Bloodlines & Broodmares

[Horse Love]

I am starting a small breeding program with my Rowdy bred black/white AMHR stallion... I am either looking for an AMHR appaloosa mare or a nice AMHR buckskin/dun/pinto, all of course with a good conformation and temperment. I'm starting out with one mare for now, so I'm going to be picky. What are some good bloodlines to look for when buying my next broodmare, ones that will excel in modern AMHR shows? What are some other things you look for when buying a broodmare? Any other tips or recommendations? I heard Buckeroo bred mares make good crosses with Rowdy bred stallions and vise-versa, whats your opinion on this? Thank you, I'm kind of new to breeding/showing miniatures and I'm trying to get as much information and opinions as possible, because I want to produce quality foals.

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Just wanted to chime in a bit and say that if I were you I would have him LWO tested first since he is Rowdy bred so that way you can know whether or not to have LWO+ or LWO- mares in your herd.

 

[disneyhorse]

I think we all would just be taking a stab in the dark to suggest something to you with the information you've given us so far.

When you say "rowdy bred" are we talking of him as a grandsire on both sides? Or is he just a great-grandsire in one side, or further back? Because to me, if a line isn't very close up, or intense on both sides (some buckeroo bred horses have buckeroo himself appearing three or four times on the papers themselves) then it's barely a main concern to me. What percent rowdy is your guy? This may help some of the pedigree freaks answer you better.

Of bigger concern will be your horse's conformation. Let's say his neck isn't that great. Maybe you will just want to focus on finding a mare that has equal conformation to him, but with a crazy extreme neck. Knowing what his sire and dam's faults are might be of help, too, to avoid this in the foal.

You also don't say what area of AMHR shows you want your foal(s) to excel in. If your stallion is an AMHR champion in pleasure driving, then I'd be looking for a mare that suits that niche to best give the foal the tools to follow in his footsteps.

If you've been mainly showing halter, then a mare who's done that might be a better bet. You can find plenty of breeding age mares who have been shown at Nationals for sale.

Another thing to consider is the Shetland lines if you're wanting to show at the National level. Shetlands, and Shetland crosses, are very popular and there are many bloodlines out there who are successful.

I mostly would just suggest not jumping in, but try to attend some shows (especially nationals if you can) and check out the myriad of horses there on display. You will figure out what catches your eye and what farms or bloodlines those horses come from.

Breeding successfully is not as easy as pairing a Rowdy with a Buckeroo, or a Nighthawk with a Blue Boy. Breeders who do that successfully also have other criteria they look at.

Good luck and have fun with your research!

Andrea

 

[targetsmom]

Great suggestion Tybee Tyme to get the Rowdy bred stallion LWO tested. As a breeder of pintos (using a Rowdy/Buckeroo bred LWO negative stallion) I would suggest that you stick to pinto and not mix in the app. Of course your broodmares should reflect YOUR preferences, but since you asked... Some people like the pintaloosa, but you would not be able to register the pinto offspring of that cross in the Pinto Horse Association. It could be a minor issue, or it could potentially limit your market.

By the way, we bought our stallion because of who he was and the show records of his close relatives, and not for his bloodlines. But since the breeder we got him from has a lot of Rowdy blood and some Buckeroo, that was what we ended up with.

What WE select broodmares for is pinto color, size (we prefer 32-34"), registry (A & R), movement and temperament, because we are trying to produce an all around performance/halter horse, or "sport horse" in miniature. We do pay attention to pedigree; what we like to see is a lot of known minis in there, and no big "holes" with horses we never heard of. Having ancestors or siblings with show records in halter and/or driving is a big plus, and we like to look at as many siblings as possible. If the mare has foals on the ground, her production record becomes the most important factor. One mare we bought because she had already had 4 fantastic foals, 2 that are or will be single pleasure driving horses, and 3 of the foals were sired by our stallion's half brother.

You need to decide what YOUR goals are and the kind of mare(s) that would most likely get you there when crossed with your stallion. In our case, we had one foal that was everything we could have asked for, but he died way too young. We have also buried so many dead foals I lost count. Also, be aware that you can also lose a precious mare, which is why we will never breed our favorite show mare.

 

[HGFarm]

If you are looking at Appaloosa- I like lines with a more 'modern' look- I like Chianti & Zodiac lines- also Orion Light, but it really depends on the horse. I dont look so much at bloodlines as I do the horse itself. I also pay more attention to the foaling record of a mare - what has she produced when bred to what?

It's pretty much impossible to pick what you will get.... I have seen halter champions bred together that produced nothing but pet quality at best, and some average horses that produced some really fantastic ones. It's hard to tell what will nick with what to produce the best. It's all a game of chance when it comes down to it.

Also what are your breeding goals? Halter? Driving? What type of movement in your driving horses?

Good luck in your search!

 

[ohmt]

I am going to ditto Andrea's post-it was spot on. Do a complete critique of your stallion and have a friend that is knowledgeable regarding horse conformation critique him as well to get an unbiased opinion. Then take a look at his sire and dam and critique them to see what kind of genes your stallion may have lurking. If he is a proven stallion, see what kind of traits he seems to produce on a regular basis. Do the same critique of the mares you are interested in and go from there. I usually don't focus on the names in a pedigree, I focus on the traits in a pedigree-so even if there are a lot of names in a horse's pedigree that I've never heard of, if I like what I see and they will compliment the stallion or mares I am going to breed them to, I will have no problem buying them. I have seen Rowdy x Buckeroo crosses that were absolutely stunning and I have seen Rowdy x Buckeroo crosses that were not so great.

Good luck!

 

[MindyLee]

All kinds of bloodlines can cross well with the Rowdy lines BUT its up to you and what you like that crosses well as long as the conformation is there.

In my program, I do line breed the King Supreme lines BUT I also have a few other lines in there that cross to keep them from being too much King Supreme. I like both halter horses and performance horses. And altho I dont show in any performance classes myself and only halter, I want to be able to have something for every potential future buyer. My stallion has both beautiful movement and halter conformation where some mares only have the halter conformation, and not top quality movement. And other mares are all movement with great halter conformation too. So with that the lines I have in my mares are Dandy, Little Kings, Buckeroo, Mini Whinnys, & Komokos. I also like "A" sized minis too, so I needed to keep my program from going over so everyone is "A" sized only with a pretty solid background of under horses in it. And a lot will say color is no big deal, well I strongly disagree with that. I dont like pintos. Bays, buckskins, and roans are my favorite, so with all conformations, bloodlines, height, attitudes, and everything else I havent mentioned already taken into factor, these are what my herd consists of. I love all my horses and hand picked each and everyone of them out to compliment each other. It may not be what others like, but its what I like and as long as Im producing quality horses and not junk that is all that matters.

This is a trial and error situation when it come to breeding expecally with only bloodlines as the main focus. And just because this type of cross works well for one farm, may not for another. Rowdy is all over the map and unless you have the EXACT bloodlines as someone else you never know what you'll end up with. Could be worse, the same or even better!

Good luck and she's out there waiting for you and your boy!

 

[maestoso]

Your first priority should be a quality horse, not bloodlines. My advice is to get an experienced eye to help you search. An ugly horse is still an ugly horse no matter how many times Buckeroo is in its pedigree.

 

[Horse Love]

I'm planning on getting him tested for LWO soon, before I buy anything, I didn't forget.

I probably won't buy until sometime next year(if I decide hes still stallion worthy) because I want to take the Winter to do even more heavy research on everything and see how he does at shows once show season comes around. I want to gather info now from you all so I'll be well educated when buying if he proves himself.

Spring is also when my current mare drops her foal. I got an AMHR palomino mare from a trade that was bred to an AMHR palomino pinto stud, but she is NOT breeding quality! I had no idea what this breeder was thinking when she decided to breed her. So I'm going to sell her and the foal and use the money to help buy a good mare.

My stallion has gorgeous movement and the greatest temperment, and I wouldn't even think of breeding if he didn't have good conformation. He isn't proven and hes going to start back up his show career this upcoming show season, because I haven't shown him since a weanling due to training/showing my Quarter Horse mare and working with the rescue horses. If he doesnt do well at shows he will become a gelding and I will most likely buy a proven stallion, but I am almost as positive he will do as well as he did as a weanling(he won 1st place many times in Halter), so I'm going to give him a chance since hes such a great horse. The reason I was thinking about breeding pintaloosas since his dam was an appy and his sire was a pinto(hes a spitting image of him!) and I just love the appys, but I'm stil deciding!

My goal is to breed for more performance classes like jumping/driving since thats what his sire excelled in and what he excels in now(hes trained well for jumping and greenbroke for driving.) I'm wanting to breed A class miniatures with good temperments, movement, conformation(of course), and color. I for one think good, known lines is a big thing, along with everything else I listed. Im not going to jump in right away, I want to take my time and find the perfect one to compliment him. I don't want to get into any Shetlands.

I can post pictures of him as a yearling and 2 year old if you would like.

 

[Kaycee Lunde]

Jandts line mares cross well with Rowdy, as well as Buck on Broadway mares. Just what I've seen in other breeding programs that simply works. I also would sooner go pinto than Appaloosa.

 

[Horse Love]

Jandts line mares cross well with Rowdy, as well as Buck on Broadway mares. Just what I've seen in other breeding programs that simply works. I also would sooner go pinto than Appaloosa.

Thanks for the input! I am doing some research. What do you guys think about Flying W bloodlines? IAnd Blue Boy? Alot of people say that they are more "foundation lines" and don't excel well in modern shows. Whats your opinions on this?

 

[RHAMinis]

EXCELLENT Post Andrea/Disneyhorse. I was going to reply to this topic, but you stated and explained everything so perfectly! Definitely nice of you take the time to share so much good information with a newbie!

 

[disneyhorse]

Thanks RHA

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

What do you guys think about Flying W bloodlines? IAnd Blue Boy? Alot of people say that they are more "foundation lines" and don't excel well in modern shows. Whats your opinions on this?

I'm no expert but I've seen a good number of Blue Boy offspring doing well at Nationals and Worlds. Can't give you a number but they are out there.

 

[Magic]

My most-winning mare (AMHR Performance Horse of the Year, when she was pregnant no less! And six Hall of Fame awards plus a Superior Dam, multiple National Champion in Driving and Reserve National Champion in Halter) is heavily bred Flying W on her dam's side, so I'm very fond of Flying W lines. At least hers.

Bloodlines don't make the horse though, as others have said. Look at each individual horse first, and then look at their pedigree. If you want a horse that will show well, look at horses that have shown and done well, or at least have parents or siblings that have done so.