY WHO SHE IS. I understand that your life experiences widely impact your worldview, but-- just because you suck as a breeder, using a poor quality mare, doesn’t mean every other US breeder is as terrible as you.
And does she think that Europe is immune to the exact same shortcomings? There are small time backyard breeders all over the world; just because it came from Europe and you paid an extra $20k to import does NOT make it a superior animal.
My eyes rolled so hard I was staring at my brainstem when I read the part about TB mares. “Only good for the racetrack!” LOL. I will freely grant you that many TB mares used by inexperienced sport horse breeders ARE NOT the same quality for sport purpose as a German state stud Holsteiner. (Those mares weren’t wanted by TB breeders either!) But, there definitely ARE a number of extremely high quality TB mares capable of creating upper level sport horses and it’s irresponsible to dismiss the breed as a whole because you’ve had a (limited) bad experience with them. The average WB breeder won’t have access to the very, very best TB mares…but if you have good connections and a deep knowledge of TB pedigrees it isn’t hard to find excellent TB mares to match with the right stallion for your intended purpose.
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Finally read this after seeing it all over the place today.
As offensive as I thought it was going to be. Clearly she hasn’t been to many US breeding farms or seen anything other than the backyard breeder that breeds an OTTB mare for the fun of it.
What a slap in the face to everyone that pours their heart and soul into creating the best sport horses they can every year.
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As I watched the uproar from breeders roar across social media the main thing that stood out to me was the people who were getting the most butthurt over it weren’t actually who she was talking about. I know it’s hard to not feel as if we are all being painted with her same holier than thou broad brush but for most of “us” the shoe doesn’t fit. Even me who is probably way closer to her target audience than most of my fellow breeder peers does not fall under her breeding anything with a uterus umbrella. My horses are not only doing the job I had hoped for them to do when I decided to create them, they are making my literal dreams come true. That’s good enough for me and since they will never be for sale that is all that matters.
Let’s face it, there are still more mares being bred that should not reproduce than those that should but the same goes for dogs and cats and if you really want to get down to brass tacks; people. In the end we just need to decide for ourselves if the choice we make to bring another life of any kind into the world makes sense for us because there will never ever be a consensus. Eventually the marketplace or the show pen or whatever we decide to do with our produce will tell us whether we made the right decision or not.
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author might be correct as most European countries commonly eat horse meat so those poor animals are just eaten
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The thing is- she’s absolutely right in terms of jumping horses. US has good dressage breeders and good Western and flat racing breeders. They do not have good jumping breeders. There are a few people in Canada breeding nice horses and Kyle King is an example of a rider who’s consistently done well with Canadian bred horses. But I can’t think of any in the USA consistently breeding GP level horses at even the national level - a few here and there yes but not consistently. You can buy any number of top dressage horses or prospects bred here. You really can’t find a top jumper prospect.
It’s, imho, not money. It’s a function of no longer having many jumping riders left- how many Americans regularly show 1.3m and up in 2024? I would bet it’s less than in Belgium. I know it’s far, far less in the 1990s. The schooling venues stopped having the higher classes because they stopped filling, I have watched it happen myself. There is no market for a green 1.3m horse in the US because it costs so much to bring it along you may as well buy an experienced one.
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One huge difference is the volume of sporthorses being bred here vs Europe. I think hannoverian mares in germany alone have 7 to 10 k foals, that is one breed registry in one country. Success depends on quality but also volume (strike rate) and top horses are going to be a small percentage of horses produced (so volume also matters.)
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It was common in Iceland for old timer breeders to put the inferior foals in the freezer. That way they only kept on quality foals, and supplied their own meat for the family. The winter turnout in the hills would cull the poorest stock as well, so better it went into the freezer and not wasted.
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I personally know many people in the US breeding and showing top show jumpers. They are private facilities focused on showing and do not have the need to advertise or to sell prospects. Many are not on a large scale, with a foal or two every year. But they are using very good mares and stallions.
Do I think we are breeding on the same scale as Europe, obviously not. But there are some very good jumper breeders in the country. Spy Coast has a very impressive breeding program. They are producing very nice horses. I know top riders/programs are breeding their mares to their stallions.
Also, as it was said in the Karen thread; it is not easy to breed an Olympic caliber jumper. I had horses for an Olympian to breed and one of his rider’s naively commented on how bad the program was since most didn’t make it to Grand Prix. It is not that easy! There are so many variables that could take a possible Olympic or top horse out of contention, as well as those horses just not having what it takes to get to that level or being in a home that has zero aspirations/skill for that level.
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I have thought for several minutes, if I should reply or not. I decided to do so. But please be aware, that I don’t state MY opinion here, but only the general opinion from horse people around europe. This is not what I think, because I don’t dare to form an opinion about this topic, because I know next to nothing about the US breeding programmes. So please don’t read this as an offense. It’s not meant to be one. I just want to add another perspective.
We do have lots of registries for warmbloods. And all those registries have studs. Like Celle where the Niedersächsische Landgestüt is, or Gestüt Marbach and so on. And it’s been a common knowledge, that studs, that don’t meet the expectations often times get sold into the US. I could name a few examples of which I know if, which where said to be “sold to the US” because “the offspring didn’t convince”. So there seems to be a lot of people, that think, that the US buys “lesser quality WBs for more money” than you would get at the european market.
Again, this isn’t my personal opinion, as I don’t have one. Just things I heard through my years around horse breeders, trainers and sellers.
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I think that is all common knowledge. We have a bigger market for lower level horses. So they are suitable for the needs of the riders in the US.
When the US breeds a horse and sends it to Europe and it wins the six year old finals, no one hears about it. The US is breeding quality jumpers, just not at the rate Europe is. Fact. And while we may be often working with some of the rejects, we are very much competitive on the world stage in show jumping. So, they can’t be selling the US all of their junk. Unless we have the better riders to make the junk shine.
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Oh, no. It’s certainly not the junk, that is sold to the US! The junk is way to “worthless” to even consider selling it to the US. But the US just pays way more money for the same horse than any european would, so of course people sell them over the pond, because they get double the amount.
For example, if you’d be looking for a nice dressage prospect, let’s say a nice 4yo hannoverian mare suitable for M and S-level (S is the highest before international) you are about to pay 25 to 50k. That’s the price range where you find such horses.
If you’re looking for buying a nice companion for some lower level competitions, you pay around 10 to 20k.
Quick search on our most used selling page:
This horse is already over priced. She’s a jumper used for dressage and the 70k they want is already way to much, cause she’s only done M*.
This boy is a typical WB with a typical price of 11,5k: https://www.ehorses.de/hannoveraner-wallach-4jahre-170-cm-brauner-dressurpferd-freizeitpferd-rickling/3912289.html
My best friend bought here then 3yo trakehner mare (sister to Isselhook’s First Sight) for 8k. Another good friend bought her then 6yo Jazz x Laurentio mare for aorund 12k. That’s like the average price for normal WBs.
Just to give some insights in pricing over here. In my barn with about 120 horses (and roughly 85% of them WBs) there’s few that have been more than 15k.
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That doesn’t do buyers any good though does it? A few people breeding for themselves does not an industry make. And I’m also not sure that breeding imported mares to Chacco Blue or other EU based studs really counts as American breeding which is what I see people doing.
I’m sure there are some US bred 5* SJers but I can’t think of one off the top of my head. I had a US born and bred mare that threw two 1.45m horses by US studs back in the 90s. She only had 3 foals total and as a percentage of offspring I jokingly say she is the most successful US show jumping broodmare I’ve encountered, lol.
I do see lots of top event prospects and some really nice dressage horses at the young horse shows every year in the US. And super all rounder types, with excellent temperaments, often out of homebred stallions- those people know their audience. I don’t see the 1.3m+ types very often. I can go home to Ireland and it’s super easy to find those for reasonable prices too, even though SJ is not the main focus of most programs there are still enough doing it.
But they have the long wraps over the knee and the dressage music in the video! Seriously though, that is a really high price, I’m surprised that they can command that. I don’t think even in the USA that would sell.
It is most certainly not a few people. And they do sell the ones that don’t fit their program or won’t make the upper level.
You said: “US has good dressage breeders and good Western and flat racing breeders. They do not have good jumping breeders.”
And that is absolutely not true.
I am not sure why you make so many assumptions. My customers and friends often breed to their own stallions with mares they own in this country. Yes, some use frozen from Europe and somewhere along the lines the others were imported. But many are working on second and third generation US bred. But if a person buys an imported mare and choses a European stallion and the foal is born in this country it is indeed US bred.
A top event prospect or a really nice dressage prospect does not equal a top level competitor.
The young jumper classes in Wellington have quite a few US breds in every level. At these levels the horses are generally sold by word of mouth. So not advertising is status quo.
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Again, that’s not helpful for people who want to buy a jumping prospect and aren’t in your secret club?
If there were lots and lots of good jumping horses being bred and available for sale in the US? People wouldn’t be importing them. People don’t typically like to make life more difficult or expensive than they need to. It’s extremely difficult to find a nice jumper prospect in the US. And if you do find one they are often prohibitively expensive. Literally anyone can tell you this. Sometimes you get lucky and find one but if you need one on a timeline?
I wondered if that article would be shared here. I considered starting a topic on it, but deleted it at the last minute because I didn’t want to give that op-piece one ounce of free publicity.
The writer’s main source of income is US buyers purchasing her imports. 'Nuff said on that axe to grind.
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Numbers registered each year would be a clear indication of who is breeding what and for what. AQH with thousands of foals each spring compared to a WB Studbook with several tens in number? English disciplines are a minority in the American horse world.
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