I’m sure this stallion has been discussed here, but a search comes up with “no matches found”. I know he was in the middle of his group at the 100 day test but has anyone bred to him, already have foals by him, or seen him in person. Any input would greatly be appreciated.
I am also looking at breeding to him. I have not received the DVD yet, but have seen some on-line videos. I LOVE his pedigree, but when I saw Roc, and especially when I saw a bunch of his foals, wowza, wowza, wowza! His jump is excellent and a couple of the foals just took some ground poles in stride. They seemed totally non-spooky and very athletic. They are all pretty, they all have good conformation, excellent movement, really nice neck set, pretty heads, and the couple I saw being handled, even if not for long, seemed to have really nice dispositions. I am still waiting for the DVD as I will be able to see that full screen. He seems an excellent cross on TB mares, improving on them, but I saw some WB foals as well. They were all nice.
He’s very attractive. That said, I think $1850 for a stud fee is a little high in this market, from what I saw of winning bids for most stallions in the auctions.
From the number of horses bidded on in most of the auctions, I would have to say that very few of the horses bred in this country are bred through stud fees bought at auctions. I hardly think that’s a fair comparison.
My experience with Roc USA babies …
Attached is a note that I wrote a while back as a pm to someone’s inquiry about stallion temperments. I think that it sums up the Roc USA. Since I wrote the note - have purchased a ROC USA yearly for myself. This is a huge move for me as I am a TB lover to the bone!
Hi
My breeding experience is quite limited in that a friend of mine had a dream of breeding her Love of life appendix QH. Aprox 5 years ago. That got several of us hooked. The barn is no trainer all amateurs average age is probably 40 + and we have 10 homebreds. 1 AQH TO AQH, 1 AQH to Dutch, 2 TB to TB, 6 TB to Dutch. There have been 5 different TB mares involved.
I do believe how they are handled and the mother that raises them has a huge facter in temperment. By far the QH have been the toughest to break even though they are “quiet”. The 5 three y.o. are all over 16 h and only one is a “typical” TB temperment. The other TB you would think was a warmblood 16 2 and quiet. Of course the only baby that is mine is the typical TB.
We as a group of adults have worked together to break the 6 that are over 2 y o. And I must admit that they have been quite good. All of our Dutch are Oldenburgs are by Roc USA. (Note when I horse show H/J I use a trainer from another state that stands Roc USA) The TB father was a now retired stallion Flying Pidgeon and the QH was Rich Rendition (a Rugged Lark son)
The Roc USA babies do not have a strong flight reaction in fact they usually like to go investigate new things. This weekend when I drove in I found them taking turns walking on my mares blanket that had come off.
My dressage trainer took a Roc USA in on training (older from another barn) and commented that they are nice because “you start tomorrow where you left off today” but she mentioned that can also be a problem if what you are doing is wrong.
Good luck with your decision making.
Rudee
I have never seen Roc or the mares the babies came from, but I showed in HB for 3 years here & saw several of his babies in various stages from yearlings to 4 YOs. I liked that they were handled/ridden by ammy or juniors & seemed very easy to work with (training, handling, showing).
I have bought 2 Roc babies, one as a yearling that won the oldenburg inspection and one as a 3 yr old (a full sister) and also ride 4 Roc babies between the ages of 2 and 5, and am planning to breed my Grand Prix mare with great bloodlines to him this year doing 2 embryo transfers. His babies are amazingly easy to break and work with on the ground. They move great, and jump amazing and are very willing. I took 2 of the Roc babies with me to wellington this year and everyone was in awe of them and wanted to buy them from me but i wouldn’t sell. He seems to produce great hunters as well as great jumpers although his oldest crop is only 5 this year. I believe he is a great stallion to breed to ( and who wouldn’t want to with those bloodlines Idocus out of a Galoubet mare you can’t get much better bloodlines than that for movement plus amazing jumping capabilities)
I have bred several mares to Roc. Some have been hunter mares and some have been jumpers. All of my babies have turned out to be beautiful, well balanced, correct and easy to break out. I brought two three-year olds down to Wellington this year and got more compliments on their movement as hunters and their jump style. They went down just to hang out at the show and jump a few jumps here and there, but people really noticed them! I would highly recommend breeding to Roc.
Just as a reminder to thoses that breed mares here and there, don’t forget that your mare, the nutrition that your mare recieves during her pregnancy, and the care your baby gets during his years of growth also have due to with your success of having a foal turn out the way you want. Too many people in my opinion, blame the stallions for issues and weaknesses that their own mares have. The stallion is just a part of it. Before you breed, look closley at your own mare, her pedigree, your care of the mare while pregnant and the care of the foal through his years of training. If you cannont honestly say you love your mare, love her pedigree and love her performance record, don’t breed her!!! You are only multiplying the problems you have now. Don’t expect a stallion to “clean up” problems that you start with.
One final note about Rocs babies, while I was in Wellington this year, I was made an offer on one of my geldings that I could not refuse! Isn’t that what its all about?
Rubs Not Pats - I am very sorry to hear you had bad luck with your Roc baby. What happened that you had to donate her?
This is the only one I know and I think the picture says it all…
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/Desilu/March_2007_446.jpg
First, Galman, you are absolutley correct in saying the mares nutrition is paramount when your goal is a healthy baby.
I bred to Roc USA this year. My mare is due next Feb. That said, my goal is to produce a horse for me to keep and train myself. While I am an assistant trainer, temperament was my number one goal.
I stepped it up a notch when looking at hunter type stallions and flew all the way to Kentucky to the International Hunter Futurity final to look at stallions get.
Warm-up day we decided to take a peek at the ring where the 3 and 4 yr olds would show. We saw a ton of babies schooling, none really wowed me. Then, I saw an adorable bay gelding, 4 white socks and a blaze with a young adult riding him. I figured she showed later in the week. We liked him so much,we asked if he was for sale as we were looking for clients. He ended up being by Roc USA and only 4! I was amazed. He clocked around that hunter course like a pro!
Anyway, we met the trainer who owns Roc and she was very nice and said, well we have 3 more at the barn, lets go! So we walked over to where she was stabled and showed me all the other babies. They ranged from 2 to 4. Every one was super friendly, quiet eyes and very correct. Nice feet, and only one had a bigger size head. I watched them all go and they all moved phenomenal. Not to mention kids were riding them in the 2 yr undersaddle!
Most babies I saw were out of TB’s, I think he crosses well with them.
My mare is a very fine boned TB and I think it will be a great match. Good luck.
To all of you that posted, please post pictures of your Roc babies! I want to see them all!
Here is a pic of him…
bump
My experiences with Roc USA foals have all been positive ones. I’ve attended various inspections the past 3 years and I’ve seen the foals (and the mares they are out of) in person… I’m VERY impressed.
I’ve seen Roc in person (multiple times) and liked him equally as well as his offspring. When I had my mare at the clinic he was in attendance and I got to play with him in the stall. He has a lovely temperament – even when surrounded by other stallions and in-heat mares in the repro barn.
I am expecting a Roc foal out of my Hunter mare in June and VERY excited to see this cross. I love everything about this mare and I’m hoping Roc will just keep the high level of expectation I’ve seen over the years. (Plus add a little bling!) :yes: I’m sure it will be HUGE since the mare is almost 17.2 hands.
What I’ve noticed out of TB mares to Roc… is that he greatly improved substance and bone, and also produced a much better moving horse. Not to stab the mare owners… but some of them were not WOW kind of mares… but the foals produced made my jaw drop! :yes::yes: I’m not sure if he’d be ‘officially’ considered an “improvement” sire, but it sure looks like it to me.
For a relatively “unknown” stallion, he sure is lovely. :winkgrin:
Photo of Roc of Angels with her Easter Bonnet
I hope this works! I know when you asked for pictures you were looking for movement, but I love this picture. This is Roc of Angels aka Princess Bun Bun she is 9 months old loose in a 5 acre field with 2 other horses when we decided to try on her “hat” - This says alot about the temperment/personalities on the Roc’s.
http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s148/rocfoals/?action=view¤t=March2007453.jpg
Thanks for all the responses. For those who have seen him and his offspring do you think he improves on the mare? I have a really nice big thoroughbred mare who doesn’t need any size but could use some refinement.
yes
All the babies I saw were big. They were all out of TB’s. Nancy did say a many of the mothers were little. I think he throws size, so if you don’t want size, you should probably find a smaller stallion. My mare is barely 16 hands and very fine boned. I hope that he adds a little bone and height to mine.
A little color would be nice too!
I think he definately improves the mares…some of the mares I saw at the inspections moved awful and did not have the best confirmation…and all of the babies moved beautifully and all had nice confirmation.
