I had heard that Rubenstein, one of the three great warmblood stallions of the 20th century, had a lackluster performance at licensing. This great article (below) lists other stallions who could be classified as late bloomers. The author uses the term Salon de Refusés which I had not heard before (definition here). This is a fantastic article, hope you enjoy it...
clipped from http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2010/11/salon-de-refuses-the-stallions-that-almost-werent/Salon de Refusés – the stallions that almost weren’t
November 4th, 2010 at 12:46 am
Sires that almost didn’t make it…
By Christopher Hector
I guess it is one of the paradoxes of Warmblood breeding that while most observers are convinced that the process of stallion licensing and performance testing is integral to the success of the major studbooks, many of the most famous and successful sires, had difficulties at either the licensing or performance testing stages.
Stallions like Cor de la Bryère, Galoubet, Voltaire, Rubinstein, Grannus, Libero, Doruto, Quidam de Revel, Irco Marco and Landadel were all initially ‘failed’ at either the initial licensing stage, or at the later performance test, before going on to greatness.
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You know, it kind of goes to prove that you can't always judge a horse by a set criteria, especially a young horse. Like children, some of them have to grow into themselves either physically or temperamentally.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I have certainly seen a great number of horses with questionable conformation that have been brilliant athletes.
Very interesting. I very much enjoyed that. It makes you wonder about the future of stallion testing. I know it used to be considered such a big deal, but perhaps the newer generation will test the waters and present the horse's public performance, when the horse is more mature and show what it is really made up of. Makes more sense, doesn't it?
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