Dang they love to roll!! The muddier the better!!!
Yep.
My last Appy was racebred, and traced his TB lineage back through the Seabiscuit/Hard Tack line. Obviously, the supposedly ādifficultā temperament of that line was pretty diluted by the time it got to and was mixed with Appaloosa. My old guy was one of those āborn brokeā horses.
I donāt have experience with tons of horses, but I have had a few and ridden more and this is what Iāve noted:
Soundest, bravest horse I ever owned was a mare by Foreign Exchange. If I found another line bred to him, I would take a good long look at it. She could and would work for days, was opinionated, but not rude, and an 8 mover. In bred to Man Oā War on the top and bottom. This is where I sound old and say āThey donāt make em like they used toā lol.
Most difficult ride, but most athletic horse: mare by Sandpit, out of a Broad Brush mare. She was like riding dynamite, but when you got her trust she gave you 110%. Amazing athlete, totally above my pay grade as a rider.
Fappianoās are popular around here, and they seem to be relatively easy going. There is/was also a Storm Cat son locally, and I have to say I havenāt encountered any to live up to the ācrazyā hype.
Current horse is nothing special in the breeding dept, Baldski stallion, Lakeshore road mare. A+++ temperament. Decent mover. Weāll see how he holds up.
If I am just looking at pedigree, Uk, Irish and French horses make me take a second look. They have more steeplechases and races over fences.
The steeplechase horse is like a different animal than the one bred for going lickety split around a track here. A four miler is different from the 1-1/4 miler speed dash.
Over there is a horse gets hurt, they give him the time off for a full recovery, like over a year, because they have a longer racing life.
Again, Viney has spent years looking and studyingā¦it should all be put in a book for future reference somehow.
Where is Vinney?
You may find that the lack of responses has more to do with the application of generalities here; no stallion or mare however potent in their traits or demeanor will produce the same horse every timeā¦ People hate to cast on āalwaysā and āneverā, especially in the horse world. The below is just my experience and is not all inclusive ā I only occupy a very small scope of this world, so there is bound to be someone out there who has not had the same experiences.
Some stallions and mares are certainly are prepotent in their phenotype at the very least. Personality, I think, boils down a lot depending on their handling at an early age. For instance Iāve met a few Lost Code horses that could not be more different - one neurotic, one honest as the day was long and many in between. Seattle Slew is a good example of a horse that just about produces anything, and not always in a good way.
Say Florida Sandy, Iāve found, almost always throws a big dark bay. Good moving horses. Usually very born broke types. That probably has to do with Private Account, who seems to shine through even generations later.
Freud, on the other hand (an SC son) Iāve seen throws tall, gamine, super chromey and very sensitive.
Private Account seems to consistently pass on his professionalism. Iāve met a few that did not care for sappy stuff, but always buckled down when asked to work.
Hook And Ladder is another one that consistently seems to pass on a bay type, with some white on the face and hinds, and quirky quirky quirky. Same with Dixieland Band (his sire) - compact sport types but best in the hands of a sensitive rider.
Icecapade, from a phenotypical standpoint, looks just like Shenanigans (dam) and consistently seems to pass on her big build and good looks. I canāt tell if I like Icecapade in a pedigree or notā¦ he seems to produce these beautiful horses that are, in my experience, hard to keep sound.
Stormy Atlantic, well, he just seems to make nice horses no matter the mare. Sweet, kind and intelligent horses.
Nijinksy will always get my attention, he consistently in my neck of the woods produced beautiful movers, usually big beautiful shoulders and chestnut with just the right amount of white. Odd because the old man himself was a bay.
AP Indy, wellā¦ all of my friends that work on the track will fight over who gets to work the AP Indy babies - he has a reputation among them as the type to lend sweetness and professionalism to even the most draconian mare.
[QUOTE=GrayMare;8647034]
Iām going to take a different tack here. I donāt think that you should shop for an OTTB based on something vague like what lines are āknownā for producing X temperament. I also think that what lines are āknownā for producing sport horses is pretty inconsistent as well, partly because it just IS inconsistent and partly because pedigrees of successful OTTBs in sport are not formally tracked. Be aware that most TB breeders arenāt taking temperament into account (at all) when breeding, and that many TB colts are gelded later, so IMO an in-person personality check is really helpful.
I feel like Iāve had better luck looking closely at the horse in front of me and especially how it moves (and jumps if I get a chance to set a tiny xrail in a roundpen somewhere) and going with that. A close look at the feet is definitely in order. Look at the quality of the wall and the shape of the foot, particularly the heels. There are plenty of TBs out there with good feet.
If you do want to look up pedigrees, itās actually very easy to look up individual names from the pedigree and check out race records and stud fees.[/QUOTE]
Amen! 
I will say I personally have a soft spot for Dixieland Band horses, especially if they ALSO have Kris S in there somewhere. But thatās not really borne out of any statistics or trend of successes, just that the DBs (ha!) that I have known have had great personalities who I enjoy, and Kris S horses seem to have a nice level of athleticism and talent and good looks. But that said, I think there are tons of good horses out there and I would never look by bloodlines first (it would just be a bonus, or a sign from the universe that that one really IS meant for me, LOL)
[QUOTE=beowulf;8649600]
Nijinksy will always get my attention, he consistently in my neck of the woods produced beautiful movers, usually big beautiful shoulders and chestnut with just the right amount of white. Odd because the old man himself was a bay.
.[/QUOTE]
I did not know this about Nijinsky. Do you have any more information about him and stallions he produced?
Also, totally second that Viney should write I book. I would line up to buy a copy!
My experience with Nijinsky bred horses and the reputation they have is they tend to be a bit nervy and on the muscleā¦but lovely movers, as stated.
