Storm Cat offspring

[RenaissanceMare]

Hello..

First post and hopefully will be informative! I keep my horse at a low key co-op stable and a new boarder just came with an OTTB. We have another woman who has OTTBs there and they are lovely. New board's horse is tall, black and gangly, has been off the track for over a year but I guess hasn't really done much, she mainly focuses on lunging and parillie (sp?) games which he seems totally uninterested in, and when she lunges him he looks like a bike going around a tight turn!

Anyway.. I think she knows he's not coming along the way she wants but she does always say when someone offers help or makes a suggestion is "he's a storm cat baby" like that justifies his lack of ability to do anything. He's a gelding so he can't be bred to pass down the lines, I don't really see the big deal. Will his Storm Cat father (or grandfather i'm not sure) lineage kick in and make him an amazing hunter horse?

[beowulf]

Hmm. I dont know much about her horse, but I've found Storm Cat offspring to be little pieces of work. They can be talented, but for some reason all of the Storm Cat horses I've worked with have been rude/uninterested/obnoxious, and the owners are too disgusted with themselves for buying horses they knew they would have trouble with to do much about it.

If she isnt a very... educated (for a lack of words) 'trainer', he might be too much to handle for her, which may be why she uses that for an excuse. I wouldnt use it for an excuse. If she isnt accepting help, it's her own fault.

Yeah, I'm no help. *Shrug*

[Foxtrot's]

'He's tall and gangly and been off the track a year'- could be he's only three and needs more time and fitting up. Running around on the end of a string doesn't help him balance if it's done wrong.

[RenaissanceMare]

he's 7

[RenaissanceMare]

'He's tall and gangly and been off the track a year'- could be he's only three and needs more time and fitting up. Running around on the end of a string doesn't help him balance if it's done wrong.

he's 7

[SteeleRdr]

Hmm. I dont know much about her horse, but I've found Storm Cat offspring to be little pieces of work. They can be talented, but for some reason all of the Storm Cat horses I've worked with have been rude/uninterested/obnoxious, and the owners are too disgusted with themselves for buying horses they knew they would have trouble with to do much about it.


I disagree with this assertion about Storm Cat decendants. I have had several that I've worked with and all have been great and turned into very nice hunters. Three of which foxhunted for atleast a season, if not more. SC is known to throw shorter, less sound, difficult horses, but if he's off by more generations I've found they are awesome, but again slow to mature. Mine have all been grandsons/daughters and have been sweet, tall, very sound, and all really came into their own at 5-6. I think her using "he's a Storm Cat" is a bit of a cop out, especially for a 7 year old, if she's trying to just say he's slow to develop.

[Laurierace]

Not relevant to this post really, but I bet he isn't even a Storm Cat. Most likely a Storm Cat grandson, so the influence could be coming from any number of places including a trainer who doesn't know how to handle him.

[Saskatoonian]

Well, my 4 year old SC grandson (today's his real birthday!) is also tall and willowy (nothing gangly about him), and left the track a bit over a year ago. That's where the resemblance ends - he's so unreasonably good about everything (W/T/C, groundpoles, hacking alone and in company, starting to jump) that I have to remind myself how young he is.

Hope things turn out well with the new boarder.

[hookedoneventing]

I have a Storm Cat grandson as well...He definitely fits the tall dark and handsome...he is 5. Not at all gangly, as a matter of fact most people mistake him for a warmblood...he is extremely athletic, built uphill, overall a very nice looking horse, I have been very pleased. I will say he is ultra-sensitive and is maturing very slowly, but to be honest if that is what it takes for him to develop I wont rush him....I have just sent him to an ULR eventer for one month of training and the quote I had was that he was "one of the nicest young horses they had worked with in a long time, the whole package", so whether or not this is part of the Storm Cat line or just him in general I am not complaining, but I have heard many people say the line is very athletic, very attractive and yes can be very sensitive...

[SleepyFox]

Not relevant to this post really, but I bet he isn't even a Storm Cat. Most likely a Storm Cat grandson, so the influence could be coming from any number of places including a trainer who doesn't know how to handle him.

Well said, Laurie! :yes:

The typical (note I said "typical" not "all") Storm Cat is shorter and kind of stocky. Storm Cats do have a reputation for being sensitive and difficult to work with. How true is this? I dunno. Of the Storm Cats I know, none are horrible to deal with.

[LaurieB]

I echo what Laurierace said too. Storm Cat is famous even among people who don't race TBs. The fact that his stud fee was $500,000 for years and that much of the book STUD was written about him gave him a lot of name recognition. Could be this woman simply latched onto the name to make her horse seem more important.

A couple of years ago at the barn where I kept my riding horse, a woman showed up with a 3 year old TB that she said was by Fusaichi Pegasus. She had plans to make him a Grand Prix jumper and her excuse for his incredible lack of manners was that "FuPegs are hard to handle". She also mentioned casually that he'd run in the Breeders Cup Juvenile the previous year. OK, it was an eventing barn and I guess she wasn't expecting anyone there to be familiar with racehorses. :D

It didn't take me two seconds to get online and look that stuff up. Guess what? No FuPeg, no BC Juvie. And as far as I know he never became a Grand Prix jumper either. :lol:

[BansheeBreeze]

the only Storm Cat son I ever worked with was an absolute ox of a horse. He hurt several people just by having no sense of self preservation whatsoever. He would fall down, flip over, run you over, run over a stack of straw bales, etc etc. He was a tank! He'd be very quiet in the stall and then on random occasions would attack his groom. He was also the fattest, bulkiest, laziest racehorse I've ever seen, we had to take the throatlatches off all his bridles because none of them fit.

[Hocus Focus]

I have no comment regarding your horse, but whenever I hear the name Storm Cat, it raises some curiosity. I own a tb mare who raced, nothing too outstanding made some money retired sound. She had four foals two were by the Storm Cat son, Rocket Cat. Her other two thoroughbred babies were by another quite known stallion who stood at Bridlewood in Ocala. I don't have his info here so will not say his name as I don't wish to misrepresent. At any rate. Not much claim to this thread, but I like to keep my ears open and hear if any of her offspring did anything. Three made it to the races and one, her Rocket Cat son, a gelding, won a race last year in Boston area.

So getting to the point, I would love to know a bit about her offspring and where they ended up. Mare's name is Matt's Princess. This mare has the best temperament and I would be very surprised if she produced an unruly foal.

I have used this mare to produce Olenburg foals. Her second is coming this year. She is not world class but a good all around mare type.

[poneegirl]

I have had the pleasure of working with 6 horses who have Stormcat as the grandsire. They have all been well behaved and lovely to handle. I found that much of the personality comes from the mare side. They have been nice to break and I would certainly buy them for a riding horse if they are to fail at the track since they all have good common sense and move well.

[fleur de duc]

I just bought myself a storm cat grandson (daddy is tomorrow's cat). He fits the tall, dark, and handsome profile to a T :D a solid 16.3, jet black and general a beauty to look at. He looks just like his daddy ;], right down to the little star...

but anyways (sorry for that brag, im just very happy w/ him) I have noticed some of the typical SC tendencies in him. He is very sensitive, and I mean VERY! He hates to be rough handled, and gets very flustered if he is. He can be very stubborn at times, and he knows how big he is and how he is much stronger than I am, but still remains respectful 98% of the time (we are working on the rest). But Tommy is VERY athletic and a general pleasure to be around. He never raced, he just doesnt have the get up and go in him (obviously that gene got lost somewhere in the making:lol:). He is pleasant to my other horses and is always a happy camper in general.

I have worked with/ridden a few other SC baby/grandsons & daughters and have defiantly felt the wrath of SC through some, but the majority were a pleasure to be around.

[elmerandharriet]

I had a son of sc he was very sensative just like everyone else said he hated when he was handled rough and hated men but i dont blame that on the sc i blame that on some man that mishandled him on the track (my guess) he was tall, hill, stout, and fearless under saddle. The only thing about my sc son was he was a loner and hated being out with other he refused to go out with others he would charge the fence... Overall i would buy another sc in a heart beat! when i was looking for my last ottb i looked at alot of sc babies or grand babies but i ended up with a favorite trick mare out of a thirty six red mare she is super nice and easy in every aspect where as my sc was a little more difficult in some aspects but i still would get another!

[Acertainsmile]

I have dealt with more than my share of SC offspring...yes, they can be quite the handful when they are youngsters, but so can other babies with different lineage...

I do have one (a grandson) that is now being retrained to do the hunter/jumpers... sensitive/emotional would be an understatement...but WOW, is he athletic!

Patience, and more patience is the key, along with a nice, slow education process.

[Jessi P]

Reg I sent you a PM about Matt's Princess. :cool:

[Roney]

I have a Storm Cat grandson, and while we've had our share of difficult/stubborn times, I've never once thought to blame it on his lineage - that's a poor excuse. Difficultness can come from a thousand different things - in our case, it was also a result of some physical issues that we discovered.

That being said, I can't even IMAGINE doing Parelli with him! :lol::lol: That would go over like a load of bricks....

[Acertainsmile]

I am not a Parelli follower, however, my friend who had my horse for the winter (he has an indoor, I do not) did do Parelli with this horse...I have to admit, that I was more than impressed...it really seemed to boost his confidence, which was really lacking. He even stands quiet while the rider is "roping" those giant Parelli balls off his back!

[Iride]

I took care of a Storm Cat stud who was on layup with us. He was a pull-backer and headshy - but I suspect he was not handled all that sensitively at the track. Why? He was amazingly responsive to sensitive handling - albeit firm. By the time he left me, you could touch his ears, belly, legs, with no problem. As long as you moved softly and gently on the ground he'd follow suit. Athletically speaking he is incredible. He's sound now and winning - and gelded, which has made all the difference in his handling in general, too. With the right person he'll make a great sporthorse when he's finished running.

[Secretariat2]

I have a SC grandson stallion and I am using him to produce TB sporthorses, so this "Storm Cat's are all difficult" stuff really bugs me. My horse is by Forest Wildcat and I haven't heard any stories about him being difficult and my guy also has a ton of lovely horses on his dam's side (which you will typically find with SC ancestry as many of the best mares were sent to SC over the years). I've done the 7 games with my guy and he did great - he loves to learn and learns easily. He has a kind temperament and lives out 24/7 with a gelding buddy.

[sm]

He was amazingly responsive to sensitive handling - albeit firm... With the right person he'll make a great sporthorse...

That says it well!! My horse's sire is SC, built like SC, and decided dressage was the thing for him, not hunter which I thought he'd clean up in. He did amazing and I mean amazing against dressage WBs with Olympic sire pedigrees. He's got a heart of gold but you don't want to sit there and just fight with him, because he's programmed to win.

Someone put it quite well on this forum once, something like "If you can't see a thoroughbred has talent, you're probably too dumb to ride one anyway." Made me think of the OP...

[Hocus Focus]

Reg I sent you a PM about Matt's Princess. :cool:

Thank you kindly Jessie P. Much appreciated. I will print that off and enter it into my mare's records.

For those of you who are more involved in the racing world, I have one other question. Should one pursue offspring records, trainers, and current information, along that trail is it possible to acquire win photos of the offspring or even the mare for that matter during their career track wins? Are those records kept at tracks? How would one go about trying to locate?

For example, my mare's Rocket Cat offspring known as Zicocat won a race in early August last year at Suffolk Downs and I see through searching he is back out there this year running.. There should be a win photo either standing or action or both. How does one go about acquiring such? If I am not so lucky on digging up the past win photos, maybe I can be attentive and if and when one occurs this season, make my purpose known to the track photographer or whoever I need to approach in this regard.


Again sorry if I am off topic here. Good luck everyone.

This is a photo of my mare... Matt's Princess.

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk209/ReggieReturns/MattsPrincesstailB.jpg

Zicocat's trainer appears to be Barbaran Horacio.

[Jessi P]

LOVELY mare Reg.

You can contact Suffolk Downs at (617) 567-3900 and ask for the track photographer. They begin racing at Suffolk May 3 so the photog will be there at that time. You will need to know the race number he was in but that is found in the past performances.

Matt's Princess won 4 races, so you could probably get copies of her win pics as well, if you have her past performances and know which track(s) she won at. The usual cost for win pics is about $15-20/each. :cool:

[Secretariat2]

"If you can't see a thoroughbred has talent, you're probably too dumb to ride one anyway."

I love that :)

[Sassenach]

Friend has a SC grandson (Gone West x Storm Cat Mare) - can't say enough good about him. Lovely temperament, very sweet, and a real looker :yes: Was sad to see him go to our friend's farm and leave ours - he was a nice one to have around.

[Hocus Focus]

LOVELY mare Reg.

You can contact Suffolk Downs at (617) 567-3900 and ask for the track photographer. They begin racing at Suffolk May 3 so the photog will be there at that time. You will need to know the race number he was in but that is found in the past performances.

Matt's Princess won 4 races, so you could probably get copies of her win pics as well, if you have her past performances and know which track(s) she won at. The usual cost for win pics is about $15-20/each. :cool:

I have a confession to a little white lie. "I added some thickness and length to her tail" :eek:, not an entirely unnatural thing but it does improve overall balance and appearance, and I didn't even have to buy one at a tack shop to do so!!!! I wanted to see what she would look like with a better tail and I think it suits her. Otherwise it is her and no further lies. I have quite a fondness for the mare. She just has a kindness in her nature that is hard to not appreciate.

She was in foal at the time. She tends to look her best barefoot and pregnant. I will also say that the day I purchased her she was literally a sight for sore eyes. I guess that happens when they come off of larger farms and they are just not getting the personal attention. I prefer my horses kept in good condition, and find it annoying when they are not so.

Thank you very much Jessi P. You are most helpful.

[Mao]

I saw a Storm Cat son today at Ocala 2 year old sale. The only Storm Cat to be sold, by the way.

He put on quite a display of fireworks in the walkiing ring. His handler nearly lost him a couple times. And considering the buzz surrounding this colt - clearly this was a good handler. What was really cool - the consigner/trainer - aka the head honcho - quickly took over for the handler - because the colt was really wigging out. As soon as he took over - it was like night and day. The colt settled right down. Great horsemanship to watch!

The colt sold for $400,000. Sale's not over - but that price is sales topper so far - by nearly double. :)

[Barnfairy]

The track photographer at Suffolk Downs is Chip Bott, and you can contact him year round for win pics and such-- here's his website (with contact info): Chip Bott Photos (http://www.chipbottphotos.phanfare.com/)

Ideally, for ease of win-picture ordering you'll need: the horse's JC name, the date of the race, and the number of the race.

I called Chip this past January to try to find out if my maiden filly could be seen in her second-by-a-head, closest-she-ever-got-to-winning finish photo. Since it wouldn't be the usual win photo format, Chip was kind enough to put the photo up on his webpage lickety split so that I could preview the shot before purchasing. 'Really nice guy.

[mmnagf]

i have my storm cat baby and he is phenomenal- great jumper-impeccable form, but deff. too smart for his own good. ive foudn that with the sc babies, you have to let it be their idea to comply to the training techniques. once he thought he was teaching me how to come into my fences he found it much more pleasing. mine is super hot so we are learning how to funnel that energy into a positive output over the fences-- hes aimed for a SJ career right now (gangly 5 year old).

[Windblass]

I have a Storm Cat grandson. I knew nothing about TB's when I bought him. He has a very sweet side to him, just loves attention. His dark side is not as nice. He was a bad kicker when being groomed/handled. That he has seemed to grow out of, now he is a bad biter. The entire time he is being groomed he is trying to bit with his ears back teeth barred, still working through that. He is also one of the worst cribbers in the barn. He was off the track 6 months when I got him and gave him 4 more to grow and gain weight. He has the worst temper undersaddle, he would kick out and bite my feet when I asked him to move forward. Vet checked and everything was good except his attitude. We still have moments, but is getting better. He likes things done his way and only his way. Loves to be groomed, but only in the spots he feels like. If you correct him, as in telling him to stand and making him back up a step when he moves forward, results in a lot of anger. He has been treated for ulcers, and has sensitivities to grain, making hima hard keeper.
He is tall, 16.2+ at 4 and a half and dark bay. He has the movement for hunter, so we will have to see what he wants to do as his traiining progresses.
If he did not have the nice sucky side to him, I don't know if I would still have him.

[rcloisonne]

The track photographer at Suffolk Downs is Chip Bott, and you can contact him year round for win pics and such-- here's his website (with contact info): Chip Bott Photos (http://www.chipbottphotos.phanfare.com/)
Barnfairy, this website has expired and I couldn't find another for Chip Bott. Is he still the Suffolk track photographer? I'm interested in purchasing a few win photos.

Thanks,
RC

[SteeleRdr]

I have a Storm Cat grandson. I knew nothing about TB's when I bought him. He has a very sweet side to him, just loves attention. His dark side is not as nice. He was a bad kicker when being groomed/handled. That he has seemed to grow out of, now he is a bad biter. The entire time he is being groomed he is trying to bit with his ears back teeth barred, still working through that. He is also one of the worst cribbers in the barn. He was off the track 6 months when I got him and gave him 4 more to grow and gain weight. He has the worst temper undersaddle, he would kick out and bite my feet when I asked him to move forward. Vet checked and everything was good except his attitude. We still have moments, but is getting better. He likes things done his way and only his way. Loves to be groomed, but only in the spots he feels like. If you correct him, as in telling him to stand and making him back up a step when he moves forward, results in a lot of anger. He has been treated for ulcers, and has sensitivities to grain, making hima hard keeper.
He is tall, 16.2+ at 4 and a half and dark bay. He has the movement for hunter, so we will have to see what he wants to do as his traiining progresses.
If he did not have the nice sucky side to him, I don't know if I would still have him.


The SC's I've known are slow to mature (not really getting into a groove until they were about 6). I say let him grow up a little, I know mine took a long while to fill out.

[chestnutmarebeware]

My lovely Bo's Typhoon (Storm Broker x Beaumaris Castle) filly looks like a clone of her grandsire—medium height, dark seal brown with a big blaze and white legs, muscle-bound, but with an incredibly refined head. She is also the most calm, sweet OTTB I've ever had. She learned to cross-tie in one lesson, let me mount from the block unaided, didn't question my "hunter legs" against her side, and whoaed just by using my weight. She's never shown a bit of temper, and will kill herself to figure out what you're asking.

If I cold ever find a full brother or sister, I'd snap him or her up in minute! (So if you know of one, PM me!)

[Barnfairy]

Barnfairy, this website has expired and I couldn't find another for Chip Bott. Is he still the Suffolk track photographer? I'm interested in purchasing a few win photos.

Thanks,
RC

Yes, Chip is still the track photographer for Suffolk. His website is working fine for me (?) ... but if for some reason it's not for you, Suffolk win photos (and almost-win photos!) can be ordered through email: chipbott@hotmail.com :)

[Jumpin_Horses]

"If you can't see a thoroughbred has talent, you're probably too dumb to ride one anyway."

I love that :)


:lol::lol::lol:

[rcloisonne]

Yes, Chip is still the track photographer for Suffolk. His website is working fine for me (?) ... but if for some reason it's not for you, Suffolk win photos (and almost-win photos!) can be ordered through email: chipbott@hotmail.com :)
Thanks, Barnfairy. For some reason the site is working today. Yesterday, I got the message that the domain was for sale several times. Weird.