[Daatje]

If you ever do it, I want to see the foal!

I bred two Friesian Sporthorse foals by Sempatico. One was sold in-utero, the other was sold as a weanling. One of them recently went to a USEA FEH (Future Event Horse) competition as a 2YO and had the highest score of all horses presented. You can see both of them on this page if you're interested FSA foals by Sempatico

Hidden Promise Sporthorses (the farm that had Nico) also has two pinto stallions (a Nico son and grandson) who look interesting. "Adonai" and "King of Kings". (Hidden Promise Sporthorses, stallions) They also have top notch pedigrees, so there would be no problems registering their offspring.

-Gigha

For certain! I think they would produce a lovely foal and I'd be hard pressed not to share. Your young Sempatico crosses are stunning!

Nico was one of my favorites. I was so sad when he died. The two junior stallions are handsome! I would probably go for Sempatico rather than cross with more Friesian blood as it's not so much the spots I'd be going for, but a bit more jumping ability. That aside, the spotted high-percentage Friesian boys are beautiful!

[Donatella]

ASB your inbox is full
but thank you!

[silvia]

Your statement isn't making any sense. There's no draft blood in TB's either. And there's really no draft blood in any modern WB's. If one is trying to bring better riding qualities to a breed that has been traditionally bred for driving (Friesians), then it simply makes sense to cross with proven riding horses of the desired discipline.

I can't speak about Warmblood breeding as I know very little about them.

I can only say that in my experience, 200-odd years of breeding Saddlebreds to be a quality, proven riding horse has produced very desirable traits, and those traits have been concentrated and formed part of the breed's type. Those traits include great intelligence, mental and physical agility and excellent constitution and soundness.

Unlike the Thoroughbred that has had speed as its core focus, the Saddlebred has had riding and driving qualities as its core focus. To me it makes more sense to go for the breed that is bred to be a riding horse over 200 years.

I realise that very few in the Warmblood industry know much about Saddlebreds and that's probably a large reason why they aren't picked up; the truth is that there are plenty of suitable families in the breed that suits performance breeding - it's just that there is far more money in the more traditional saddle seat disciplines, and the very best examples usually go for ten or fifty times what they would get in the sporthorse industry.

Harry Callahan was one of the very few Saddlebreds that had the opportunity to go through the levels and he made it all the way to GP, yet he was bred for saddle seat - his sire was one of THE most popular sires for traditional disciplines. Indifferently bred for dressage but the qualities that the breed has helped ensure he made it and handled it all the way to Grand Prix. The breeding that ensures a horse can handle the pressure of the show ring and the heavy schedule, is the same that keeps them working mindfully in the arena.

The same argument can be made for Thoroughbreds, and there have been some stellar examples out in GP as well, and I would not want to minimise in any way how well this breed can perform.

However my observation to you is, consider the number of both breeds that actually start in the discipline and the percentage that when given the opportunity, make it to the end.

Consider how the modern performance horse is becoming lighter, more agile, and bends more in the joints.

Just thoughts and observations I don't want to say any one breed is great for everything, but as someone who has been involved with the breed for over 15 years now, can definitely say there is an awful lot of goodies under their bonnet that are worth a look

[SmartAlex]

Harry Callahan was one of the very few Saddlebreds that had the opportunity to go through the levels and he made it all the way to GP, yet he was bred for saddle seat - his sire was one of THE most popular sires for traditional disciplines.

AND, his dam also produced very successful show horses including one who earned his Championship distinction in Five Gaited which is further proof that Harry was bred to the modern saddle seat paradigm. He would likely have been just as successful had that road been chosen for him.