Conference noted::equitation

    Its   Trakehner 
    
    

    My next competition horse will probably be a Trakehner.  I fell
    in love with them early this spring.  If all works out I'll be
    importing a horse this fall. 
    

    Just out of curiosity, why would you want to import a horse when
    in the good ol' USA there are breeds that have better temperments
    and are just as good if not better than a Trakehner.  I know quite
    a few people who own them who all say that these horses can be
    difficult the work with ie. their mind set.  It is interesting to
    note that the friend of mine who rides with the women who first
    imported a Trekehner here in this part of the country has often
    said that the breeders in Europe don't let the very talanted horses
    out of the country, so what do you imagine we are getting over here?
    
    It is also interesting to note that my trainer (who does show
    nationally) mentioned that of all the horses he has worked with a
    Standardbred/Arabian cross that they have at their farm for training
    has the most incredible gaits he as ever ridden. Which can be a
    nice support for the argument that it is conformation, talent, and
    training that lend towards greatness not necessarily breed.
    
    Anyway, it was just a thought.  I don't necessarily not like the
    German Warmbloods, but I sometimes wonder if we in this country
    are not guilty of fads.  Sometimes great things come out of America
    too, and they are right under our noses.  Take the versitile Saddlebred
    for instance, or the Standarbred..........
    
    stephanie
    

    I have heard the argument that the Europeans "don't let the good ones
    go".  
    
    My only thought is:  
    
    Is that why The Natural (winner of last year's World Cup), Big Ben
    (Belgian bred and winner of this year's Gold Cup), Federleicht
    (European Dressage champion), Abdullah (Prussian-bred and World
    Champion), The Empress, Governor (AGA Horse of the Year), Noren (AGA
    Horse of the Year)... all were sold to people in North America?  (And
    consequently beating everyone else in the world with them.) 

    Yes I agree we in the US tend to go with fads.  
    
    And I happen to be a real fan of the American Thoroughbred (and TB
    crosses). 
    
    But most of the European breds have been selectively bred for dressage,
    eventing, and show jumping.  Where we in the US have not been selecting
    specifically for those events.  (Yes, there are a few breeders who are
    breeding for sport horses but not for a breed as a whole.) 

    Part of finding excellent prospects for different sports is knowing
    where to look.  Most of the better trainers have "their sources"
    for prospects.  And I'm sure some very good prospects are being
    missed because they haven't been discovered yet.  But for a trainer
    who is looking for prospects, it is more economically sound to be
    able to go to a given area and look at 200 prospects and sort out
    the best than it is to travel over all parts of the entire US to
    see a handful who MIGHT have the ability, movement, mind...

    re: .4
    
    I agree.  While we, in the states, have a few super horses, the
    Europeans have much more consistent breeding programs.  It's
    similar to how the TB's are bred for speed.  Some of the registries
    in this country are starting to keep track of dressage/jumping/eventing
    records, but we just don't have the years of breeding records to
    fall back on. Nor do owe have the population of suitable horses
    to select from.
    
    As far as the Europeans not letting the "good horses go"...
    I think this is nonsense. There are lots of good horses, you just
    have to know where to look.
    
    re: .3
    I've never heard that warmblood were difficult to work with. If
    anything, they tend to be fairly mellow cooperative individuals.
    The only problem I see with them is that they are not bred for
    speed, so it's hard to find a horse with the ability to succeed
    advanced level eventing. Not impossible, but difficult.  Most of
    these horses are TB's.
    
    I show on a National level, too.  And I've got an Arab, a Morgan,
    and an App.  They are good horses, and they used to be able to win.
    Now there are so many super moving horses at the shows and we have
    typically dropped a few places in the ribbons.  We still get the
    same dressage scores - there are just others that are better. To
    compete, I'm going to buy (and probably import) a Trak. I'm also 
    breeding the App to a wonderful Polish Trak.

    I know its kind of late to be entering this, but early on (i.e. 20-30+
    years ago) the Europeans were selling Americans the 2nd-rate warmbloods.
    That practice changed over time.
    
    Personally, I prefer thoroughbreds simply because I started out with
    them, have ridden more of them than any other breed, and don't need the
    size that tends to come with warmbloods.  What I would
    like to see is more Americans selectively breeding the best
    thoroughbreds for consistent sport quality.  The good ones are out
    there, but they can be hard to find.

    Is anybody besides me going to the ATA meeting in Columbus, Ohio
    Nov. 16-19?
    
    -maureen