Popeye K offspring-- mind, body and registration?

[mvp]

Hi! I’m looking at a started Popeye K daughter out of a tall OTTB mare who hasn’t had a career. I need a clue about mind, body and registration possibilities

Mind-- baby looks like a push ride and cribs. I don’t usually buy cribbers, but I’m not sure what, if anything, that means about her mind. And too much of a push ride (plus a dam who was just ridden casually) doesn’t tell me much. Do you see good-minded, athletic Popeye K babies, or those horses being too casual or unathletic?

Body-- a bit of the same question. She has a casual-looking and slow canter that has less leap in it that I’d like. I’m not sure you can tell me without seeing it, but will that canter stay? Mainly, I want to buy a horse that will be athletic enough to, say, become a competitive 3’ hunter.

Registration. Owner has a copy of the mare’s papers and a breeding certificate. I think she said the horse could be registered with Oldenburg/NA or KWPN with a DNA test. Any advice on which registration would be worth pursuing or impossible? I’m not sure the KWPN will admit babies to the main studbook unless the TB mare was approved… at least that was true in the 90s when I bred one of those.

Thanks for any and all experience and advice you guys can share.

[ninakl]

I had the privilege of owning one of the Popeye K x GG Valentine foals. She is the nicest, most generous horse I have ever owned. I would literally finish riding her, throw the reins on her neck and say, “No horse should be this easy to ride. It is not fair.” :). I had an inexperienced junior ride her in the children’s while she was still a first year horse. Liv did not always see the distance but Ellie always saw the distances. They would canter to the jump and I would see the thought bubble above Ellie’s head, “Hey Liv, it is right there. Do you see it?” Liv, “See what?” Ellie, “Don’t worry girl, I got this.” But if Liv made a mistake and chipped the jump Ellie would canter away from the jump with a smile on her face. She never took it out on the rider.

In fact, if our trainer was having a bad day, the grooms at the barn would say, “Get Ellie out for him to ride”. And he would come in with a smile on his face. She always wants to work with her rider.

Her only vice was an immense preoccupation with food. She loves to eat. And, she was a little rude in the crossties. Much pawing and pounding of feet.

Very brave to the jumps. Would walk into any ring and jump around.

I would buy another Popeye mare again. I know part was GG (she is a very correct jumper) but I think she has the Popeye temperament based on what I have read about him.

If the mare has papers you can get Register B KWPN papers. That is the only registration Popeye is eligible for anyway.

[Anne]

@ninakl

If the mare has papers you can get Register B KWPN papers. That is the only registration Popeye is eligible for anyway.

False; Popeye K was fully approved by the KWPN in their hunter book. If the TB dam has Jockey Club papers, the foal is eligible for full registration (VB, foalbook) without inspection of the TB mare. Depending on how old the “foal”/mare is, it will cost more to register her now than it would have if she had been registered as a foal.

It’s probably better that this one is out of a TB mare; the ones out of WB mares can be very big and heavy. It’s tough to generalize about Popeye K because he was bred to so many interesting mares in Canada.

[the_sandiest_shoes]

I part-owned a Popeye K mare who we were developing as a dressage prospect until she had a weird issue with her back leg. She had the body of a jumper and honestly it confounded my coach/clinician on how she was able to move so well and had such ability for collection/dressage - they said more than once she didn’t look like a horse that could do such things, but she “just could”.

So movement/ athleticism was off the charts, but attitude-wise she was very alpha-mare. Her leg thing wasn’t enough to ruin her career, but the time that it forced her to take off from training, combined with her stubborn attitude, was. I loved that horse but she was a fighter, and if she didn’t have super consistent and excellent training, she’d decide to fight like crazy (pulling stuff like slamming on the brakes and rearing in the end). I think she’s relatively happy doing low level dressage stuff now, but she just didn’t have the submission for high level dressage training (or at least, not when she had several moments of paused training as a youngster - by the time she was 9, it was almost impossible to convince her she needed to work).

She was registered CWB I think.

[DarkBayUnicorn]

@Anne

It’s tough to generalize about Popeye K because he was bred to so many interesting mares in Canada.

“Interesting” about sums it up. He was very popular and the stallion owners were not always discriminate about mare quality. I’ve seen absolutely lovely ones and some real sleds. Some kicking quiet ammy proof brains, some quirky ones and some downright nutjobs.

Also, just a side note not fully relevant to this topic, but I’ve had to explain it to dozens of people over the years: not everything called Horsename K is a Popeye K baby. The K is the breeder suffix for Ashland Farm. Some folks did tack the K onto their Popeye K babies, resulting in some confusion.

[ElementFarm]

I’ve known two. One was a jumper and was very successful in the grand prixs in my neck of the woods. He was pretty amazing, but seemed to be a bit of a tough ride. He recently sold for some big bucks, and I don’t know where he is now, but his rider had a lot of success with him, and trail rode him a ton in-between shows.

The other was stunning and also a push ride, and did the green hunters. She was just lovely to watch when she went well: great mover, big slow canter, lovely front end. She was a push ride, but on the sulky side, and she got a little bitchy when asked to do more. So very athletic and attractive, but not the best work ethic.

I never knew either horse’s dam line.

[the_sandiest_shoes]

@ElementFarm

The other was stunning and also a push ride, and did the green hunters. She was just lovely to watch when she went well: great mover, big slow canter, lovely front end. She was a push ride, but on the sulky side, and she got a little bitchy when asked to do more. So very athletic and attractive, but not the best work ethic.

For what it’s worth, I’d say the above also describes my Popeye K mare. She was really fantastic on trails by herself. The attitude came out when asking for harder work.