[QUOTE=PNWjumper;8056429]
For starters, those who know Bayhawk know he is more than just talk, though I’m not going to say more than that because there’s no point and he certainly doesn’t need my defense. The people who he cares about knowing what he has produced already know…suffice it to say that he’s no poser (to understate things a bit)!
What I really wanted to say is that the only things disparaging TBs here are the cold hard statistics in the show jumping world and the reality of the horse that the modern day TB has evolved into (what stoicfish said many pages ago and what Down Yonder said a few posts up exactly).
And before you jump on me to accuse me of being a TB-hater, I’m one of the few campaigning my Thoroughbred at the FEI GP level of the show jumping world. My guy is one in a million, but has some serious struggles with the more difficult GP courses based on his very typey TB type. Supershorty is another who is part of our (small) GP-TB club and says the same things about her horse. You’d be hard pressed to find riders more enamored with their horses than us, but boy are we aware of the mismatch between what we’re sitting on and the type of horses the courses are designed for. I can’t think of why you would want to add that potential difficulty to a breed like the Holsteiner that has been bred to handle exactly what we jump today…or maybe it makes more sense to flip that statement around and say that the courses today cater to the skill set of the best WBs.
From that perspective I totally understand the “let my neighbor do it” sentiment. And expanding on ahf’s point, money talks and with TBs generally viewed as inexpensive, half-TBs are often viewed as less valuable than their full WB counterparts. Not saying that’s right, but it is how it is. Perhaps if there were more breeders like Fred, the story would be different. But as it stands now, the breeder who focuses on TBs aimed at the sport of jumping is a rare, rare bird.[/QUOTE]
I’m not the one throwing around terms like hater and jihadist. Besides, I already know that you ride a TB. I have seen videos of Bayhawk’s horses and wasn’t exactly overwhelmed. They looked very nice but they didn’t look like world beaters. Of course, I realize world beaters are extremely rare.
One thing that is most definitely true about bayhawk is that he makes up things about other people in an attempt to bolster his own self image. He certainly has about me. That says nothing about me and a lot about him. If you want to support someone like that, fine. I wish that bayhawk would stop going on about TBs since he doesn’t seem to know that much about them.
I imagine that you are going to find a warmblood that can match your TB a little harder than you thought. Such horses aren’t that common among warmbloods either. Plus, the whole point of using TBs in sportshorse breeding is to breed them for something other than racing. For something, you know, like jumping, since there are TBs out there with that kind of talent, and have a lot of good qualities that many warmbloods lack.
Oh, and before you call me a warmblood hater, I bred a warmblood and will own him for all of his life (out of a TB mare by a Han. stallion). I still wish he had more of her blood traits though. I still don’t know if he inherited his dam’s incredible jump because I’ve never jumped him for various reasons.
Edited to add: I most definitely wish there were more breeders like Fred. Her stallion is an outstanding horse who had produced outstanding horses and she is a class act all the way. That’s kind of been my entire point all along, that I wish there were more breeders like Fred.
