Is This Horse a Dressage Potential?
He is a 15hh, 10 year old gelding. Very smart and athletic (He paws closer to 90 degrees rather than 45 degrees!). He climbed OVER his stall door one morning because I took longer than usual coming to let him out. He is Paint, although a solid one (breeding stock). His papers say he was related to Croton Oil…I’m not sure who Croton Oil is…and one of this horse’s great-relatives was a TB. He has some scar tissue on the back of his coronary band on a front foot. Also: he has barely been used – he has been in the pasture for a while before I became his owner, but he does know how to ride….but he is willful at times, he has been in some halter shows (so I know he can handle the arena environment), and he seems to be responding to the training I’ve done with him so far.
If you respond, please give a "why" (describe past experience, or say which facts above you think of as favourable to the idea, etc.).
By the way: this horse doesn’t jump very well…he trots over fences until they are 2 1/2 foot high because he can without a problem.
Any helpful advice would be appreciated!
Also…I want to upload some pics of him but don’t know how…any guidance on that would be appreciated.
One of the responders was concerned about the stall situation I mentioned…we totally fixed that by building a solid wood door that is impossible to climb. The smartness thing: when you watch this horse you can’t help but see that he is smart – he watches people and horses and is aware of what is happening and who is where and doing what. He knows how to get what he wants – even if it’s risky! The previous owners told me about his ability to climb THROUGH a barbwire fence without getting hurt. It sounded crazy until I saw it myself – he puts his head under and lifts the top wire and then lifts a leg over the second wire and wiggles through. But don’t worry – we put an end to that possibility as well!
Note: he’s pretty level for a paint – not so downhill as most stock horses are.
dressage training can be helpful to a wide range of horses and encourages a horse to engage in meaningful work that is both challenging and healthy
I’m sorry,but I dont know jack crap about anything english
sorry.
upload a video of him walking, trotting and cantering and somebody might be able to help.
You can get a dressage trainer to come and help him! He sounds lovely x
and because he picks his feet up without really being asked to! and that’s a good sign of a horse being good at dressage.
it might be a bit hard to train him though because he hasn’t done much riding or been worked lately.. but i’m sure you can make it happen if you’re patent
good luck x hope this helped x
Well he might have potential, it’s hard to tell without seeing him move and knowing what sorts of dressage movements he can already do. Chances are he won’t be much more than a lower level dressage horse.
Although personally I wouldn’t call a horse who climbs over his stall door very intelligent. That… is supremely dangerous, and smart horses don’t do dangerous things like that. I also hope you did something to the stall door to prevent him from doing that again, because if not one of these days you might find yourself with a dead horse, simply because he wanted out of his stall.
well, you wont get much farther with him than lower level dressage, for a few reasons. one being that he is most likely downhill because he is a paint, and that would require extra effort for more complicated moves. thats why most dressage horses are warmbloods, because they are built uphill. also warmboods are leggier, so they are more flashy in dressage. he sounds like he is not an advanced horse, and not trained in dressage, so thats going to be more work for you. and unfit- also more work
i would look at other horses. warmbloods are quite expensive. but thoroughbreds also succeed well in the dressage ring, and they arent as pricey
It’s hard to tell with out seeing him or seeing his movement. (photobucket.com is what I use when I need to post my pictures and add a link in my question)
from what you have described, it sounds like he has smooth easy gaits and would do well in dressage.
asking a person who can see him in person is very helpful too. You can usually go to a high end stable (with trainers) who will inspect your horse if you are interested in having him trained.
Good luck! I wish you and your horse well!
Unless he has some serious conformation flaws, then he would do well with dressage. I’ve taken Arabs with less than ideal conformation through third and we beat out those snotty warmbloods.
My experience is that it isn’t the horse so much as the rider. We’re all so worried about having a Grand Prix prospect and we can barely manage a passable first level test. Just ride and have fun. The biggest traits you need in a dressage horse is one with a big brain, likes to learn new things, isnt afraid of hard work, and is sane. That’ll get you through second just fine. I don’t want to down play conformation too much, but you can still train and compete successfully at 3 & 4th levels with average horses. But you have to be dedicated and have some talent too.
He’ll be fine. He’d probably love it. But I imagine he’ll have a ton of evasion techniques that will have you pulling your hair out.
the smart ones always do.