Hi all, this is a long involved post but I’m desperately seeking answers. I came across a 9 year old gelding that is for sale and is being kept in a backyard situation. The horse is Westfalen branded in Germany and was sold at auction in 2020 to Holland. I have already contacted the verband NA with where they gave me the horses info from the brand and told me his breeding and name of the breeder, along with when he was sold at auction in Germany. He is also chipped, but I can pull zero data no matter what database I run his chip number through.I have found his vids from when he went through his 2 year old stallion testing and then the auction, but there is zero records of the horse in the USA. Would anyone recognize this horse or have any resources on how I could trace how this horse went from a promising young showjumper to being ridden on trails? He is completely sound and I rode him with no issues, so I’m at a loss here. https://youtu.be/7YN0RD5NKL0?feature=shared
Fascinating. What does the seller say? Sometimes people just run out of money, or they are blackballed by the trainer/dealer mafia, or they were overhorsed and hastily disposed of the problem, or divorced and in a pinch. Or it does not remain sound in a regular program.
Very sorry I can’t help you because I never met a Colestus I didn’t like. I am not on Facebook but you could try posting the video & query on a pro grooms channel, those guys notice everything. And obviously a super thorough vetting would be in order. He looks lovely.
Are you looking to buy him? What are you thinking of doing with him.
There may be nothing nefarious here at all and there are far worse things than never making it to the show rings. Typically they get over here too green, lacking more than average talent, they did not hold up to training, lacked stud quality, there are physical problems or a combination of the above. Some dealers import in groups without specific US buyers lined up and those not ready to sell immediately can get shuffled to a back burner.
Possible he has been sold dealer to dealer with none getting much done with him or doing any paperwork, not impossible he was fire saled at some point or seized for back board. Have gotten some nice horses out of situations like this, Got stuck with a bad one too. Worth consideration though.
By all means ask the seller what they know but thats going to be what they were told by whoever they got the horse from who will be repeating what they were told. Get a neutral opinion by a knowledgeable third party if you want to pursue this one. And a good PPE.
BTW, chips are great but somebody has to follow through registering the # with the appropriate database.
It’s entirely possible someone bought him and just chose not to show. Or only showed locally using a different show name.
Giving us more info would help a lot. Full sire name. Full dam name. Horse’s registered name. What part of the country the horse is now in, etc.
I think that is all in the video shared in the first post?
No, these videos (and also very common in Europe with breeding) only list sire lines (for example, Caliguri was the horses European name but the other two names - Colestus and Lancer III - are sire line names.
I did find what appears to be the horse here: https://horsetelex.com/horses/pedigree/2107527/caligiuri
Dam looks to be “La Donna” who is by Lancer III. No horse with that sire and dam registered with USEF so looks like if he did show rated in the states, he’s listed with unknown or incorrect breeding.
I’m presuming she ran the chip through USEF search. So he didn’t show as a hunter or jumper. The national level dressage horses weren’t required to list the chip until recently though I think so I guess that’s a possibility.
But frankly a lot of WBs get imported and just show locally or lessons or foxhunt or end up in rescues or backyard barns. They aren’t all show horse quality or suited to show horse lives or programs.
Could also have been eventing. Iirc, event horses don’t need a USEF number until prelim (maybe modified now).
Current owner bought the horse from a western rider selling him through auction that thought he was an Andulasian mix. Apparently the dealer/seller said he came from Montana, his owner passed during Covid and then he ended up going to a western barn. But I wasn’t able to get any names or details as to what happened after. It’s a complete mystery. He somehow ended up here in Ohio after that, so from what I can tell, he’s been ridden western since 2021-22.
I popped on him English and he was great. Wasn’t able to go over fences with where I had to ride, but he was able to collect, extend, flying changes, soft mouth, etc. Legs appear very clean and he moves well. Definitely a PPE will be needed but it’s just such an odd situation where I’ve never seen a horse go from being imported to a western trail horse unless they had major injuries
I am looking to buy him as a showjumper, hopefully 1.2m eventually. I’ve ridden up to 1.4m in the past but I took a long hiatus from SJ and just looking to not do the big classes anymore.
My barn manager wants me to snatch him up, I really do like the horse on the ground and under saddle. The deciding factor here is I still need to try him over fences as they didn’t have the setup for that, and of course a clean PPE
Yes I was able to find his breeding and everything which was listed in to YouTube vid I posted of him when he went through the auction in Germany. But I’ve looked everywhere for history in the USA and it’s just completely empty everywhere I search.
The horse came though a western auction seller and stated he came from Montana, his breeding is in the YouTube link I posted along with name. The only thing I can think is that the auction seller here in OH (where he currently is) stated that his owner that imported him passed during Covid, so given the fact that he sold as a 5 year old in Germany in late 2020, he could have come to the USA in 2021 and had very little English work before being sold to who knows where, then ended up as a western horse.
well, that was a guess that I had, that COVID had a hand in there, going by the timeline.
I mean, it disrupted all our lives to varying extends.
Considering the locality the subsequent route does not surprise me.
PPE is a given, but I would consider the detour a bonus. The horse has seen other things than just the arena and pretty jumps.
Try the Montana H/J Association or whatever local show affiliates you can find there. If you email them the story maybe it will ring a bell, or maybe the horse was previously registered with a local association or got local show points.
I’d be on that like white on rice. You can see if the horse possibly came thru Taylor Flury’s Aliboo Farm in Montana but in any case you have a diamond in the rough. Nab him.
If she’d like free internet sleuthing it would be polite to list it here so we don’t have to watch the video to find it 
the video lists a lot of information but I don’t think it clearly says “registered name” “sire” and “dam” and since the OP has figured that out she could shortcut me having to parse the info in the video to figure this out. I’m a good internet sleuth and happy to look but OP should share everything clearly here if she wants people to spend their time trying to help her.
Hence the ? at the end of my response. I’m not sure of the pedigree names attached to WBs on videos like that. 
If he was a STB or QH I’d have a better idea.
The fact he might actually be, ya know…broke… by western standards? Would not be a negative IMO. Even hacking out in english tack is a lovely and useful skill. Might be on that PDQ if I was looking for an Adult Jumper.
And second the poster who suggested trying the Montana HJ folks. He might have been doing some unrated shows.
Maybe he has a second chip? Have him scanned
Thanks! I sent Taylor a message, I’ve had contact with her recently on a youngster she’s had for sale, she’s looking into it at the moment 
