Opinions on DHH crosses for jumping?

[mlayton]

Yep it is def about the horse presented in front of you, you are right!

I just want something solid, sound, and good brain / personality, this horse seems to have it. I only passed on this breed previously because of conformation as many I see are very DHH looking (awkwardly long necks and not ideal movements for riding as you mentioned more for driving). This one I did not even suspect as a DHH cross. He is not built like it at all. He is 5 years old, just started under saddle this year by a professional (not amish) that trains Dressage and low level jumpers. Never broke to drive or anything. Movements are very nice, similar to a Clyde X.

My only concern is how much sport horse is in the horse’s blood, or if it will be too heavy/drafty for jumping over 1m down the road. It is hard to say without a DNA ancestry report lol. But from what I have seen so far this horse is very athletic yet level headed, and I quite like him. I do want to learn more about the breed before getting my hopes up though. I do not know anyone else with a DHH or DHH X.

[mlayton]

Yes I agree. Very disingenuous… I do want something just fun, sound, solid, with a good brain and personality to have fun! I def want to learn more about this breed though! I cannot find too much online about them.

[fivestrideline]

FWIW, plenty of royally bred jumping line horses never make it past 3’ in the show ring so… YMMV

Look at the conformation of the horse and his canter. Those tend to be the determining factors for scope, on a horse that isn’t currently jumping height.

[mlayton]

I see a lady posting a TON of DHH and DHH X’s all the time. I inquired about one but she seemed very off lol. My gut said no.

[mlayton]

I have only ever had Draft X’s and they all tend to jump the same as you described so I have no problem with this. I am more concerned about health risks or what the DHH temperament is like - i really don’t know anyone with one and I can’t find too much research about the breed! This forum has been very helpful so far though.

[fivestrideline]

Dutch harness horse drama. Update: drama has resumed Dec 27 see post 122

I can’t find the original post to zombie resurrect. So starting new. A year or two ago someone started a thread complaining about an American breeder who was creating DHH but marketing them as Dutch WB, which wasn’t strictly speaking untrue, but the horses had flat croups and harness movement, not really dressage perfection. Long conversation ensued on merits of DHH, but it also became evident the breeder was a drama magnet. I think she was never nsmed but I managed to put together enough detai…

Here is the trainwreck thread - it’s a long read but a cautionary tale on doing your research on breeders. And TONS of info buried in there on DHH, for jumping as well as dressage.

[mlayton]

Thanks so much, will have a read!

[findeight]

@Inimitable

DHH as hunter/jumpers seems like an overall trend that will blow over soon

Nope, the represented as DHH or DHH cross that bolted I referenced earlier was 20 years ago. BTW, that gal unloaded it to an Amish gentleman. Never knew what happened to it but bet it stooped bolting in the first week they had it.

[Scribbler]

A couple of thoughts.

Draft x TB in some ratio (1/4 or 1/2 draft) is a time tested way of getting a “heavy hunter” type before WB were around, and depending on the outcome you might get a TB with more bone (the goal), a smaller plow horse (not the goal!), or anything in between. Usually Clyde or Percheron. If you get the desired type they can jump just fine, and their size is clear by age 5.

The DHH and other fancy light harness horses have a different conformation behind from pulling draft horses. They tend to have a flat croup like an Arabian, a spectacular trot, but a bit of a pogo stick canter up and down. This to me is not a conformation for either jumping or dressage. I would take a good draft x TB over a flat croup on any sporthorse, whether DHH, Arab, saddlebred, etc. Pulling drafts dont have flat croups.

So you need to look at the horse in front of you. Croup conformation is visible in a foal and doesn’t alter that much.

All baby horses float around. When I look at foal sales videos I look at the mare to see the adult outcome. That’s obviously not going to work though if someone is using embryo transplants in donor mares ( and buying frozen semen from the Stud of the Day, so the bio parents only exist in video and photos from high end competition).

I will also own up to being the person that started the thread linked above. I follow the breeder on FB and can attest that the cray cray continues unabated. More of the same, so I got tired of updating the thread. You can expect the breeder to show up reasonably soon on this thread and be defensive

[fivestrideline]

Fingers crossed I didn’t start drama by linking the thread lol. Though I think that breeder must obsessively google DHH stuff, to find every single thread back in the day.

OP wanted DHH/KWPN info and there’s tons of good stuff in there. If one wishes to sift through the nonsense!

[LuvMyTB]

Everything @Scribbler said. I’ve known a few–both very sweet horses, good temperaments, both struggled hard with the canter. The conformation makes it difficult for them to collect to even a basic degree. The gelding I knew just couldn’t get there with the canter in terms of adjustability and so he (IMO) is very limited height-wise, even if he is athletic enough to jump a bigger fence, I think he is totally maxed out at 3.’ The mare I knew had a really hard time cantering in an indoor ring. She improved considerably in a program but it was not an amateur friendly gait.

[fivestrideline]

I’ve been told to buy the canter for jumping horses. And if you can’t buy the canter (ie jog videos of horses on the track) buy the walk.

[MHM]

@fivestrideline

And if you can’t buy the canter (ie jog videos of horses on the track) buy the walk.

Huh. That’s going to be stuck in my head for a while. Lol.

[Guyot]

I’ve had a few. My current mare (who is well mentioned here in the spay thread) is a registered KWPN DHH. I tend to stay in the KWPN DHH registry as at least there you know the breeding… some of the young stock for ADHHA I’ve seen have had hackney or standardbred in there which is fine as long as you know what your getting.

They tend to be tighter over their backs than the WB but I would say similar to a TB to get through. Once truly thru they can be as competitive as a regular WB.

Of the many I know, they also tend to me more visually reactive vs sound reactive. But not any more spooky than any other horse.

Since I used to jump and now do dressage I do pick mine out for their canter. I’d also say that mine have not been fast horses… of course the canter I’m looking for is for loft and not an eventing horse gallop and jump, so there is that.

Couple of pics of my girl.

[red_mares]

I’ve been around a fair amount of DHH and DHH crosses, most of which were not bred for sport.

In general, the DHH that were brought to the US, ~20 years ago were TOUGH. Once they were broke, they were OK, but getting there wasn’t easy.

The “American” DHH or DHH crosses are a lot easier to get along with.

[Janet]

Some harness horses make great jumpers.
Halla (winner of 3 Olympic Gold medals in show jumping) was a cross between a Standardbred and a French Trotter.

Halla (horse)

[StormyDay]

Oh no, you guys don’t want any of the DHH. Trust me. Just give them all to me instead.

[Kasheare]

Hey long time stalker! It’s weird being loved and impulsively followed so closely from a random person! Glad you are getting to enjoy my amazing foals!!! Here are the 2023 but well out of your budget. Have a good day.

Time for Pleasure KG Sept 2023

November 3, 2023

Simba Nov 2023

[Scribbler]

Oh dear. Every one, I have been so good not bringing anything to this thread recently, not the endless drama, cursing out horse people, threatening to quit the horse bidness becuz nobuddy luvs meeee etc. Oh and yes, her plans to qualify as a clinical social worker or some such thing.

Anyhow some nice harness prospects here.

[Scribbler]

@Kasheare

Hey long time stalker! It’s weird being loved and impulsively followed so closely from a random person! Glad you are getting to enjoy my amazing foals!!! Here are the 2023 but well out of your budget. Have a good day.

https://youtu.be/-FyX_XWG_d0?si=aAW3eME4YlTNTqRA

https://youtu.be/y7hHeCqG2_g?si=25Ft5fFoPSfjCIsF

https://youtu.be/53EQ9px4LVk?si=SvQHF8q8JYvKBj7g

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