First time breeding!

[Lone]

I have a young thoroughbred mare that I bought in January with the plan of riding/training/competing in eventing for a few years and then breeding her when I'm a bit more financially stable (just finishing up college right now). I know I'm probably getting way ahead of myself, but I'm super excited to breed her and I want to start looking into stallions more. She has a *lovely* temperament, she was pretty green when I got her at 4 1/2, in the 10 months I've had her we've galloped on the beach, adult riding camps, clinics, mini events, trail rides, etc and she's taken everything in stride. And, at least in my opinion she's also quite athletic and pretty.

A few pics of her
x (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v459/saddlesore55/2009_10_Crosscountry225.jpg) x (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v459/saddlesore55/5332_1135905396536_1194384914_30380.jpg) x (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v459/saddlesore55/IMG_1269-2.jpg) x (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v459/saddlesore55/alchemyclose2-1.jpg) x (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v459/saddlesore55/alkemycanterhead.jpg)

My goal is to go through at least training level with her, prelim would be fantastic. I'm hoping to breed a foal that I can eventually event as well. Right now I've been thinking that I want to breed her to an Irish Draught Stallion. Does anyone have any suggestions on stallions I should look at? What's the best way to start learning which stallions produce the nicest foals?

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Well one way to do it would be to look for successful stallions that you like that have offspring out of TB mares or offspring out of mares with a lot of TB blood (just to compare apples to apples) competing in eventing. Then start narrowing them down based on what compliments her conformation, performance strengths and weaknesses, temperment, etc.

She looks like fun. I think focusing on a good competition record before breeding her is an excellent idea, but it is fun to "shop" ;) .

One more idea is to post a confo pic of her from the side and ask the Irish breeders on here for specific feedback...they may not look at this thread with the title, not realizing you are looking for a specific type of stallion. Just an idea.

[Majestic Gaits]

We have a lot of people using our Dutch KWPN stallion Navarone (Jus de Pomme x Armstrong) for eventing. Denny Emerson loves him and has a colt by him I can't wait to see too. Navarone has competed to Grand Prix dressage and also jumped to 4'6" and probably will jump again I hope sometime in the future. Really a great all arond stallion that has gone well with Thoroughbred mares. Super for amateurs too.

Kathy

[AdAblurr02]

<SNIP>
I want to breed her to an Irish Draught Stallion. Does anyone have any suggestions on stallions I should look at? What's the best way to start learning which stallions produce the nicest foals?

"Nicest foals" is a pretty subjective opinion sort of thing :)

From my personal point of view, you have a mare with a nice set of proportions, not a bad jump (could be a little tighter, but not bad) a pretty head and neck, well balanced, and a tad long in the pasterns for my own personal preference.
She can use a stallion with substance and bone and a shorter/stronger pastern, and a little more uphill wouldn't hurt the mix. Her refinement will likely offset even the most traditional RID horse, even a big guy like our stallion (10-1/2 inch cannon circumference) still threw a pretty "sporthorse" type to our finer-legged TB mare. If a pretty head matters to you, look hard at that - there are a few fairly ungainly heads in the ID breed.

We got a very nice colt out of a mare similar in refinement and look to yours by Braveheart RID
http://www.irishhuntersandjumpers.com/WarriorsMarque02.html
There's video up if you want to see him move, links are on the page.
The first two fillies of our young stud Ollie are also on Youtube, you can look them up under my other videos listing.

Look over the horses listed in the Stallion galleries at www.Irishdraught.com and at www.IDHS.ca and I'm sure you will start to get a feel for what's out here.

Remember that in crossing a TB to an RID, you will be producing a first cross (F-1) hybrid in the foal, so matching phenotype will give you most predictable results. Choose complementary angles in structure, stay with proportions, and pray very hard you get what you visualize! Try to see foals out of similar mares by stallions you like on paper - the mare does make the foal, especially in the temperament dept.

Do feel free to PM if you want to get in depth, I can (and do!) go on and on :)

Kate

[horsetales]

I also like Braveheart and his owner is great to work with. He has the best temperment and is evented by his ammie owner. I have a purebred filly (2009) by him and she is a pleasure to work with. BH comes form a great performance bloodline with his sire going PSG in dressage and now showing Open jumpers

Another one to look at is Dandelion Diamond Rebel. I have an IDSH by him that you can see on our web site. I have high hopes for him and again a temperment you can't beat. Everyone I have met who has used him is thrilled with the result and many plan to repeat the breeding. He was evented before being sold to be a Masters horse in a MD hunt.

Cradilo may be another good one - hes on my list to use. He is doing Grand Prix jumpers.

[TKR]

I had the pleasure of visiting with Lisa Smith and Davignport yesterday. He is very impressive in his movement -- dynamic, big stride, amazing balance as he changed leads as we watched him playing in the indoor. He is a very good jumper as well as proven dressage stallion -- babies are showing versatility, doing dressage/hunters/eventing. He would certainly complement your mare, adding substance as well. He doesn't get mentioned alot, but he has tremendous "presence" and a great expression/eye -- worth a look.
PennyG

[Waterwitch]

I would recommend a proven stallion for a maiden mare - something that has produced horses of the type you want out of TB mares - that are competing in the sport you wish to breed for. You don't say whether you are looking to produce a four star horse or an ammy sales project, so some of these horses may not apply depending on your goal.

If you want something competitive for upper level eventing, Pallas Digion (http://www.acornhillfarm.com/stallions/index.php?stallion=pallas) and Brandenburg's Windstar (http://www.teamwindchase.com/Breeding.htm) are the proven choices. Both have get competing through CCI**** level. Some of BW's are reported to be professional rides, but there are also a lot of ammys doing well with them in dressage and lower level eventing. Both these horses are in the US so are available fresh. If you are willing to do frozen, Jumbo (Headley Britannia's sire) is an option, semen available (but may be sold out) from EMCO (http://www.emcostallionservices.com). Cruising has also produced some eventers.

As far as purebred stallions go, Snowford O'Donnell and Huntingfield Proud Tim both have half breds out there competing in eventing. I don't know if any of Braveheart's get are competing yet but he competes in lower level eventing himself (as did SO'D and HPT). Dandelion Diamond Rebel has his first youngsters out hunting and I believe some are beginning their careers in eventing as well. Macha Breeze, Snowford Bellman, and Rhyd's Sea Quest also have some eventers out there.

Another horse you may want to look at - and I mention him because your mare reminds me of a more refined version of him - is Kilkelly's All's Well. He is half-bred, absolutely gorgeous and has had some youngsters winning on the line in Future Event Horse competition and at Upperville. He is extremely well bred - his dam is by a horse called Red Attack who is a half brother (same dam) to Hand in Glove who was mentioned in the breeding thread on the Eventing forum recently - and he is by an RID sire (Happy Ending) who is the only NASTA performance tested RID to earn the "elite" designation and he show jumped himself. Happy Ending also had a full brother that competed in Advanced dressage in Europe. All's Well doesn't have any progeny eventing yet though - so that is a big drawback in your case.

Overall, you want to be careful when looking at RIDs that you make careful note of the progeny out of the type of mare you are breeding - in your case, TBs. What you want to avoid is ending up with an overtopped horse - heavy body over no bone. Also, half breds from some RID stallions will be heavier than you will want for upper level eventing but will perform just fine at the lower levels - so you need to pay attention to that if you have a particular goal in mind. Finally, movement (and jumping ability) varies quite a bit within the breed, so if this is important to you there are horses that reliably throw good movement along with jump.

Good luck in your search!

[Trying]

Do not know where you are but I bred my TG maiden to Salut the Truth (BoyDoneGood) Owned by Pittman and what a nice colt he is; height (16,2+ at 3 yrs), and lots of bone with smarts and trainability . His dam is no slouch ; by Aaran'sGold out of a Resound mare. Aaron's Gold is awesome; black and over 17h with movement to die for and he raced and evented. AFine Romance is very good. If you are not going to rae, the appendix registry is fine. My TB mare is blind in one eye with cataracts in the other so i do not like to ship her and I personaly prefer to keep my TBs with TBs but love the Dutch but fear that there is too much bone and having a foal caught on the mare's hip is a real fear and been there.

[Hi Jump]

If you have your heart set on Irish bloodlines Clover Cliste by Clover Hill produces lovely athletic horses with the movement, jump and temperments as well as sound conformation that I would personally be looking for. I have handled him and his offspring, competed against him in showjumping and against his offspring on line so I know and respect his breeding and compare him to my own stallions of European approved status.

http://www.tophorsesales.com/Stallions/clovercliste.htm

Lisa, Synergy Sporthorses
Standing stallion Cotopaxi and Raffaello
http://www.synergysporthorses.com

[Orkney96]

If you are looking for a good eventing prospect - the Irish Satllions are always aa great cross for the TB mares - it will add a lot of temperment and trainablity without losing the athletic talent. For myself in eventing, I actually have two Dutch mares (approved but by lineage half TB) and the cross to an Irish stallion has proved so nice that I purchased a stallion that is a son of Clover Hill RID - he foal crop is young but doing very well and he has a son that has been doing the FEH quite successfully and he has a number of older offspring in England and Ireland that are eventing. It just makes a great cross. If you want to see more of the stock that we have been working on you can go to my website at www.theprideofgloster.com

I was a an absolute TB and Dutch lover until, I found what you could do by crossing in the Irish bloodline!

[Lone]

Wow, thanks everyone! I'll look into those stallions

I should have mentioned, but I'm not trying to breed a 4 star horse, I'm just looking for a nice ammy type. I would like for the foal to have some sale potential, but I'm planning to keep it for myself.

I know one of the stallions that was mentioned, Snowford O'Donnell quite well- I'm actually housesitting for his trainer this week, he's one of the horses I'm taking care of out at the barn!