Thoughts on unusual crosses & crossbreeding

[AMWookey]

My first horse was a clyde/Morgan. You could fit an entire family on her back. Someone bred her to an appendix. Twice. By all accounts, they liked the babies, but it was so weird to me.

There was a zoo back home that also bred horses. He actually stood a couple lovely performance based stallions, and quite a few people used them. One of the crosses he regularly did, and to great success was Newfoundland Pony mares to his Anglo Arab stallion. Typically came out as large ponies, with a flat kneed hunter trot to die for and a cute as pie jump.

Many of them qualified and competed at the Royal, no small feat for Nova Scotia riders, and a fair chunk of them were sold down to the States.

My barn owner when I was a teenager bought one, because he wanted a newfie pony. She was an incredible mover, super smart, and could have been so fancy. He left her to rot in the field, she foundered and last time I saw her, she was 15yrs old and looked like a workhorse on pony legs. I was furious at the waste.

[Big_Tag]

@Scribbler

On the other hand I am always surprised how many poor tb/qh crosses I see. Appendix is a thing and is meant to add some hotter blood. I have seen tb/qh get size plus muscle, handiness plus jump, buck plus spook rear and bolt, all in one package.

But I’ve also seen tb feet on a qh body, downhill skinny short necks with big heads, etc. I am sure it has to do with the quality of the parents.

Ugh this is the truth. I have seen both really nice types, and flat-out unathletic dogs under the “Appendix” umbrella but honestly I haven’t known anything about any of their breeding.

[blitzkrieg]

@jump4it

I currently ride a Arab x Perch cross. She is a fantastic event horse and besides having bigger feet you couldn’t tell she is draft, you cant really tell she is Arabian either. Nobody ever guesses correctly on her breeding.

I had a perch/arab cross as my first horse . He simply looked like a further refined halter-bred percheron. Almost everyone guessed he was a warmblood. Super sweet, smart, ridiculously athletic, would turn on a dime despite his extra-large stature, and never took an unsound step in 10 years. I’ve known two other crosses that similarly were out of really nicely bred arabians and they all have ended up relatively well put together with REALLY nice brains.

[Big_Tag]

To answer the question of the Title Thread… My thoughts are that knowingly doing so isn’t the best of plans. However, I am sure most - if not all - people on this thread can recall a Heinz 57 type that was a superstar in their own right. I can think of 10+ off the top of my head, a few of which who would be really competitive show horses besides being solid citizens. I wouldn’t knowingly bring one into the world but I sure as hell wouldn’t turn my nose at a good one!

[kcmel]

@Xanthoria

This is why I avoid draft crosses for eventing. Everyone always says “but this one I had went advanced!” Yet they fail to recall all the rest who can’t jump, are slower than molasses in January, and have cart horse gaits.

I don’t understand this statement, unless you are talking about breeding a draft cross for eventing? If you wanted to buy one you would avoid those who couldn’t jump, were too slow, and had cart horse gaits.

The horse in my profile pic is an interesting cross–Dutch harness sire and hackney/Clydesdale dam. (Although apparently hackney/Clydesdale was/is a thing in certain parts of Canada). As you can see he is an awful jumper! I would take a 1000 more just like him! (Well, if I was some sort of deranged horse hoarder).

My percheron x paint being half draft is not nearly as athletic. But when I bought him I was looking for a sportier type draft cross, so obviously I avoided those couldn’t jump, were too slow, and had cart horse gaits. He is easily doing training level eventing and I’ve had a couple of clinicians tell me that he could do prelim (no thanks!). There are plenty of draft crosses around here successfully doing training level and I’ve seen a few going prelim. Now if I was shopping for a 3* horse that would be different. Although I’ve seen some very thick horses (slowly) going around Burghley!

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[imaginique]

@jump4it

I currently ride a Arab x Perch cross. She is a fantastic event horse and besides having bigger feet you couldn’t tell she is draft, you cant really tell she is Arabian either. Nobody ever guesses correctly on her breeding.

I have a friend who used to have a Saddlebred/Percheron mare that she bred to her Arab stallion. The foals grew up to be amazing horses–tall and leggy and athletic. We took one of them to the lameness specialist once and his comment was: How in the heck do you tranquilize that? LOL. Whatever he used worked!

[Xanthoria]

@kcmel

I don’t understand this statement, unless you are talking about breeding a draft cross for eventing? If you wanted to buy one you would avoid those who couldn’t jump, were too slow, and had cart horse gaits.

Breeding and wasting my time driving to see them or searching ads for them. It’s hard to get a sense of how heavy, slow and hard to get fit a horse is from pics and video, and having wasted a few days driving around looking at such animals I know they’re not for me, and I’d rather stack the odds in my favor with the type of horse I like. As I said in my previous post tho, there’s always a few great ones who’s owners love them!

[mscapen]

Working in a higher end H/J barn some years ago. Came in a green broke 15.1 greyish horse. Nice conformation lovely fine head on a sturdy body. I was asked to put some miles on him… w/t/c poles to see if he was decent for the hunter ring. When I asked for his story… as this barn was notorious for getting deals on backyard horses that where in fact very well bred, I was told he was an oops breeding. TB mare 15.3, put in a field with a heard of Icelandinc ponies none taler than 14 hands… they found a mote a hill or someway… He was a fine citizen with a good head on him, lovly tb mover, the only thing was his coat - dense and when clipped would grow back in a few days…

[CHT]

I bought three horses from a Morgan breeder back in 2004: one was the (former) stallion, and the other two were his foals, and out of what looked like a purebred Morgan mare…but apparently she had some appy in her, because although the one boy was also very morgan, the other was clearly a varnish roan appaloosa with a sparse mane and tail. I think they used her for breeding because she had the gaited gene, which she passed on to at least these two foals. (Sire was not gaited, but must have had the gene too). I don’t know if they knew she had the appy gene in her when they bought her and bred her though! I imagine it was quite a surprise for them to get an appy out of two solid parents…but I guess that is part of the risk of breeding grade/cross bred horses.

[Foxtrot_s]

I’d sooner buy such a horse than breed one - just because a horse has a uterus, (or testicles) not a reason to breed.

[Tucked_Away]

I used to know a pony-sized Morgan x Fjord eventer. I have no idea how that cross happened or why, but he was cute, cute, cute and very useful. A little naughty, but no more than many pony-sized creatures.