VA Pony Breeders anyone still breeding to APHA stallions

[middy]

Ok I have brought a "friend's" APHA stallion home to my house from TN and am curious as to if there is even a market for this type of stallion in VA. Ace is a very well bred cow horse but has found that he likes eventing and jumping. Very conformationally correct and he has the absolutely beautiful flat kneed hunter trot and competed last year BN at the Virginia Horse Trials. He is only 14.3h but doesn't look that small until you are standing right up on him. I am 5'7" and I don't really look too big on him when I ride him. I will be showing him hunter this summer (probabaly the VHSA associate stuff) I am planning to breed my TB mare to him this upcoming spring. Is there a market out there for him as a pony stallion?

[LockeMeadows]

I stood an APHA large pony several years ago and he usually had a full book every year. His get were wonderful movers, could jump, and had the best brains. At one point, he was top 25 Leading Sires with the USEF. We still have one of his babies. Here are a few pictures:

[middy]

That is great to hear!! Not that it matters any. His daddy wants him to stay a stallion and with his breeding he would make a good cowhorse sire. We will see what my 2011 baby looks like before we make any big decisions. He is super cute though and an absloute blast to ride.

[sfstable]

I have a welsh X QH cross gelding who can jump. My daughter shows him in the jumpers and last show they were in they placed 2nd of 25 (All the others were horses). It is kinda funny to watch the faces of the other riders when this 13.2 hh pony comes out to the jumper ring -- faces change after he flies around the ring and beats all of the "big guys" -- no more snickerings. :)

I personally like the welsh X QH cross. I bred a leased quarter horse pony mare to my welsh stallion and the 2009 colt turned out very nice. The mare provided bulk and the stallion refined the bulk.

[pintopiaffe]

I loff, loff APHA crosses. I think QH blood brings a lot of good to the table provided it's the right type. I began breeding to reining/cutting bred about 10 years ago for the uphill 'sit n'spin' that crosses well with baroque types for dressage.

I think many folks have started to frown on QH blood with the whole GRP/BRP (anythingnotAmericanP) and would love to see some good crosses out there making a comeback.

I do think it's key to breed type-to-type. My little (maybe 14h the day before the farrier comes!) medicine hat mare will go Iberian, and *possibly*, just maybe, Welsh.

Sorry, this post is probably useless in that I'm neither in the right geographical area nor the right discipline, but I just had to put the plug in for a good APHA, and that APHA makes a GREAT cross in certain circumstances. ;)

I currently have one mare, and two of my youngsters have 1/4 APHA breeding. Both are fancy, elegant small horses with great minds and movement.

[Dressage_Diva333]

I'm not sure of the market for standing that type of stallion...

However, I will chime in and say that I have a Section A X AQHA colt, born this year. He is absolutly going to make a super hunter pony. The mare was trained to do 4ft courses, and was extremly handy... often suprising due to her body type. The sire is exceptional, great in every aspect, also a SUPER jumper. This colt has a beautiful head, much nicer neck than the dam, better "hunter" movement (mare has very little movement, stallion has a lot of movement, they combined to produce a hunter-moving pony quite well). I'm honestly shocked at how well the cross worked. I'm confident that he will sell fairly easy when I start really advertising him (I have a 2yo filly that I have to get sold, then I'll start working on him). He also has a very nice temperament. I've seen many Quarter Ponies that are really awesome, but there definately needs to be consideration taken into both sides of the equation (as in any pedigree). Some Welshes have rather short, choppy movement, and I don't think that's a good thing to breed to QH's, as they already have that movement. I wouldn't have bred the QH mare that I bred, if I hadn't ridden her for many years and been very surprised that she could do everything well (Dressage, eventing, jumping was a favorite of hers, endurance, etc...), she was extremly versitile. I knew that I wanted a pony that was just as versitile, with a bit more refinement, more movement, and a better neck. I sure got it.

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo189/fohlen/May%209%202009/May9-001.jpg
http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo189/fohlen/Foals/Leroy-4months05.jpg

[VirginiaBred]

You won't find a big market from pony breeders in Virginia, unfortunately but I think that crafty marketing would increase your chances.

[middy]

Dressage Diva - My big surprise on this guy is that he already had the flat kneed floaty movement and natural collection. He just floats. My jaw dropped when he trotted across my field the first time! And those high whites just make it stand out more! He is very conformationally correct and very powerful for a little guy. He was training 3'6" before he came to my place but he has had a couple months off and needs some more muscle before I actually try to jump him over anything that big. We'll see how it goes. We aren't really looking to market him as a stallion until the 2011 breeding season. I want to get him out some more and get atleast one baby on the ground before we make a decision on him as to how to market him..

[BelladonnaLily]

I personally like the welsh X QH cross. I bred a leased quarter horse pony mare to my welsh stallion and the 2009 colt turned out very nice. The mare provided bulk and the stallion refined the bulk.

:yes: I have a Belshazzar gelding out of my wonderful QH mare and he is the bomb. I love our Welsh/TB crosses but the Welsh/QH cross can go show (and win) one day, then take 2 crazy teenagers double bareback doing crazy (read: stupid) things and not kill them. We can use him as a "bumper pony" for breaking babies and he is just the perfect blend.

So, I say breed him to a few ponies and see what you get. I agree with VaBred and doubt you'd get a big following from the big pony breeders, but I think putting some babies on the ground and showing and you could get some mares. Good luck! :)

[GAEventer]

I know Glenhaven Farm stands a APHA stallion in VA. They actually bought him because they had so much interest in their smalls that had a lot of chrome (Vimpenny Sweet Sultan has sired several pinto marked purebred Welsh). They usually breed him to a couple of Welsh (A's, B's & D's) mares every year, as well as TB's and the occasional Warmblood. For me I don't mind the color, and I've certainly always appreciated the mind of a paint.

www.glenhavenwelsh.com

[VirginiaBred]

I know Glenhaven Farm stands a APHA stallion in VA. They actually bought him because they had so much interest in their smalls that had a lot of chrome (Vimpenny Sweet Sultan has sired several pinto marked purebred Welsh). They usually breed him to a couple of Welsh (A's, B's & D's) mares every year, as well as TB's and the occasional Warmblood. For me I don't mind the color, and I've certainly always appreciated the mind of a paint.

www.glenhavenwelsh.com (http://www.glenhavenwelsh.com)


I've seen him in person several times and he is LOVELY. :yes:

[JB]

He's 14.3 - do you know the size of his parents and grandparents?

[VirginiaBred]

He's 14.3 - do you know the size of his parents and grandparents?


I'll have you an answer directly! :cool:

[VirginiaBred]

According to Suzanne Moody, owner: "The sire was 15.2hh and the mare about 15hh"

[middy]

Nothing in my boys pedigree is over 15.1 and that is a great grandfather. The cool thing about my guy is that he isn't really blocky like most APHA's. Here is the link to his webshots. I haven't been able to get good confo pictures yet due to having a camera person who is great with pictures but doesn't know enough about horses to know what shots to take.
http://pets.webshots.com/album/574251866OLJlSO?vhost=pets