Sport Horse Recipe

What Genetic Ingredients Make Up a Sport Horse Recipe?

Sport horses, those that are used for the Olympic style sports are usually not pure-bred, although they can be. The great majority have a significant amount of Thoroughbred in their lineages.

Your goal is success in a particular sport and therefore your selection criteria will vary with the demands of the sport and your expectations and goals. So, most breeders will end up following a rough outline of genetic components to reach their goals- a basic recipe.

Basic Ingredients:

Racehorse- for pure athleticism, proper saddle horse conformation, speed and stamina. Thoroughbred is the major source for these traits, although another option could be the Standardbred.

Saddle Horse- for style, movement or elegance and specialized talent. Often called improvers, these breeds are added to adjust the abilities of the horse for each sport. Key providers are Anglo-Arab, Saddlebred, the Morgan, Selle Francais, Swedish Warmblood, Trakehner; also consider Arabian, Quarter Horse, Tennessee Walker and Missouri Fox Trotter.

Coach- these coach horse derivative breeds contribute height, weight carrying ability or substance. Continental Warmbloods (Hanoverian, Holstein, Oldenburg etc) Irish Draught, Cleveland Bay.

Your recipe for success will depend on your sport goal. For instance, the heavy coach derivative breeds of Europe were lightened up and made more athletic by the introduction of Thoroughbred, and to a lesser extent other light saddle breeds. They have found that to not periodically inject more Thoroughbred or a light saddle source will result in them reverting back to the heavy coach-farm form and they become too heavy, slow and un-agile to win.

The sport of dressage can stand a greater proportion of substance and still succeed, but the 3-day horse and the show jumper need the speed and agility that only comes from the lighter horses. Your sport goal will determine your ingredients and the amount of each.

You will want to further refine your ingredient list by identifying which particular bloodlines in these types is a source of superior sport ability, good temperament and soundness. And which ones will improve the genetic package you are building into your herd- this in turn will require a familiarity with the Tesio Methods and also the study of the bloodlines.

Here are a few examples of proven sport bloodlines:a warmblood example can be the Holstein stallions Calypso I through V, crossbred stallions: Selle Francais/Holstein- their ingredients are 30% Thoroughbred (Furioso/Rantzau), 50% Holstein, 20% classic Selle Francais. In the Thoroughbred the line of Nearco has proven to transmit both the beautiful movement needed in dressage and sport ability for jump and Fair Play and his descendants are winners in jump and eventing. In the Standardbred the bloodline of Adios and his full sister Adieu produce spectacular balanced movement that succeeds at dressage. These bloodlines are just a few of proven transmitters of superior sport talent.

As a breeder who wants to succeed you will need to examine your own stock's lineages to determine the important transmitters of sport they already carry and then choose their mates from those that build on or improve the genetic package that will become the foal. You are the creator of your sport product.

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