Your perfect sporthorse mutt (fantasy)

[Angelico]

So I was guiltily browsing the listings of adoptable Mustangs and I got to wondering, what would be wrong with breeding a very talented TB/WB with a Mustang with good movement, jump, conformation, and temperament? In no way would I ever have the time to breed and develop this type of horse, but wouldn’t it be cool? Having the good feet, bone, and hardiness of a 'Stang with the incredible athletic abilities of the modern sporthorse? Just a thought… Anyone else share the perfect mutt fantasy? Reasons that this would be a bad idea, perhaps? Just a cool thought.

What is your fantasy mutt?

[MysticOakRanch]

Didn’t Judy Yancey do this a couple of years ago? A Kiger Mustang crossed to a Warmblood stallion (I don’t remember which one now)?

[magicteetango]

Favorite unconventional sporthorse I have seen is JER’s Akhal Teke x TB filly, she is such a cool looking horse. Other than that, I believe there have been some nice Saddlebred crosses as well. Guess I am boring : )

[Jane_Honda]

I had a kiger/paint cross mare for 8 years. She looked like a 15.1 hand warmblood. She was a beautiful mover, great form over jumps, solid unflappable temperament, never sick or lame. Her hooves were excellent. Didn’t need shoes, her legs were clean and very well put together. Some herd strains have great builds due to survival of the fittest.

I wanted a foal from her, but never had a chance due to lack of disposable funds and ended up selling her. She was my girl. My heart horse, and I wouldn’t bat an eye if I had the chance to aquire another one like her. She spoiled me. I miss her so much…

[EqTrainer]

WB crossed with just about anything unconventional but well built and good moving and FORWARD. Welsh pony x WB would be ideal to me!

I also love 3/4 TB 1/4 QH.

[_Tradewind]

My mother has a gorgeous PRE (Andalusian) mare that I am itching to breed to a big moving Hanoverian to produce a really quality dressage horse. This year we are breeding her for the first time to a PRE stallion for a purebred foal. Maybe in a few years, though, if I can convince her of the potential quality we could produce in such a “mutt”!

I have also admired JER’s Teke/TB mare. I have a big Trakehner mare I have been tempted to breed to a Teke; I think it might make for a fantastic event cross! It wouldn’t hurt to get some of that metallic coat as a by-product, either.

[ASBJumper]

I think crossing a nice Andi with a WB would make a lovely, personable Dressage horse indeed. :yes:

I am already “making” my fantasy mutts - Saddlebred x WB crosses. They are everything I want them to be and never cease to impress me, every ride, every day. I thoroughly enjoy riding/working with them and as an ammie with limited skills/confidence, I love that I never have even a moment’s nervousness while on them/around them. Horses just don’t get more safe/sensible. It’s awesome.

[MysticOakRanch]

[QUOTE=ASBJumper;6211545]

I am already “making” my fantasy mutts [/QUOTE]

Me too, although I don’t consider them mutts - I think of that as a term for accidental breeding. My fantasy cross is a Friesian/Warmblood - gentle nature and baroque charisma, people pleasing personality, natural piaffe and passage, good bone, round topline, combined with that WB athleticism and NO feathers:lol:

I agree ASB, love the personality of our purpose bred crosses:D

[Cataluna]

My 2011 filly is a “mutt” (albeit at least she is registered somewhere… better than nothing!). Hanoverian (sire) x Appaloosa (dam). Registered ApSHA. Sire improved height, movement, neck set, hind-leg and length of leg. Dam passed on her lovely topline, shoulder, baby-doll head, colour and temperament.

We definitely got the best of both world with this filly- very fun cross.

[netg]

[QUOTE=ASBJumper;6211545]
I think crossing a nice Andi with a WB would make a lovely, personable Dressage horse indeed. :yes:

I am already “making” my fantasy mutts - Saddlebred x WB crosses. They are everything I want them to be and never cease to impress me, every ride, every day. I thoroughly enjoy riding/working with them and as an ammie with limited skills/confidence, I love that I never have even a moment’s nervousness while on them/around them. Horses just don’t get more safe/sensible. It’s awesome. :D[/QUOTE]

I’d love my OTTB gelding crossed w/ a warmblood with amazing feet. There’s a gender issue with that, though! :lol: His hooves are the #1 thing I’d change about him. The Friesian cross has the hooves I wish he had. #2, I wouldn’t mind a bit more suspension and a bit less natural tension in the body. We work with it and eventually get relaxation, but that’s HARD at shows at the moment. He’ll get there and I’m a better rider for it, but not having to deal with that tension would be nice.

If I could pick exactly what traits the baby would get, I could see breeding the Friesian/supposedly Andy (I think Spanish mustang, though) mare. I LOVE her neck and shoulder, don’t love her back and hind end. However, despite less than ideal hind end confo, she naturally wants to use it surprisingly well. And her hooves are the most perfect hooves ever. Even her obnoxious alpha mare stubborn snottiness is becoming fun, as she realized the things I ask her to do make her feel good so now she’s putting that stubborn energy into learning faster instead of fighting.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

My friend has a British Riding Pony x WB cross. He is a hony and perfect for her (she’s about 5 feet tall). I look and feel like a giantess on him (I’m 5’8"). I think the breeder was hoping for a large, but he got too big. She rides him in lower level dressage. He is nicer than his dam, imo.

What would be wrong? Nothing if the horse was for you or of enough quality to appeal to a broader market. I do see some really horrid crosses regionally though. I know of some people who stand a stallion and think it is cool to cross their ______ (he has feathers) to everything and then they make up weird names for the “new” breeds. They try to market them as “designer horses” like the doodles I guess. Ugh. When I had a strongly bred jumper mare for sale (Galoubet/Abdullah) I had someone contact me to suggest I keep her and breed her to her Morgan stallion, because “that would be such a fun cross to try.” I had to stop my self from saying “WTF? Are you nuts?!” and politely declined.

Sometimes I think there are really cool things about the original breed or genetic potential of the horse that needs to be passed on and protected.

Another reason not to breed disimilar types is sometimes the parts just don’t blend right and the poor result looks like it was put together by a committee. I’ve seen some really cool F1 appendix QH and some really nasty ones (but both parents were nice). The blend doesn’t necessarily get you the equal mix of both parents…

[vineyridge]

My fantasy mutt would be an uphill QH from roping lines crossed with a WB with jumping lines–maybe Selle Francais with a lot of TB.

[GGStables]

Mine would be a heady blend of the unflappable generosity and endurance of my Canadian horse, a smattering of my cheerful, energizer bunny TB, a bucketful of sporting prowess from my WB, topped up with a dollop of soul and sensibility from her pasture mate (another WB!)

[Perfect_Pony]

My dream horse is a WBxPonyxTBxArab cross. Something about 15.2hh, the big movement of a WB with the spark of the Arab/TB and the hardiness of a Connemara or other native type pony.

[Ride4Life]

Oooh, I dream of crossing my Furst Heinrich/Donnerhall/Rubinstein mare with a black PRE stallion. I just can’t find any that I like their movement & conformation enough and that don’t paddle.

I like the idea of using Fuego’s sire Utrerano VII with her, but will probably never really do it. =) Plus I have no idea how you would get the semen!

I was very taken by Judy Yancey’s Sandro Hit/Andi/Mustang filly - and she was a buckskin to boot! Very fun cross and would just about be my ideal. I wonder where she ended up?

[JoZ]

I would like to have a homozygous black, homozygous tobiano, perlino with homozygous agouti Paint mare who is at least 1/2 TB. Then I would breed her to a selection of warmblood stallions that best complement her abilities, conformation, etc. And turn out beautiful buckskin tobiano sporthorses. This is my dream.

[didgery]

A nice levelheaded Irish Sport Horse mare bred to this jack: http://www.braymoorestables.com/rooster.htm

[Aspen70]

My colt is an ‘oops’ foal out of my PMU mare ( 1/2 Tb x 1/2 Percheron). The sire was a weanling Hanoverian colt who managed the feat while in a herd pasture. So far the colt has acquired some good traits from each , but has been in the very ugly duckling stage for a while. Recently I have seen some maturation and from across the pasture he looks like a nice warmblood. Great feet, nice neck but not too bulky. Overall, I think he will be a nice ride. Also somehow his movement is fairly decent considering how bad a mover his dam was. He’ll be started under saddle this year and hopefully will be a fun ride.

[_Tradewind]

[QUOTE=netg;6211633]
I’d love my OTTB gelding crossed w/ a warmblood with amazing feet. There’s a gender issue with that, though! :lol: His hooves are the #1 thing I’d change about him. The Friesian cross has the hooves I wish he had. #2, I wouldn’t mind a bit more suspension and a bit less natural tension in the body. We work with it and eventually get relaxation, but that’s HARD at shows at the moment. He’ll get there and I’m a better rider for it, but not having to deal with that tension would be nice.

If I could pick exactly what traits the baby would get, I could see breeding the Friesian/supposedly Andy (I think Spanish mustang, though) mare. I LOVE her neck and shoulder, don’t love her back and hind end. However, despite less than ideal hind end confo, she naturally wants to use it surprisingly well. And her hooves are the most perfect hooves ever. Even her obnoxious alpha mare stubborn snottiness is becoming fun, as she realized the things I ask her to do make her feel good so now she’s putting that stubborn energy into learning faster instead of fighting.[/QUOTE]

Gender issues don’t stop me from thinking about my fantasy mutts: I have fantasized, on more than one occasion, about what it would be like to cross my Connemara/TB gelding with my big Holsteiner gelding

[QUOTE=Ride4Life;6211855]Oooh, I dream of crossing my Furst Heinrich/Donnerhall/Rubinstein mare with a black PRE stallion. I just can’t find any that I like their movement & conformation enough and that don’t paddle.

I like the idea of using Fuego’s sire Utrerano VII with her, but will probably never really do it. =) Plus I have no idea how you would get the semen!

I was very taken by Judy Yancey’s Sandro Hit/Andi/Mustang filly - and she was a buckskin to boot! Very fun cross and would just about be my ideal. I wonder where she ended up?[/QUOTE]

I hear you about the movement/paddling concern. Fortunately, my mother’s PRE mare is not very baroque and doesn’t paddle, hence making her a good (fantasy) candidate for a cross with a warmblood dressage stallion!

[oharabear]

I already have my sporthorse mutts!

My dressage gelding is 1/2 Arab, 1/4 Dutch, 1/4 TB. Registered Half Arabain and AWR. He is so cool- about 17h, big body/bone/movement of a WB, long, elegant neck and head of an Arab, and the personality and work ethic of a TB. He’s awesome. I think he won the genetic lottery. :winkgrin:

I also have my palomino gelding, who is 3/4 TB and 1/4 QH. I just started him under saddle this week (squeal) but he has absolutely lovely hunter movement. He’s also just 15h, which isn’t so good for my ultimate hunter goals for him, but he fits my 5’2" self perfectly!

I also quite enjoy my Welsh/POA cross. She is a blast, but is just a hair too small for me at 13.2. I am planning on gifting her to my SO’s horse-crazy child after she is in regular riding lessons. In the meantime, I drool over Connemara stallions to cross her with to add some substance. I probably wont do it, but I keep saying that I would keep her forever if she was only a few inches taller (or even just stockier- she’s very dainty and fine-boned)! She’s my eventing pony (Okay, so I just jump her and do some dressage, but I am moving to a 180-acre ranch in a couple weeks and am planning on taking her XC schooling often!) I’ve never had a pony before, but now that I have her, I can’t imagine NOT having one! They are so much fun!