All foals are cute. Everyone who sees a foal wants a foal. But before you get caught up in how adorable that soft little muzzle is, you need to ask your breeder what they are breeding for. And watch that they have a good well thought out answer for that question. Be wary of the breeder who isn’t intentionally matching a mare with a stallion for a very particular goal.
One of the problems I see with the current equine market is that breeders are churning out foals by Grand Prix jumper stallions and mares and producing youngstock with the potential on paper to jump 1.60 when the reality is that the vast majority of horse riders don’t jump more than .90 on a good day. Buyers, who know full well that realistically they are better off staying at the lower levels are sold the dream that with the right horse they too could be Gran Prix material.
It boils down to this: People are buying horses that they can’t ride one side of. They buy the foal, or the three year old that promises the moon in terms of blue ribbons but by the time it is 5, they have to pay the trainer to put 5 rides on it a week. By the time it is 8, the trainer is competing it — and probably doing very nicely — while the owner cheers from the sidelines. There is nothing wrong with this at all, so long as that is your dream.
While the Grand Prix horse is the dream for many breeders. It isn’t mine. I am not trying to breed Grand Prix horses. I am trying to breed ridable horses. Ridable by anyone, horses.
I’ve probably backed over 10 purebred Irish Draught horses. Five of them are still with me in my breeding herd today. I attest that the Irish Draughts are always the easiest horses to back under saddle. I joke that you just put the tack on and start riding. In reality I always ground-drive in tack for a week before getting on. But that’s about it. Sometimes … often … it’s not a week. My rule with backing horses is that we do something until it feels boring and then it is time to more on, not before. Well sometimes with this breed ground driving is beginning to feel old hat by day two. So we move on.
I have never yet had an Irish Draught react much at all to being mounted for the first time. One of my broodmares I backed and was out hunting with the Arapahoe hunt about 5 weeks later. Six weeks later she was guiding beginner riders out on the trails by our farm. She is the only horse I have ever considered putting my non-horsey husband on. Now that’s a broodmare I won’t give up in a hurry. That’s what I am breeding for.
I am breeding for ridability and soundness with equal importance on both of those things.
The Irish Draught has the perfect foundation for a sound horse. They are well boned, with the conformation not for lofty and fancy movement, but for equal weight distribution among joints and low-knee action. Their gaits are flatter and smoother which means we have to work harder to get the top marks in dressage but that if you want to ride out in a foot of snow, you will be fine. The high-knee action horses don’t get on so well in snow and ice or on slippery ground. My Irish Draught stallions take me hacking in all weather and in all conditions and are incredibly footsure. That’s a conformation thing.
They have great feet. My boys are all barefoot all winter. They have this blessing of a thick hoof wall which is also something I curse every time I trim their feet because I have to file through it. It’s a good workout, that’s for sure. One of the oldest sayings in the book is “no foot, no horse.” I am breeding for good feet.
I am breeding for ridability, for soundness. I am breeding horses that anybody can ride. I am breeding horses that an educated amateur can back. The horse that you can trust your husband with. I am breeding horses that will jump 3ft all day. I am breeding horses you can take to a show yourself, rather than pay your trainer to show for you. I am breeding horses you can do dressage with one day, and go hunting on the next. I am breeding horses you can hack out on your own.
I think my over-arching goal, is to breed a horse that will be your best friend, for a really long time.
