Buying for color

[MagicRoseFarm]

EVERYONE luvs "Black Beyooty"

80% of my best horses have been chestnuts..

[FriesianX]

I'm with Liz (Pintofoal), I love color, but quality comes first! Mind, Movement, Conformation, THEN color. Color is fun, what's not to love about a nice pinto, roan, buckskin, palomino But - the majority of what I breed is solid, I love bays too... Having said all that, I DO have a stallion, and he IS colored - pinto (www.MysticOakRanch.com), and when he comes into the show ring, everyone sits up and notices. And I'll admit, I LIKE that

I cringe when people breed solely for color - nothing like seeing a horse with horrible conformation, advertised as breeding quality because he/she is COLORED. But when I see color that is quality (like Liz's boy, Sempatico, YUMMMMMMMY), it just makes me melt.

[Donella]

Hehe as unbiased about color as I try to be I did see a lovely buckskin dutch warmblood colt on Sporting Chance Farms website a while back. NICE colt with super breeding and buckskin to boot!

[bludejavu]

As a breeder of pinto Saddlebreds, color is important so I voted on the first choice. That being said, color is NOTHING if quality is lacking. Conformation and typiness have to be in the equation or I pass color up. There are a few colors I would rather not have - albino doesn't appeal to me and gray isn't real popular with me although we do have one gray broodmare. As far as pinto coloring, I prefer chestnut/white, black/white and maybe buckskin/white but it has to be a really decent one.

[Maddie]

I voted no. I predominately breed trakehners and colour doesn't really weigh into the equation. I have however seen some mighty tempting coloured stallions. I love Sempatico's conformation and lovely topline. I just wish I could get his video! 2 requests and a phone call, but no video.

[ponygirl]

I've always wanted a golden palomino and a black, like Walter Farley's black stallion. I have 3 grays and a plain bay. The grays have in fact given me my palomino (when rolling in reddish dirt) and my black (when rolling in mud). They've also given me a poopaloosa which is unique to grays. My saving grace is my bay. She's brown regardless of what she rolls in.

[Reiter]

I think that depends on how long you want to wait. You wait long enough and the perfect horse (color included) will come around.

Or you passed up the perfect, once-in-a-lifetime horse because it had the wrong color!

[pintofoal]

I voted no. I predominately breed trakehners and colour doesn't really weigh into the equation. I have however seen some mighty tempting coloured stallions. I love Sempatico's conformation and lovely topline. I just wish I could get his video! 2 requests and a phone call, but no video.

Hi Maddie

I apologize that you haven't gotten a video, we send out so many and try to keep up with the requests, but some do get missed for one reason or another.

Sending videos/dvds to Canada is sometimes like sending something to the moon -- not sure what is up with our post office, but unless we send it off priority international it can take forever or totally disappear! Can you please re-email me at pintofoal@ aol.com (remove space-no spam) and I will be happy to mail one off to you via priority international

[Blonde Filly]

Hi Maddie

I apologize that you haven't gotten a video, we send out so many and try to keep up with the requests, but some do get missed for one reason or another.

Sending videos/dvds to Canada is sometimes like sending something to the moon -- not sure what is up with our post office, but unless we send it off priority international it can take forever or totally disappear! Can you please re-email me at pintofoal@ aol.com (remove space-no spam) and I will be happy to mail one off to you via priority international

I did a very long post and it was eaten up by cyber space!!!

I recently sent registration papers to Canada on a horse I sold to a client in Canada...the horse is there, but the papers still are not. The client called me and I told her I had sent them long ago...she seemed to no believe me and Thank-God I sent them priority international mail, return receipt, and registered mail...with a tracking number. It did show it had been sent on Feb 20th, 2008 from Leesburg VA, arrived abroad on Feb 28th, 2008 in Canada, arrived into customs on Feb 28th, 2008 and there it has sat for 11 days now..so 19 days since I sent it. I hope they do release them soon to the new owners from customs..I can't imagine what would be so fasinating to customs to keep a horse's registration papers that is already in their country!!??

I voted yes, but you have to have quality with the color or you have nothing!

[Peace of Cake]

It took me over a year to sell the plain chestnut gelding, and only 1 week to sell the one with the stockings Same temperments, height, age, vey similar horses except for the stockings on one of them. And yes they were up for sale at the same time. Color does sell. I want a horse with good conformation, temperment and a good mover, and if it has a flashier color thats even better! I really think the color breeders are trying to improve their stock, as they were very limited in the beginning to what they could work with.

[Maddie]

Thanks Pinto foal, mail sent! Luckily to date I haven't had any major problems with the mail. When I recieved my Feuertanzer video it had been opened, watched, not rewound and then taped back up again, but I did recieve it. Customs must be an interesting place to work! lol...

[mew]

I take color into account but it is not a major factor. I would have loved to have a pinto warmblood, pintofoal I have drooled over your stallions for *years* but have never had the mare to breed or been able to find one in the price range I could have. This horse I really wanted a chestnut with a big blaze and four white feet, and it to be a WB and a mare. I ended up with a chestnut, TB gelding, a stupid funky blaze, and no white feet, but he was a horse of a life time, so no way was I going to pass him up, with or with out white feet.

[crosscreeksh]

We breed painted TB's, painted sport horses, paints and now have a black ISH stallion prospect. I take offense when people degrade those who breed for color...as if prospective buyers at the upper level, go out and buy the first horse of a certain color or markings regardless of how the horse moves, his conformation and disposition. We breed for upper level horse sports and attract intelligent horsemen who come for the color, but buy for the quality. I would like to believe that the "color breeders" on this forum do the same. Before we started breeding sport horses - we bred top notch running TB's. Those horses could have been purple with orange spots if they could run. In the sport horse market people have enough choices to own the horse of their dreams in the color they prefer. I've owned GREAT horses of every color available, but I LIKE to ride a pretty painted horse and I love a black, so that's what we breed to get!

[Dazednconfused]

There are a few colors I would rather not have - albino doesn't appeal to me.

Well that's good, because there are no albinos in horses

[bludejavu]

You are correct but this is what I was referring to:

http://cowboyfrank.net/fortvalley/br...icanAlbino.htm

[Dazednconfused]

Then you don't like "dominant whites" or cremellos or maximum sabinos. Not albinos.

[Donella]

Yeah makes me start thinking about all the plain chestnuts and greys at the top of the sport horse world. Wonder how many of them got passed over because of color?
Even in Germany they like the dark horses..I often hear things like "sheer black gene" or " in a desired dark package" in a stallion video. No doubt they like the dark ones best in general and the dark ones get used more..look at Rhodiamont vs Royal Diamond in terms of breeding.

[crestline]

I went shopping on a hunt for an amazingly nice stallion to replace the incredibly lovely chestnut one that I'd lost...Never went looking for color but look what I bought. When that once in a lifetime horse crosses your path you're an idiot if you don't grab it and bring it home in whatever color package it's wrapped in!!!!

[RiddleMeThis]

Or you passed up the perfect, once-in-a-lifetime horse because it had the wrong color!

Possibly, but if it was the wrong color would it really be perfect?

[Donella]

Depends what your purpose for owning it is. If I had a horse that was that gifted and made all my riding ambitions come true it would be perfect even if it were purple. And I do have color preferances..but come on!