Ha - googling Default is a nightmare! - thanks for the leads Viney.
Speaking of Friend or Foe: this pic was posted just today of him today at Keswick Horse Show by Smallwood Farm
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j276/camohn03/92FC972B-138F-4890-B454-B5886E9C3804_zps33dwmndy.jpg
[QUOTE=camohn;8150067]
Speaking of Friend or Foe: this pic was posted just today of him today at Keswick Horse Show by Smallwood Farm
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j276/camohn03/92FC972B-138F-4890-B454-B5886E9C3804_zps33dwmndy.jpg[/QUOTE]
I watched him go at a horse show recently. He wasnât my type, personally, with his style of jump, but I thought he presented very well and was very well mannered and seemed to have a good mind.
[QUOTE=weixiao;8150088]
I watched him go at a horse show recently. He wasnât my type, personally, with his style of jump, but I thought he presented very well and was very well mannered and seemed to have a good mind.[/QUOTE]
Can you elaborate on the jump & overall conformation & thoughts on type? Again, constructive criticism & an open discussion is a good thing. While over seas I noticed they candidly discuss everything & do not get offended. Its something I wish could be done more often over here. No one stallion is a perfect match for every mare, and without seeing them in person, conversation w.those who have them in the flesh is all we have.
[QUOTE=goodmorning;8150165]
Can you elaborate on the jump & overall conformation & thoughts on type? Again, constructive criticism & an open discussion is a good thing. While over seas I noticed they candidly discuss everything & do not get offended. Its something I wish could be done more often over here. No one stallion is a perfect match for every mare, and without seeing them in person, conversation w.those who have them in the flesh is all we have.[/QUOTE]
I never saw him standing without tack (and I was trying to organize 13 horses so even when I saw him standing with tack, I wasnât paying enough attention). I also didnât see a full jump round, I just saw him warming up while I was waiting with a horse (didnât know it was him) and then caught the second half of his jump round because when I heard his name I decided to go and watch. So it is possible I didnât watch him enough.
But my thoughts were that he was well behaved in a very small, spooky, busy ring in pretty miserable weather conditions. He was pleasant around the gate and the other horses and did strike me as any kind of hot or nervous. To me, his jump wasnât fluid and he wasnât correct enough with his legs for my taste. To my eye, he jumps quiet high with his body and while he bends his knees fairly well (although never exceptionally square) he is not super tight his forearm, so his front end appeared a bit slower and more drapey. Because his front end was not so tight, he jumps very high with his body and I think that causes him not to finish quite as well behind. Overall, I was left with an impression that the jump was quite a bit of effort and the landing was quiet heavy. If I were riding him, I would worry about the slow front end so Iâd want to give him space in front of the jump but then I didnât feel like he necessarily had the power to get to the back of a big wide over out of that and there was a lack of fluidity over all. For an A show hunter, his front end just isnât good enough in my opinion, for an event horse, I wouldnât be so worried about the front end because he doesnât hang his legs dangerously or jump over his shoulder very often, from what I saw, but the lack of fluidity in the jump would make me think he would get tired and be hard on his legs, and for a straight show jumper he just doesnât have the correct technique or scope that I would look for.
I didnât dislike the horse, and this is just my taste, but with semen available from exceptionally jumping TB stallions like Coconut Grove, Sea Accounts, Sea Lion, etc and some of the other TB stallions owned by the studs in Europe, or other high blood proven competitors at a much higher level, I donât think I would personally pick this stallion for a mare.
I will qualify this though and say that I am not super familiar with the horse, he could be green and some of this could improve, but I think Iâve seen his ad up for a while? I could be wrong. If he is green, I would be more lenient with some of these things because a fluid, relaxed jump can be learned, and the front end can be improved somewhat from a green horse.
FOF came off the track in 2013. His first foal crop are yearlings/ foals of 2014. Iâm not sure how long he has been schooling off the track, but Iâm under the impression he is pretty new to showing OF. There is next to no info on the farm web page at Smallwood and his Facebook page itâs hard to sort through info.
Ah, so he is perhaps a bit green for the level. Perhaps worth looking at again in a few years, although I still think I would pick some of the other TB stallions available based on jump.
Free jumping over sizable fences will show the horseâs innate technique. Spectacular free jumping doesnât always translate under saddle, but one would think that free jumping video or even photos would be very useful for a stallion shopperâif the horse is sound enough to free jump.
In my very personal opinion, Fit to Fight just doesnât seem to have good, natural jumping technique from the photos that Iâve seen.
viney, do you mean FOF?
I agree re: jump technique. He wouldnât be my go-to if I wanted a TB stallion.
[QUOTE=beowulf;8151032]
viney, do you mean FOF?
I agree re: jump technique. He wouldnât be my go-to if I wanted a TB stallion.[/QUOTE]
Yup. Friend or Foe. Fit to Fight was by Chieftain, wasnât he? That oneâs got sport horse descendants from Germany. Heâs the sire of Likoto xx, sport horse sire in Germany.
Noles Standing at Alva Glen Sporthorses
