[warmbloodzrock]

My mare is full trakehner. I know trakehners (stupidly and unfortunately) still have a bad rep. However, some people like the idea of a purebred. So...do I stick with keeping the baby full trake? or breed her to another warmblood and register it oldenburg?? I know quality is quality and breed is as breed does, but do you all think one or the other is more marketable???

[Schiffon]

As a Trakehner lover and breeder of both Traks and Oldenburgs, I cringe at breeding a full Trakehner mare to a non-Trakehner stallion just because the breed is so small and mares have relatively little time during their lifetime to add to the gene pool. I'd much rather see Trakehner stallions used as blood horses/refiners for Oldenburgs rather than the mares.

I think if your mare is good enough to produce a good foal and you breed to a fashionable, high-quality stallion, you can have a marketable foal regardless of the registry. However, if you are using a less proven stallion that won't attract attention on his own, the Oldenburg label is likely to get you more inquiries than Trakehner. Whether these inquiries turn into a sale, though, hopefully depends upon more than the label.

[trakmom]

I have been looking for a Trakehner mare for about a year. Fortunately my search is over, but when I was looking, so many ads said Trak and when you opened the ad, there was a secondary breed also. As soon as I saw that, I didn't read any further and went on to the next ad. That's just my two cents worth.

[cheekyhorse]

I fully agree with Schiffon. If it is a quality popular stallion you will have better luck with the marketability of the foal than with a young unknown. But that would be the same with any breed IMO.

[Dressurfan]

assuming they would go well with your mare, Herzensdieb and Kaiserdom are very popular stallions whose offspring are marketable even to non-trakehner fans.

[Donella]

Or Gribaldi! Droool.

[KimPeterson]

I love trakehners I use to have a Danauschimmer gelding that was the love of my life, great jump and temperment loved him and so light to ride very easy to move forward.

[Signature]

I personally LOVE Trakehners but valid or not, at least in hunter-land people hear Trakehner and think "hot".

We have a gorgeous Anglo Trak mare whom I have adored for 19 years now and her foals are registered RPSI or GOV. They don't seem to be a problem to sell. I would imagine if they were full Trak it might be a different story (which is why we don't breed full Traks), which really is a bit silly.... but unfortunately it's as true to people as those who believe in the chestnut mare theory. It's just a wives tale but it has a real effect on buyers sometimes.

[acottongim]

Just wanted to add to all of the above VERY valid replies (and I completly agree with Schiffon), that I have noticed a very small, very beginning stages of this mind set changing. More and more trakehners are being used as "improvment" sires and dams... more and more breeders are looking at Trakehners to add to their herds... more and more I find that when I go to the shows (granted they are dressage) and I tell someone that the horse that is standing on the end of my lead rope is a Trakehner the first response is NOT "oh hot" or anything along those lines...

I attribute this to all the great Trakeheners that are out there showing at hte upper levels and are increasing the reputation that they are NOT hot, but are in fact very good all around mounts.

I think the reason it is slower in hunter/jumpre land is because BREEDS in general aren't important so no one KNOWS that the horse that just went in and did a clear round quietly was a Trakehner. And for jumpers - there aren't a lot of "known" TKs competting over fences exp at the GP level so again they aren't "known" as "jumpers"... hopefully this too will change as people in those disciplines begin to recognize the breeders, and breeding of the horses in the rings....

[EquusMagnificus]

Ok, I am completely biased but breed her for a full Trakehner!!

There are plently of highly marketable Trakehener stallions and I would be ready to bet that those Trakehner naysayers ride some part-Trakehners without even knowning it

That is one the things I loved about my Oldenburg, the Abstaz part! Go Traks Go!

[SidesaddleRider]

I have a full Trak mare, and I love the breed, but I think the only Trak stallion I would breed her to is Zarr. This year I'm breeding her to Don Alfredo. Unfortunately, in the hunter world, the majority still want to see a different brand on their butts, and it can make a difference (usually negative) when the antlers are there as opposed to another registry.

[stolensilver]

Last year I went looking for a top class 2yo dressage prospect. Perhaps I'm in the minority, I don't know, but I didn't mind at all what breed the horse was, simply that they were a quality horse with a good temperament and good gaits.

I ended up with a Trakehner filly!

A Trak stallion who is making quite a name for himself is Le Rouge. Although his oldest crop are only 3 it was remarked upon at Neumunster how well behaved and amenable the young Le Rouge colts were. One of his sons, Iskander, was champion. Another very nice Trak stallion is King Arthur who is competing GP. A third is Axis who is doing extremely well in dressage, winning big competitions at PSG and Inter1. He has a good temperament and will be coming out at GP soon. A commercial choice would be Connery, the sire of Bundeschampion Imperio.

[Ladybug Hill]

I think Zarr has been a wildly popular hunter breeding sire, but I do not think that I would look to him to improve temperament. He is definitely on the hotter side himself. I know that many out there would not agree with me however.

[Sacha]

I was deliberating myself about having one of my Trakehner mares graded Hanoverian and breeding her to a Han stallion. But I decided not too, and she will go to a Trakehner stallion this year and I am hoping it might be a filly for me to retain

[Dirty Little Secret]

as a hunter rider, you probably have a better time selling her as a trak cross rather than an oldenburg (which most are associating with mutt) or as a full trak (b/c people are still in to thinking they're hot). Not saying that either assumption is correct.
My feeling is that so long as you have a nice horse, most people don't care what breed label or brand it has. Nice is nice.

[NoDQhere]

21 years ago when we were shopping for a young stallion to buy, I must have watched a dozen tapes of plain, if not downright ugly WB "stallion" prospects. I knew we didn't want to breed ugly and was getting really discouraged. Then I watched a tape of a 2 year old black colt galloping around and playing with a dog. The dog even swung on the horses tail AND the horse never kicked at the dog. The horse was beautiful and certainly seemed to have a good disposition. He was a Trakehner. To this day he is the nicest, SAFEST, gentlest horse I have ever met. Never hot, he always had just the right amount of "fire" to get the job done and was sucessful through GP dressage. His offspring are the same.

When we bought our young stallion he happened to be branded Hanoverian. A couple of people commented that "Hanoverians" are so much quieter than Trakehners and how wonderful it was that we bought one instead of another Trakehner . Nevermind that our guy is sired by a Trakehner, out of a mare sired by a Trakehner and that her dam has additional Trakehner blood as well.

The marketing issues are common in the US. Slowly things are changing but many people still think Trakehners are crazy and a different brand on the butt makes selling easier.

[flshgordon]

I wouldn't brand Traks as "crazy" as someone else said, but I would be more hesitant to buy a full Trak than most other WB types, or a Trak cross. Reason being, I like some "spark" in my horses TB, Arab, Trak, whatever, but I have not met many full Trakehners that I really cared for. I would not hesitate to look at a Trak cross though in general. Just a personal preference.

[ilikridn]

I personally LOVE Trakehners but valid or not, at least in hunter-land people hear Trakehner and think "hot".

We have a gorgeous Anglo Trak mare whom I have adored for 19 years now and her foals are registered RPSI or GOV. They don't seem to be a problem to sell. I would imagine if they were full Trak it might be a different story (which is why we don't breed full Traks), which really is a bit silly.... but unfortunately it's as true to people as those who believe in the chestnut mare theory. It's just a wives tale but it has a real effect on buyers sometimes.

Not to hijack, but I have to ask... what is the Chestnut mare theory?

[acottongim]

Not to hijack, but I have to ask... what is the Chestnut mare theory?

You know that saying "chestnut mare beware" LOL

There is a theory that all chestnut mares are hot hot HOT. Ranks right up there with all blondes are dumb, everyone from the south is a redneck... etc.

[ilikridn]

You know that saying "chestnut mare beware" LOL

There is a theory that all chestnut mares are hot hot HOT. Ranks right up there with all blondes are dumb, everyone from the south is a redneck... etc.

first I've heard of it, and I'm not even a blonde!