Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Blog Hop: Let's Make A Baby

L from Viva Carlos came up with a GREAT blog hop this week and I can't wait to read everyone's answers.  She asked:

"If you could/were so inclined to breed your horse (1.. let's not get into the issues of backyard breeding and 2.. let's pretend your horse is a mare if it's not) WHO would you breed your horse to and Why!"


Okay first off.... thinking of Chrome as a mare had me and my husband laughing our butts off!  I don't know why it was so funny, but it's really hard to think of him as a mare.  Then I started thinking about what stallion I would pick and it's HARD!  I would never breed Chrome because of his weak stifles and sweet itch not to mention he's not even purebred.  What the heck would you breed a Friesian/Arabian cross to anyway??  Picking out stallions for a purebred is hard enough on it's own, but trying to guess what a cross would look like crossed with something else..... yeah right!


Then I remembered reading about the Arabo Friesians.  Here is more info on them (LINK),   The gist of it is they are only 5-20% Arabian and the point is to improve athleticism (I think).  So I guess I would breed him... err her back to another Friesian.  Then it gets even more difficult because of how inbred Friesians are.  They said they usually breed Arabo Friesians from the Age or Ritske lines because 90% of Friesians come from the Mark line (Chrome does) and also because they are more known for their athleticism supposedly.  I'm just parroting this from the website.  So then I had to research which stallions come from the Age or Ritske line.

Teunis 332

My first thought is that I would breed him... her to my favorite Friesian stallion Teunis 332, but after looking he has Hearke 254 three generations back and Chrome has him five generations back.  And he's from the Mark line so that didn't work anyway.  For more info on Teunis go HERE.  The pictures at the top are not him, but there is one at the bottom (which I posted above).  He was gorgeous, but he died young so it's hard to find info on him.  I did however discover that he received Preferent status several years ago which I had no idea about.  Kind of exciting!  ETA:  Another stallion I always liked was Laes 278 but he's from the Mark line as well.  Both of them are dead too, so I'd actually have to breed to one of their approved offspring if I were going to... and Laes doesn't have any approved offspring.

Anyway enough about him.. sorry for rambling, but I really liked him.   I forgot to give you the link to Chrome's Friesian grandsire Brandus 345 so here it is (LINK).  Now you can see his pedigree.  You will also notice that waaaay back in his pedigree he has Ritske in there, so if I was aiming for lowest inbreeding percentage I would probably need a stallion from the Age line.  This is so complicated and one reason I don't breed lol.


So after digging around I found the stallion Sape 381 (FB page, website & pedigree--those are three different links FYI) that they claim is descended from the rare Age line..... but looking at his pedigree he also has the Mark line.... so then I got frustrated and screamed (okay not literally) and gave up thinking THIS is why I don't breed horses because I have no idea what I'm doing or how to find a friggin horse mine isn't related to in such an inbred, complicated breed.  Besides my goal of breeding him... her back to a Friesian would be to add a little height and bone... well with this "modern" fad going on in the Friesian world it's almost impossible to find the old Baroque style anyway......  and the sad thing is I could only base my decision on inbreeding percentage and how baroque the Friesian is because I have no idea what else to base it on.  Approved Friesian stallions all look alike to me these days... and I don't know enough about conformation to pick one that would specifically compliment my horse's conformation.  I don't have what it takes to be a breeder.

Then..... I realized I couldn't breed my Chrome-mare to any of these anyway because they are APPROVED Friesian stallions!!!!  He... she would have to be bred to an unapproved stallion..... by this point I was too frustrated to care... so either my Chrome-mare is not getting bred or she's not getting bred to a Friesian.  I can't breed her to an Arabian either because I have no idea what his... her dam's breeding is.  That would also defeat the purpose of the things I would want to improve in him.... her (height, bone, stifles, etc.).  Although breeding to a Friesian probably wouldn't improve the stifles anyway.


So what other breed would cross well with a Friesian/Arabian??  I have no idea!  I thought about Andalusian, but that wouldn't really increase height/bone I don't think... maybe it would.  So since I FAIL at this whole pretend breeding thing (over think much do I?) maybe you guys could make suggestions on what breed you would cross my Chrome-mare to?  My only requirements would be a little more height (around 16hh), a little more bone (I like heavier horses... don't ask why I got an Arab cross.. just don't ask), improved stifles (no clue how to even go about that), preferably not gray because even though it's gorgeous on him I don't want another one lol (he only has one gray gene so it would be 50/50 if bred to a non-gray so no Lipizzaners!)... and I think that's it.  I would love to keep his personality and intelligence because those are my favorite things about him.  Also I'd want to keep his endurance and athleticism, so when I say heavier I'm not necessarily talking about Belgian heavy lol.  Just a little thicker boned like a Cleveland Bay or something.

Gorgeous Cleveland Bay!  
Look at those thick legs!
This is a random image from Google. 
Forgot to save the source.. sorry!

So what do you think?


L. this was fun, but very difficult!!!  It's definitely a great reminder why most people (like me) should not breed horses (especially cross breed crosses ahh!!) LOL!!!!!  It's not an easy thing to do.


16 comments:

  1. Also please don't get me wrong! I love crossbred horses (and dogs-just look at Chrome and Jackal!), but breeding a crossbred to another breed is just too complicated for me and it gets so unpredictable. You would never know what you're going to end up with!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow yeah you heavily thought about this! I really don't know as any horse I bred my pretend mare to would be of the jumping variety! lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah that's how my brain works. I over think everything! It can't ever be simple... I need to work on that lol.

    Yeah I don't think a jumper type would cross well at all with my Chome-mare. Oh well I bet someone will have an idea. If not it doesn't matter since it was all in good fun anyway. Chrome is perfect to me and that's all that matters! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. There is a lot to think about when breeding! Many Thoroughbreds also have the same names popping up in their pedigree. I don't know if a draft would work with him, like a Percheron? I know Clydesdales Arabians crosses are popular, so maybe a Clydesdale Arabian-Friesian? I really don't know just naming what comes into mind. This is a fun game!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's how I was Paola! I was thinking of all these different random breeds that came to mind and then kept thinking... "but what in the world would it look like??" Hehe. I like how Chrome is built for the most part, but if I were breeding him I wouldn't want to create a worse rear end and I'm afraid draft breeds would make a foal with too steep of a croup or too straight through the stifles. I just don't know enough about breeding to improve conformation to really say what breed would compliment his already weird (cross) breed hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've always been a Cleveland Bay fan. Super cool horses.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Me too!! There's just something about them that I love, but I don't know what it is lol. Too bad they are even harder to get in the US than a Friesian is. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow. That's very complicated. Good thing she is really a he and you don't have to worry about it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sometimes when I read about Chrome - his personality, I wish I had another gelding. If Chrome were a mare, he'd lose that wonderful character that makes him so lovable, I'm pretty sure. So thinking him of a girl kind of made me laugh too: )

    Unlike you, I'm pretty set against breeding crosses. I just don't get it because it's like producing something of less value than the parents. But now I own a cross, as you said, "don't ask why, just don't ask why": )

    Hm, since mine is Arab/Warmblood (WHO DOES THAT?) I would definitely go pure Arab, and one with a face and tailset to improve my mare. However, no stallion I've seen could improve her legs, and that's much more important than tail and head.

    Funny, I can't help but daydream about it, just cuz she's a mare. If I ever get her brain fixed, I'd be tempted to do that crazy thing.

    Oh, it had better not be a grey baby, so I'd try to avoid that.

    Or worse yet...her dad is a paint, can you believe it? *shudder* The fact that she could have a spotted foal...oh man, stop this nightmare!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lytha, I used to feel the same way about crosses, but after thinking about it (and having one) I changed my mind. Anglo Arabs started out as just another cross. Also I like the way it works with Friesians. The best are approved and can only be used for purebreds, but the others can be used for crossing. The Friesian gene pool is SO tiny that I'm almost afraid to own a purebred, but by having a cross I can enjoy their amazing personalities without so much of the physical problems that can plague the purebreds. Maybe that's dumb... I don't know. I thought Friesian/Arabian crosses were really dumb when I first heard of them because the two breeds are sooooo different, but after seeing a bunch of nice ones I really like them (and of course after getting Chrome). Sometimes you have a real train wreck but for the most part they seem nice. Also I get the added bonus of stamina and heat tolerance from the Arabian that I would normally be lacking in a purebred. :) Crosses are also cheaper than purebreds for poor folks like me LOL! Also there is a difference between backyard breeding crosses and actually planning one out, so there is that too. It applies to purebreds as well though.

    You made me laugh about Mara's sire being a paint LOL!!! That would suck if she had a spotted foal. Besides the personality that you mention with having a gelding the other big reason I don't have mares is because it is SO tempting to breed them when you get really attached to them and as I showed with the post I don't know enough to breed responsibly lol. So I'll just avoid the temptation. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ha ha ha! The frustrations of hypothetical gelding-breeding!! Very nice choices - I'm a big fan of Friesians!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Maybe for a real Heinz 57 crossbred, you could go for a Georgian Grande stallion? So the foal would be 1/2 Friesian, 1/4 Arab, and 1/4 Saddlebred. Like a Friesian/NSH I guess. You'd probably get at least some height and bone.

    Wow, I googled, and there *are* some horses that are this cross! Friesian/NSH, I mean.

    Bay mare
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/kris0227/6338659204/

    Black Overo stallion
    http://www.norsk-pintos.com/Leonardo.htm

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey there's an idea! I didn't even think about a Georgian Grande. Good one. We will make a total mish mash mutt out of my Chrome mare haha! :D

    ReplyDelete
  14. An Irish draft or sport horse/hunter if less bone required for a Nancy lookalike ☺
    Her papa was an unregistered Friesian and her dam an Irish Sport Horse mare with plenty bone through draft lines

    ReplyDelete
  15. Why didn't I think of the Irish draft?? I love them! That would definitely make a great cross (Nancy is proof). :D

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate all comments, advice and questions! Your comments are what makes blogging so worth it. I love to hear from my followers, so thanks for taking the time to share your comments. :)