Bloodline Traits

I’m asking this questions because I am genuinely curious about people’s opinions. Hopefully no one gets their panties too bunched up :)

Sometime in the future I would like to dabble and do a little bit of breeding. I know my first step is to find a mare that’s worth breeding to, and not some crap, show ring flunk out. Because that is my ULTIMATE pet peeve.
After reading the recent article in TMC about Serenity Masterpiece it got me thinking about how certain lines are known to carry certain traits. Flaire horses not being able to grow manes and tails etc… and I know this doesn’t apply to every individual who is bred a certain way. But I’m curious to see what people who have been in the business have observed about some of the more popular lines out there…
like Topic bred horses, In Command horses, or any others…
Who are your favorites to work? Why? Who are your least favorites to work, why? What physical and mental traits do those popular sires pass on? What is your “golden cross”?

About Carley

I’m the assistant instructor and trainer at Twin Elm Training, under Bobbie Jo Graham. We are located in Northville, MI and offer lessons, boarding, training and showing. We speciailize in mostly morgans, although our barn also includes arabs, saddlebreds and national show horses. We attend class “A” morgan shows, along with the MHSA shows and a random open show here and there. We also attend tournament shows throughout the winter months. Our lesson program offers hunt, western and saddleseat lessons from novice up to advanced riders on seasoned school and show horses. Feel free to check out our website TwinElmTraining.com.
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78 Responses to Bloodline Traits

  1. cap1963 says:

    (Thought I’d say something so this gets onto the “Recent comments” section so that people will know you’ve posted.)

    Good question. I’d also like to hear comments.

  2. empressive says:

    I think we all got caught up in the Conflicts of Interest post it was very interesting. I think though that someone else posted something quite like this a little while ago. Still I will try to oblige…

    I personally like the FlairexBeamington crosses. I note Bell Flaire and Nostradomus as outstanding individuals and some offspring of the mare HVK Noble Rose off the top of my head. Along with the get of MLF Sharper Image, Stacy can back me up on that one.

    Not to be a downer but, I do not like how Issue’s and Answer’s get many times have ewe necks. The Flaire crossed with Superman and Wasseka looks beautiful but, I do not think it produces consistently concerning the neck conformation. I think it is because the Wasseka and Superman are become heavy when mixed.

    I though especially like RBC Leah a daughter of Issue’s and Answer’s without the Waseeka or Superman influence on the dam side. She in my recommendation is beautiful!

    I will take a stab at western lines real quick now! HeHe (I truly have not studied them too well) O.K. Now I personally really like the western necks. Thick, archy, and beautiful! I just do not like those slump rumps. I mean if you can stand the horse out and it goes away fine. Otherwise Oh scrap. Cross it to Flaire or Serenity lines.

    Oh! You just gave me a great idea! Before that though I will break down the Troutbrook Playboy lines real quick.

    TP lines seem to harbour a long thick and sometimes ewe neck. Great bodies you really can’t get any better than a TP body and head. Just the sweetest head and nice eyes. Thin legs though and they seem want to be treated as princesses and princes.

    (I think Treble’s Tanqueray produces like that conformationally too) Crossed to Flaire the neck remains or the neck has no arch at all and Wasseka makes it worse I think. I would like to see a Serenity cross I think that might fix the neck up. No trophy either.

    I have a mare with TP and think possibly Pot of Gold would be a nice cross. Anyway my 2 cents and PLEASE no burn notices! They scary…

  3. jns767 says:

    I have to say that I loved my Troutbrook Playboy Gelding. I know I’ve blabbered about him mannn nnn nnny times – I just can’t help myself. He had a lovely neck, gorgeous face and moved out beautifully. SIGH – I’m still a sucker for a good ole’ “Shaker” TP horse.

  4. jns767 says:

    BTW, I’ve known many other “Shaker” horses that I’ve loved: Shaker’s Dracula, Shaker’s Shaka and Shaker’s Sharrif to name a few.

    I always forget to sign my name at the bottom -it’s not because I’m trying to remain anon ;) .

    Jenny

  5. jns767 says:

    maybe it’s Shariff – whatever.

  6. empressive says:

    AH! I have the mare Dragonfire Joy Ride she is on the allbreedpedigree.com site. She looks almost exactly like Playboy himself but, feminine. My dream is to breed her to Pot of Gold. Joy, as I call her, is a dark bay almost black in a barn.

    I actually took pics this week but, haven’t figured out how to put them up here. I trailride alot and everywhere I go peopla comment on how beautiful she is. She is an absolute peacock!

  7. jns767 says:

    Oh, I bet she’s gorgeous! That’s how Shaker was – we’d get compliments all the time and he’d just strut like he was all that – even at the ripe age of 17! I can’t wait to see pics of her.

  8. nightmusicfarms says:

    Actually, Playboy had one of the most beautiful necks in the breed and the Shaker program some of the loveliest horses ever bred. Empressive, are you sure you are thinking of Playboy in your comments? I am not aware that the line is producing much one way or another as a direct descendant of Playboy. The one primary negative associated with Playboy was his temperment and that did indeed come through at times. It was highly unusual for a Nocturne bred horse to be that tough, so would be interesting to know more about his dam line temperments.

    I used to own Treble’s Tanqueray, who is just a gorgeous animal and also owned a similarly bred WP Champion, ER Treble My Command. My concern with these horses would not be necks, but rather judicious breeding to ensure that the backs were short and level. The Commando/Willy cross can often produce longer, softer backs than are desirable and that is particularly noticeable in the Commando/Margarita cross.

    The problem with Issue and Answers and his get is, in my opinion, the lower set of typcially very long, elegant necks. You don’t have to look any further than Chasley Superman to understand where the neck comes from and it is an extremely dominant trait in that family.

    Susan

    Susan

  9. empressive says:

    Now that I think about the Commando/Willy cross I see what you mean.

    Yes, I believe I was wrong. Thank you for correcting me, about Troutbrook Playboy. I was probably thinking of some other horse the way my brain goes.

    But, thank-you for commenting. I didn’t know Playboy had temperment issues. Nor the back bit with the Command/Willy breeding either.

    Maybe I’ll will start messing up like above to learn more. HEHE! That’s negative attention, right? Luckily this is over the internet!

  10. nightmusicfarms says:

    Your brain and your questions are excellent. Wish Playboy’s lines had been dominant, he was gorgeous!

    His dam was Mistress Merridawn, as I recall…

  11. StacyGRS says:

    Kiss N Tell is by Issues…I’d take a few more like her!:) She was not for the faint of heart, however…hot,hot,hot and SMART! Sometimes TOO smart!
    I’m going to swap it around a bit…mares. Both J’st Coastin Countess (the dam of 3 horses that we have been fortunate enough to win a total of 10 Oklahoma coolers with and now the second generation has come along and the first 2 we’ve taken to Oklahoma that are out of or by one of these Countess babies have both won coolers!)and Fletcher Music Lee (responsible for 2 babies that have won GRS 8 OKC coolers and victory passes and now they have each produced an Oklahoma winner as well!) have been amazing mares for us!! They’ve just always gotten the job done and have crossed various ways well. Countess seemed to pass on consistant heart…they GO!! And they are happy…every day. Music also passed on work ethic and pretty. If something out of Music wasn’t an overacheiver then they didn’t get that trait from her! Both mares that we’ve done so well with are just that…overacheivers.
    As for studs, French, obviously, produces beautiful! They can be busy minded..at least the ones we’ve had have all been, but they’ve been workers.
    Grandiose very consistantly produces big and talented. That seems to have passed on to the next generation as well…we have 3 babies by The Real Deal and all are big and talented…and all are fillies. 2 are black.
    We only have ever worked 1 Masquerade baby, but we LOVE him. What a FUN horse. Not huge, but loves life, talented, and just a happy,snorty worker. We’re sort of looking forward to the day we breed him…even if he passes on nothing but his attitude I’ll be happy…you can’t create that! If this is a Masquerade trait then I’d take a few more of these.
    We are working our first Ultra’s Special Agent colt this year and he is fancy and fixy, but mostly, he is super trainable! He is a go with the flow guy that is willing to do whatever you say and try his best at it. We really like him and I understand the trainability is supposed to be pretty consistant from him.
    Stacy

  12. nightmusicfarms says:

    Stacy,

    Fun to hear from a trainer’s perspective. I think the Agent and French foals may have some fairly strong similarities. A lot of really nice attributes with some risk of “tweeners”, but usually pretty, such a nice bonus.

    The Commandos are also lovely to work and will, almost without exception, do some job nicely and with style.

    In Command gave the breed a good many faults, but he sure as heck passed on nice dispositions and horses who wanted to partner with their handlers.

    It will be interesting to see how the Masterpiece and Centerpiece foals come to be regarded, now that more are getting out and in the hands of top trainers.

    Really nice to see the NF blood diluted as the generations go on and people breed out more judiciously. The horse was hugely talented and taking advantage of that talent and scope while minimizing the pitfalls was really useful.

  13. IED says:

    Empressive – you mentioned my boy’s mama, RBC Leah. I like to think he’s a good looking guy, and he does take after her.

    I’m a big fan of Astronomicallee. I really like a lot of his foals.

    J’st Coastn Countess is one broodmare I’ve always watched and appreciated. I also like AFF Beulah (it’s her or Tailored to Taste, I can’t remember which one argh) because of what she’s produced.

    And many others as well!

  14. StacyGRS says:

    we’ve had 1 out of Beulah and one out of Tailored to Taste and both were really nice horses. I’d say the Tailored to Taste one was a more practical long term horse and still just as nice a show horse. And, obviously, Bellagante has to be mentioned in the great broodmares catagory.
    It will be interesting to see how the Masterpiece/Centerpiece stuff fares as it gets out into the world.
    Stacy
    Stacy

  15. MaewynMorgans says:

    Thank you Stacy for saying this:

    …..As for studs, French, obviously, produces beautiful! They can be busy minded..at least the ones we’ve had have all been…..

    THAT’T IT! I’ve had two French grandsons and they’ve both been just like that. They get the job done beautifully but it’s as if their minds are going a mile a minute.

  16. colwilrin says:

    Susan,

    I am working with my first heavily Masterpiece bred horse now.

    He seems to mature a bit slowly, but is a hard worker. The most attractive feature of this horse is his personality. He loves people. He will leave his food/treats to come over and wrap his neck around you.

    He also does not have a mean bone in his body, and really tries hard.

    He has so much heart. In the show ring, he’ll dig down and give you everything he’s got…all you do is ask. He doesn’t give up. Just really a fun horse.

    If this is typical of the blood lines, I’m sold on it.

  17. Carley says:

    Thanks so much for all the input. Its so cool to hear opinions from trainers who have been there, done that!

  18. nightmusicfarms says:

    Colwilrin:

    Your comments echo much of what I heard of the MP/CP horses and most certainly that they are slow to mature and really come into themselves a good bit after most lines. CP is reportedly just “Old Shep” in the stall, as kind and people oriented a horse as you could wish to find but all show when he hits the ring.

    The colt Stacy has for me is the first one I have kept and I am anxious to see how he comes on. My bet is that a number of nice MP/CP get will be out this year and I wish you great success with your’s!

  19. colwilrin says:

    Thanks Sue! I am glad to hear that this seems to be a MP trait. The personality is a good fit with mine, and I’ll probably be shopping that bloodline in the future knowing that it is a likely place to find the right match.

  20. IED says:

    Stacy – was your Tailored to Taste baby Ricky by any chance?? :)

  21. PlayMorBill says:

    We’ve got a couple of Centerpiece colts here that are waiting for their debut. We held them out as two year olds. Let them grow up and mature. Very cool, exotic colts.

    And wait till you see our three year old by Liberation First Star. Holey Guacamole, is he big!

    Since I’m a homer, I’ll mention Mizrahi. His get are proving to be not only pretty and talented (his so is the reigning WC Stallion), but they’re extremely trainable as well. Eager, smart and energetic, Issac’s get tend to be the first to get worked at barns around the country.

    No better way to start your day then with a fun, willing student.

    :)

  22. StacyGRS says:

    First Star stuff does tend to be big.

    Yes, our Tailored to Taste baby was “Ricky” (MEM La Vida Loca)…won both under saddle and in harness for us and won a World title with his Jr Exb before he went on to Beth and then won the ama EP Champ at NE last year:)Can’t complain about him at all!
    Stacy

  23. DS99 says:

    I am really interested in hearing what people have to say about the get of Nostradamus. I had a gelding by him that was by far the best horse I have ever met. He was HUGE and had the most gorgeous, thick neck, a beautiful face, and very long legs. He also had the sweetest and funniest personality of any horse. He did the silliest things but wouldn’t hurt a fly. You could just wrap your arms around that horse and he’d hug you back. He was lazy but could move BEAUTIFULLY. I would love to hear about other Nostradamus offspring.

  24. I would like to know about Pot of Gold offspring? Are they all high energy? I have a small gelding that is all go and wondered if anyone had any good advice about dealing with them. He is a bit of a nervous nelly sometimes as well but nothing bad. He is a hunter not pleasure.

  25. Banbury says:

    empressiv and IED, I have an RBC Leah daughter by Bell Flaire…have to admit I had not heard of Leah before and was not familiar with Issues and Answers…got this filly by luck, she is exotically beautiful, opinionated which works well with my personality, and probably one of the smartest I have worked with. We also have a Leah daughter out here by Millenium..in looks she is all her daddy…sweet tempered and so trainable …is this true in general of the Millenium get? He looks to be very consistent in what he is putting on the ground.

    Bill, my sister has a Mizrahi son, you are right, he is the first to be worked…personality plus…everyone gravitates to him. And what a motor!

  26. Ignitor says:

    I have to agree with Bill RE: Mizrahi.
    Very few stallions are as dominant in the breeding shed like Mizrahi.

    As far as his get… I am one very proud owner/breeder of a 6 yr old stallion who’s work ethic is second to none. His dam is Noble Command and out of a Beamington Mare.

    Bill he is a dream to work. Is gentle in his stall so much so that my 86 yr old mother would go in with him and he would nuzzle her. But open that stall door with all his tack on and he is focused and ready to work. No holds bar he gives it all he hasand then some. I swear he nevr tires and LOVES his job. What an Honest horse. I and so many others who have his get LOVE working them. Great minds.

    Julie

  27. empressive says:

    IED and Banbury!

    You guys are soooo lucky!!
    When Leah was for sale a while ago some friends showed her to us but, my Dad said “NO” and being already 6′ 4″ football build black guy that he is. I said “ok daddy”.

    She is beautiful though and hopefully will have the chance of beinganother great producer of our time. Now I have not heard alot about the stallion High-Y Black Tie what do you guys think of him?

    I also have to add that Kathy Nyborgs stallion Futurity Cobras Promise produces some great minded and sturdy horses! One of his daughters was my first morgan and she is why I am hooked! I trained her by myself and she had nothing at all done with her when I bought her.

    One of his others daughters my friend just jumped on one day for fun and the filly went along great bareback onto the trails and they never turned back. That filly is doing fantastic. Oh and the filly was 2 n a half I think.

    Anyhoo! Someone else was talking about Pot of Gold? Yeah what do you all think of him too?

  28. colwilrin says:

    Banbury,

    My posts (see above) about my Masterpiece bred gelding are relevant to your question about Millenium. He is a Millenium son, out of a Topic mare.

    BTW, the initial post in this thread asked about Topic. I love to see this on the bottom half of papers. His daughter’s make great broodmares. They seem to get a bit of a playful nature from that half. I don’t know if this is a common experience, but I have had 3 out of Topic daughters and they all seem to favor the Sire or Grandsire (seems the Topic daughters let that come through a bit stronger)…Is anyone else seeing this?

  29. empressive says:

    Colwilrin if that is true then that is the reason my mare looks so much like troutbrook playboy.

    She is by High-Y Black Tie and Ties dam is a Topic mare. My mare looks just like her sire and is very playful. Maybe it is a recessive gene? In the Topic blood.

  30. IED says:

    Stacy – I just love Ricky! He is a true star and so easy and fun to work with, and always the consummate gentleman. He and Beth make such a gorgeous team.

    From what I have seen of Mizrahi get, they all seem to be talented and pretty – can’t complain there.

    My Leah gelding is by Byzantine, and he is a very pretty horse. I wasn’t familiar with Issues either when I picked up my gelding, and I’m kind of curious which of his traits come from which side of the family. He is a HOT horse and has a little bit of an oral fixation.

  31. Banbury says:

    IED:

    had to laugh, my Leah filly also is very mouthy, not mean, but is busy busy all the time…god forbid you have a readily available string or zipper on your sweatshirt! As this is my third Bell Flaire baby and the other two did not have this “oral fixation”, it must be mama’s side.

    On Topic…I love the look of his line…I had one, she was drop-dead gorgeous but have to admit she was tough.

    Lamborghini in Black…think he is the cutest thing since sliced bread…any word on his babies…?

  32. JC says:

    Banbury:

    My Lamborghini filly is a climb in your pocket, wrap herself around you teddy bear…and a thief. My husband and Dad were out working in her pasture and the filly left her good hay to steal tools and packages of nails from them. She’s a good supervisor of work detail too. Still, she’ll go from cute to hot in the blink of an eye and we have to stay on our toes when she lights up…all show horse. I have to give credit to her dam’s line as well as Lamborghini for her cool ways (she’s out of a daughter of the great Ladybird Command).
    She has a paternal brother at Sarde Morgans that I also fell in love with and wanted to take home. He’s typey and moves beautifully off both ends…I think he’s also destined for great success.

    Best of luck with your beautiful RBC Leah filly! I was a big fan of Leah’s colt, Eye Spy.

    Joanna

  33. StacyGRS says:

    Kiss N Tell (by Issues) sorts her bedding. She spends her days with her nose shifting back and forth in them (and her nose is particularly fast and strong…we assume because it is “fit”:) and she picks out the slightly larger pieces/chips…we call them her sticks…and she puts them in her feeder. She makes a whole pile in there. There’s never excess bedding in there and it is very neat and tidy. She’ll have 20-30 at any given time. They can stay there for days and she doesn’t confuse them with her feed (because her super nose sifts thru her feed as well)and at the end of her meal they’ll be sitting off to the side of the feeder in a pile, never all over the place, always in a pile. If you take them out, she makes a new pile. We can’t figure out if she doesn’t like to sleep on them so she’s getting rid of them or if she likes them and is saving them. Once we realized that she doesn’t eat them or do anything dangerous with them we stopped removing them constantly. When I go in her stall to bridle her I just take them out once a week or so and she starts over:):) How’s that for personality,smart,AND oral fixation?!?!

  34. colwilrin says:

    How interesting! It is nice that she is considerate enough to express her oral fixation in a non-destructive way. Most just chew through walls.

  35. StacyGRS says:

    She is very considerate:) She’s very neat and tidy…stall always clean, mane always in order, sheets always straight, no chewing,kickiing, etc. She’s nice to have around. Some come out of their stalls looking like they just went thru a windstorm every day and their stalls look like the Derby has been going in there…

  36. colwilrin says:

    Mine is part beaver. Is that a MP thing? The other funny habit he has is when he gets stressed learning something new, or in a new venue, his upper lip swirls around a mile a minute.

    What is OC like? He looks like he would have one heck of a personality.

  37. Flmorgan says:

    How about some of the older lines? We have alot of Kingston [dams sides 2nd generation, ]UVM Flash, Carlyle Command, FCf Esprit DeLark,
    Corisham, Shakers Alimon, Tara’s Cherokee,and Trophy. Many of ours are line bred with these lines.Most are geldings as we specailize in Jr Exhibitor and Equitation horses but some are easier to deal with than others.

  38. JC says:

    Flmorgan: I grew up in a barn filled with Ben Don bred mares (UVM Flash’s sire too). Not only did they possess wonderful type with gorgeous heads, smooth toplines and clean legs, but they made the best Jr. Exhibitor horses. There was nothing they would not do for us. As icing on the cake, they produced world champion offspring.

    Years later, I purchased an Immortal Command filly (line bred Flash) and she was sweet and level headed. It took awhile to get her harness trained, but once she got it, she was rock solid and safe for anyone. She turned out to be a champion in the hunter division also.

    What are your experiences on lines/traits that make excellent and safe Jr. Exhibitor horses?

    Joanna

  39. StacyGRS says:

    OC is quirky, but a really good guy. He’s smart and kind with a little neurotic thrown in:) He likes things the same…same stall, same spot on the trailer, same people…then his world is good. He takes traveling a little harder than one would hope because of it. He’s VERY people oriented and very attached to those he knows. We volunteered him for a Lydia Hibby demo last year at Equine Affair (they wanted horses, we thought it would be fun…it was:) Lydia is one of the more respected “horse communicators”) and he said I was his person…which is pretty true. If he starts to fret about a new place at a show or soomething, I go in a hang with him for a few minutes and he settles:)He also said he feels good and has heard some retirement talk and doesn’t want to:)He is very chatty…nickers at those he knows or when anyone drives up the driveway. Probably his most fun trait is just how he stands around. When he’s in the crossties, the whole time, he stands VERY upright and proud…ears up. The same when you open his door…at attention and eager to greet. Had he shown in hand like that we’d have shown him that way more:):)
    Stacy

  40. colwilrin says:

    How neat! I have watched him at OKC and just think he is coolest horse out there. Glad to hear that his personality matches his outward persona. I almost popped over to sneak a peek at him last year, but I can be really shy about things like that, and I didn’t want to impose. He’s is my “lottery horse”…the first one I would want to have if I had all the money in the world to spend.

  41. StacyGRS says:

    :) I’m glad you have enjoyed watching him…he’s my lottery horse too… I won and get to keep him here:):) He’s truely enjoyable to have around and mess with. I trail ride him in the winter a little and we play. You should have come by…he loves visitors and assumes that everyone that comes down our isle is there to see him! If you’re ever in the area come by and see him…he is always up to take a visitor for a drive.
    Stacy

  42. nightmusicfarms says:

    I have a correction I need to make and it is a significant one, so I wish I had a way to highlight this post.

    Early on in this thread, a mention was made of Treble’s Tanqueray, many times champion WP stallion owned by the Fleck family and shown pro by Judy Nason, AM by Carol and her daughter Ashley. In talking about the traits of the Commando/Willy cross, I made the following comment:

    “I used to own Treble’s Tanqueray, who is just a gorgeous animal and also owned a similarly bred WP Champion, ER Treble My Command. My concern with these horses would not be necks, but rather judicious breeding to ensure that the backs were short and level. The Commando/Willy cross can often produce longer, softer backs than are desirable and that is particularly noticeable in the Commando/Margarita cross.”

    I did not mean to highlight the Commando/Margarita cross, but rather the Commando/Double M Temptation cross. Temptation is the dam of both ER Treble My Command and Treble’s Wild Command and it these horses which were on my mind as I wrote. Temptation is also the dam of the very lovely Grand Cru Beaujolais, another WP champion. All of these individuals were or are world class show horses and outstanding animals in their own right.

    Treble’s Tanqueray clearly set the bar for exquisite looks and remarkable talent quite a bit higher when he hit the stage, both in hand with Luman and under saddle with Judy.

    I was thinking about Tanqueray as I was typing and obviously my fingers got ahead of my brain. Margarita is Ray’s dam and I think it is pretty obvious that the cross of Commando on Margarita was a sensational one. Tanqueray as an individual is outstanding and each of the foals by him that I have seen are really exceptional. He is on my top “short list” for my black FFE/RRG Trophy’s Tribute mare and I hope the resulting foal is a carbon copy of his or her father. Another benefit of breeding to Ray is the pleasure of dealing with what must be the nicest family in the business, the Flecks.

    Sorry for the confusion and sorry it took me so long to realize I had made the error.

    Susan

  43. colwilrin says:

    Thanks Stacy,

    That would be well worth the flight from coast to coast! Maybe I’ll have to give in to my husband’s pleas for a California vacation next year.

    If he does return to OKC this year, I will be sure to stop over at your aisle.

  44. Scottfield03 says:

    I have really enjoyed this particular post. How nice that so many people have made their preferences known, and responses have been very appropriate. Wonderful!

    Here is what I have found I like to work:

    Anything with Forevermore on the sire side. I have had 8 of them, either sons or grandsons (or daughters and granddaughters), and 3 that have had Forevermore on the dam side. All three with Forevermore on the dam side have been hunters, and 7 of the 8 on the sire side have been saddleseat horses. They have a wonderful turn at the poll, and the best tail carriages. Many of them have never needed a bustle, and they carry their tails beautifully. They can be a bit ho-hum if you do too much of the same thing at home. They love cross country work, and are GREAT in the show ring. They always show up on game day.

    I also have worked 5+ Immortal command grandkids, and I like them a great deal. They are all gorgeous, with big eyes and hooked necks. They all have little quirks, though, that you need to get a handle on right away. I have had a couple that seem particularly offended by the actual process of putting tack on their backs. Not once they are out working, but actually putting it on is scary. I have two that will sit down a bit everyday in the crossties, and no, they are not sore in the back. :-) They both do the same thing when you put their blankets on. I have one that prefers things be done from the right side only, and another who spent 8 months trying to avoid cart tire tracks in the Indoor. He is over it now. They seem to train out of their quirks really well, with usually just time. These horses are also excellent in the show ring.

    I love, LOVE!, both of my horses by Ultra’s Special Agent. They are exactly alike in all of the right ways. They are both brave, game, honest, happy and talented. They are just the BEST to work, and ridiculously easy to train. LOVE THEM!!!!

    I am always happy to see Elm Hill Charter Oak, Saddleback Symphony, Tug Hill Commando and Forevermore on a pedigree. I also find that I enjoy working line-bred Trophy horses for their motion, and Hillock Showson get for their good looks.

  45. JC says:

    This thread is like an evening at my house…five conversations going on all at once and nobody misses a thing.

    Susan, I heartily agree with your comments on Treble’s Tanqueray and he is the stallion of choice at my mentor’s farm. Of three Ray foals born there; the first, Willowhill Tia Maria, is a junior western pleasure champion for Judy Nason and owner, Sue Galvin. Another (Willowhill Tiramisu) was sold in utero and the third has just started training. All beautiful fillies with Ben Don blood in the background.

    Stacey, I thought OC looked jaw dropping cool at Oklahoma (even through the tiny screen of my live video feed). I may just have to get an OC foal some day in the future. The stories about his personality are fun to read.

    This is a very informative thread. Thanks to all.

    Joanna

  46. colwilrin says:

    JC…You have to see OC live and in person at OKC. There is something about his presence that make you jump to your feet. I’ve given him standing “O”‘s at OKC everytime I’ve watched him in a champ class. It’s like watching a rock-star! Sends a chill up my spine just thinking about it.

    As to the Commando/longer backed thread. Intersting as this discussion just came up at the barn the other day. It was questioned whether the backs are actually “long” or if it just appears that way because the shoulder is really deep and angles back that way (they also tend to get great musculature in that area which adds to the illusion). BTW…I am also a “Ray” fan and think Judy and the Flecks are just lovely people.

  47. StacyGRS says:

    Southern Ca is a good vacation spot!!:)

  48. colwilrin says:

    I hear you!…23 and snowing this am :(

  49. DVFMorgan says:

    I really like the MLF Sharper Image gelding we are working, he has the best work ethic, and very, very talented. Also have an OC horse that is very eager to work, and very pretty like his dad.

    I love working the horses we have by Century Destiny’s Child ( Cabot Manifest Destiny x out of a Green Meads Galaxy mare). These horses are all very easy to deal with and great minded.

  50. nightmusicfarms says:

    Joanna,

    This was such a cute and oh so appropriate statement.

    “This thread is like an evening at my house…five conversations going on all at once and nobody misses a thing.”

    Col:

    Is it okay to shorten to that? At any rate, really interesting point on the shoulder angle for the Commandos.

    Scottfield:

    I agree, it is so nice to see people share respectfully and intelligently. I have learned from this thread and really enjoyed it. The Agent foals all have a special look to them and I have always heard they are a treat to work. Funny story on the Immortals..

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