I have fun looking at fancy horses and talking over my layman's analysis with a friend of mine who is a breeder. We have differing opinions on these two very lovely mares from the Oldenburg shows earlier this year. One mare was champion, one was reserve. Can you guess which won? Drool, drool, drool.
Monday, September 1, 2014
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I imagine the reserve champion mare wouldn't have had nearly as nice a walk as Calamity Jane, who I felt was a MUCH nicer horse. The Bordeaux mare really seemed to just fling her legs about without using her body correctly, while CJ used herself very, very nicely. She wasn't as flashy, but used her haunches and shoulders more correctly, which to me says both more likely to perform well and more likely to pass it along well. She also had a much nicer canter in my opinion (though uneven - the right lead was superior to the left, probably because of her age and greenness) and I suspect we would have seen an excessively superior walk had we seen the first horse walk.
ReplyDeleteWhat were your opinions?
Top mare has the better walk--more overstep. She curls a bit in what I am thinking is supposed to be the stretchy circle, but I overall liked her better. Biscaya.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick based on breeding alone, Calamity Jane is the clear winner, and I felt she had the stronger conformation (particularly the neck) and overall harmony -- although it is hard to judge a moving horse. I have to admit that I'm swayed by the exhuberance of Biscaya. Both horses are ridden for a showy trot, and at their age I think something has to give. Biscaya may have carried more tension than Jane. CJ placed higher than B and I can certainly understand the judge's call -- but I'm more drawn to Biscaya's expression in these two videos. I have heard people say that the Rubenstein line horses are late developers and that you don't see their gaits until they are five or more. If CJ grows up the way her bloodlines would suggest, she will be a WOW mare...
ReplyDeleteWe need to remember that both horses are just babies. I liked Biscaya better, and not just because of her flingy trot (which I think with time and training will become a true extended trot), but because she also seemed like the happier of the two.
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