POV Annalou: I see more lazy riders coming who can’t train the
horses. I think the horse for the future will be like Valegro— great character, great movement, a little ugly, but always happy and looking to work. I’d really like to breed horses like that! Probably there will be more bone in horses of the future, as we need them to stay sound longer. Abigail: By 2023 I should have a deeper understanding of my lines and many of my horses will have been ridden by my partner and me. I would like to see their talent gaining ground in the sport arena. I would like to continue to produce strong mothering skills, an approved stallion already developed or coming out of the line and Grand Prix athletes with strong workable gaits that become remarkable with the right partnership. Reflection of my herd in motion should bring to mind images of Johann E. Ridinger paintings, Chinese clay sculptures and eastern/oriental desert war mounts.
Which bloodlines would you like to see more of in the general Warmblood breeding population, either in Europe or the U.S.? Less of? Scot: We can’t lose the influx of Thoroughbred blood.
In North America, we tend to have a negative opinion of a horse with 50 percent Thoroughbred blood, but we need these horses in the breeding pool. I’d love to have access to a quality Thoroughbred or half-Thoroughbred stallion that was approved KWPN. Rachel: The trend toward hunter
buyers being more concerned with color and markings than quality has led us to many problems. I believe that hunters must have scope and elasticity—it’s a mistake to think that amateurs should ride horses limited to 3’6”… they need a horse that can bail them out at 3’6”, not just struggle to get over that height. I like some of the old fashioned dressage lines for the hunter ring too—I like the Weltmeyers and Contendros. Annalou: In Holland we need to mix it up again like we did
in the beginning: some harness horses, some Thoroughbred, some horses from France, etc. We need new blood. We are running all out of options with the Ferro, Jazz, Indoctro. I’m looking to the Zangersheide, to France for speed, to Germany for substance and bone.
What is the ‘missing link’ in the U.S. sport horse breeding/ marketing industry? Scot: The missing link in the U.S. is getting our top young horses in the hands of top riders and trainers. As long as it’s
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easier and more profitable for our top riders and trainers to buy in Europe, that’s where they’re going to buy their prospects. The only way we’re going to really be able to promote/expose the kind of breeding already happening here is to establish a system of young horse trainers who are capable, affordable, available, willing and somehow connected to our top riders and trainers. Rachel: We are missing that
Abigail Ronco and her new foal Heronis by Alexandro P at 3 days old.
bridge from breeders to who takes the young horses along, trains, shows and markets them. I think it would be very interesting for the registries in this country to get involved in helping to link breeders with the market, the way they do in Europe.
What role does longevity of career, soundness and fertility play in your choice of stallions and mares? How do you see this changing the breeding of Warmblood horses, both in Europe and the U.S.? In your own program? Judy: I have kept a solid, substantial type in my mares.
You cannot replace the substance once it is gone from a mare line. Not “old fashioned” but feminine, with strong bones, solid joints and good temperaments. Then, a breeder can weather changes in the stallion types that are licensed. In my heyday of breeding, when I kept about 12 mares, I constantly culled. It is the only way to be ultimately successful. Ann: It’s really important—we’ve seen rapid changes
Ann Daum Kustar with daughter Sophia, and Ann’s Welsh B pony stallion Smoke Tree Snapdragon.
in other livestock breeds by attention to mothering ability, fertility, birthing ease, production records, etc. These things are often ignored in the sport horse industry, and here in the U.S., with our lack of a method to evaluate breeding values, even more so. I’m proud to have two stallions that had big careers, are in their twenties, and are still sound, vigorous, healthy and fertile. Scot: Longevity in the sport
requires more physical soundness
and solidity than many studbooks are breeding and approving in the last few years. Certain stallion lines are bringing in too little bone, weak stifles, poor loin connections, and not enough power or quickness in the hind end. This is equally the fault of breeders—flashy front legs sell and do well at lower levels. It’s difficult to blame people who need to have their young horses sell in order to stay in the business for producing these horses. Yet, the fewer of them that reach the upper levels, the more breeders, buyers, and hopefully studbooks become aware of what qualities are necessary in a young dressage horse to reach FEI and stay sound for the long haul.
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