[QUOTE=vineyridge;7886156]
I’ll probably get flamed for mentioning this, but you have to be really careful about a 4* gallop/canter when shopping for an UL prospect. The Hunter offspring that I saw at Rolex last year seemed to be lacking that light, ground covering gallop and didn’t, IIRC, make it round the course. He had a very heavy XC pace and seemed to me to be pounding the ground.
That gallop and stamina are why blood is still thought to be necessary at the 4* level.[/QUOTE]
Breeding for CCI*** and CCI**** is very different, and it is all in the gallop. The very fancy movers with extravagant jumps and a large % WB are GREAT horse trials horses and can be superstars even through the CCI*** level, but how many have we seen break down or not make it around the CCI**** level? Just look at how our team has done in recent history…
We breed specifically for the CCI**** level. The problem is that SO many lower level and amateur riders THINK this is what they want, but really these horses are rarely good matches for riders without significant experience. These horses need good consistent riding. You cannot give them time off for days and then just come back and hop on - buy a horse with a lot of draft or WB for that. They are bred to be very responsive to their rider so, if you are still at the place with your riding where your body and legs are unstable, they are going to be reactive and unhappy. They need to be able to think on their own and have some attitude for the ULs which is often scary for lower level riders.
We have several extremely nice 3-year-olds in the OPs price range right now, but we have found it very difficult to sell young horses to eventers. Once our horses go to Sharon White to be sold (at which point their price jumps), they have been sold in a month or two, but it is only recently we have been able to sell younger horses. This is quite different from the dressage and hunter/jumper markets. Recently, however, this is changing. We have had several up and coming, younger, very good upper level riders buy some of our babies. Can’t wait to see what they do!
Finally, I do think that people do not realize the cost to produce a top 3 or 4 year old horse. You need to have acquired top mares. Every time you breed, you have a 70% chance of actually getting a live foal - so you lose money 30% of the time you breed. Not only do you pay the fee for top semen, but the cost of shipping it, sometimes multiple times if the mare does not take. All our babies are hauled an hour away every month to be trimmed by a specialty farrier who works with our repro vet. Sarah, who runs the farm, works the babies everyday so they are used to grooming, clippers, etc. Not to mention feed and vet bills. None of this is cheap. When you are paying 25K for a 3 or 4-year-old, the breeder is not going to the Bahamas on the proceeds…
Finally, if the Europeans are selling us such amazing horses, why is our team not placing at the international competitions…and I don’t think you can lay it all on the riders…
Remember that these folks are looking for an UL prospect. Whether they should have one is a whole nother question, but US breds haven’t shone in the ULs lately.
Give us another few years for ours to get old enough to be out at that level…
