This is what I have wondered all along. What was the source of funds for all this breeding involving ICSI? Is braiding really that lucrative?
It all makes no financial sense. Which concerns me. She has a lot of horses and young stock to feed.
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And if she refuses to lower her prices, they will be on her payroll for a long time to come, methinks.
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Or not feed, as the case appears to be. Super sad.
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The mare Reba she posted that is at EMS is in good condition and quite nice.
She’s probably in good condition bc she’s at EMS. But that video could be quite old…that’s definitely not EMS.
As a jumper breeder that’s still not a mare for me. But it would help others decide if she’d post pedigree…
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Exactly. The photo and video are both old.
Reba is the almost 18 hand mare with the harness conformation that has been posted up thread. That mare also passes on that neck and shoulder to her foals. She got it from her sire, Ulandro. Her registered name is Hakuna Matata KG. That conformation is not desirable for jumpers or dressage horses. That canter is not desirable for jumpers or dressage horses.
Also, Kate describes her as “very thick.” This is not how a knowledgeable breeder describes a warmblood horse. They might say, “good bone” or “old fashioned type.”
Also… Kate is again doing the whole deceptive marketing thing by calling this mare “KWPN.” She is registered with KWPN, but the mare is a Dutch Harness Horse.
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If the horse is registered with the KWPN then it’s a KWPN. Depending on its bloodlines, conformation, and abilities, a KWPN horse is registered as a jumper, dressage horse, harness horse, or Gelder horse.
This mare is Harness type and she’s a nice one. Would love to see current video.
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I understand the rules. However…
The mare is a Dutch Harness Horse. Kate fails to mention this in her most recent ad, and fails to note her breeding, and talks about her as though she is a jumper bred mare.
The mare is a harness bred mare.
This is deceptive marketing of a harness bred mare.
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It’s not deceptive. The only thing I’d argue might not be accurate is her ability to produce jumper horses or her own jumping ability and Kate’s not the first breeder to exaggerate their horses potential.
Anyone buying this horse is responsible for asking the registered name and looking at the bloodlines for type. This is clearly a kwpn in the harness book. It would make less legwork to post her registered name but it’s not deceptive, just bad advertising.
She is a kwpn. There’s no reason to also list her as a DHH.
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I mostly agree… but I think it goes beyond just exaggerating. There’s a lie of omission going on, in my opinion. I think the difference of our opinions is really a matter of degrees.
I definitely agree with you on this point.
I disagree… but again, it’s a matter of degrees and I see it as a willful omission on Kate’s part.
I think there is a good reason to note that she’s a DHH. So that people who are not looking for a DHH, and instead want a purpose bred riding type, do not get confused.
I think there is a problem with people deliberately being vague in marketing their “KWPN” horses in hopes they attract buyers who are actually only interested in buying purpose bred KWPN riding type warmbloods. Kate is not the only person marketing horses this way. I’ve seen ads with other people doing the same thing. In my opinion, it makes the sellers look shady, and it’s not a great thing for the registry’s brand over the long run.
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It’s like marketing halter bred QH as reiners. Or trying to breed reiners out of halter mares.
It’s a mismatch of blood to job.
I do think the intent was to mislead. Otherwise she would be more upfront to talk about how the harness horses add value to jumpers.
But obviously most people were not misled, hence the failure of the breeding program and the starving foals.
K has been caught multiple times in dishonest statements and money deals of all kinds. I don’t know why her half ass breeding program would be the one thing she’d be honest and transparent about.
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I believe that photo is older and that’s kind of a crap video in terms of a sales video. A nice confo shot and video with all 3 gaits would be better.
She’s a nice harness type. She’s not exactly young though, so I think it’s a bit late to get started on an ambitious riding career in the jumpers never mind her actual suitability for that discipline.
I also would not consider her especially “thick”
I do think she honestly sees knee and hock action and thinks sport horse. The movement is flashy to her, I guess, so she thinks it would be to others? I don’t know, I think she suffers from lack of education or a truly educated eye. I would also lost the sire and dam+dam sire in a good ad.
If I were looking to spend some money on a nice jumper and support a good breeder, I’d not be looking at anything that Kate has bred. If you want to see an example of a well thought out program that seems to consistently produce very good results then one like @Hillside_H_Ranch would be a shining example IMO.
I’ve no real dog in this fight aside from basic horse welfare, because I left the WB side of things for Iberians and have never looked back 
I can still appreciate any quality horse though.
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Kate’s horses are generally half harness bred, half jumper bred. So it would be the equivalent of a QH with a reining bred sire and a halter bred dam. In which case, that offspring may very well be a good reiner. It isn’t impossible, stranger things have happened. Regardless, halter bred - reining bred - whatever, they are still registered QHs. Breeding direction does not change that.
Same concept as far as registration (more so commenting here about the previous posts challenging a DHH being KWPN) - Kate’s KWPN registered foals are KWPNs aka Dutch WBs. I will die on this hill. Just because one does not believe a harness bred horse should be under the KWPN breeding umbrella, that does NOT mean they are not. Take your (general you) qualms up with KWPN for having a harness breeding direction. But it is not misleading for Kate to say these are KWPN registered WBs because they are. One can have qualms with her breeding direction, the stock she chooses, her intended purpose of these foals, hopefully one has qualms with the sheer neglect and horrific care, but that does not mean harness lines aren’t a breeding direction of the KWPN.
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People who have any interest in breeding understand this.
I think the objection from some people is that amateurs may not be aware of the differences in harness vs jumping lines in the KWPN books . Certainly buyers and trainers should take the time to educate themselves and “trainers” should know the difference between harness horse and jumper lines and the differing conformation between them.
Kate Shearer’s weanling/yearling and older horses are being aimed at the amateur market. Hopefully people are bright enough to know that any breeder who says that a sale weanling or yearling is “amateur friendly”, when the horses have obviously not been ridden, is not an educated breeder.
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I understand one having a problem with Kate’s breeding program. There is plenty there to discredit Kate’s breeding program with. She is using unproven breeding stock and essentially turning her mares into a breeding mill. The horse’s conditions are horrific. The conformation of the mares is subpar to begin with and the stallions selected are not the ideal match for improving the mare’s weaknesses. Kate’s biggest success in her breeding program is a successful keuring - no offspring actually competing, no offspring earning her mares predicates, no time to actually prove that her mares are worthy of producing via the success of the offspring and instead just churning out foal after foal anyway. No real clear picture on the breeding direction of her program. Pricing these foals so ridiculously that they have very little chance of going to a sane and competent trainer or average amateur. Using lines that are known to produce difficult temperaments for offspring geared towards amateurs. And on top of that, Kate just being a nasty person in general. I’m sure there are many more. However, I do not see a point in repeating misinformation IRT KWPN. It discredits the discussion and the commenters repeating the misinformation and takes away from the actual issues at hand. Misinformation is largely why this entire fiasco started to begin with - that being largely Kate’s misinformed opinions and choices.
All my opinion.
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I agree with you, 100%. 
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Regardless of whether they’re KWPN or not I have a hard time thinking anyone who has done the jumpers, hunters, or dressage would look at the mares/foals and think “that’s what I need.” I find it hard to believe KWPN would be such a draw that it would cause people to go half blind about the horses they’re looking at.
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One can only hope.
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Absolutely! Thank you.
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