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["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

I was thinking more along the lines of being used as light draft.  They do 
light buggies just fine but they don't have the build to do heavy pulling. 
Now, if you want a horse (they really aren't ponies for folks who don't know 
them but rather small horses) that can jump twice its height or can travel 
all day long, then get a Connemara.  If you want an animal that will babysit 
your kids, they're the horse for you.

Breed of horse will give a general jumping off point.  Buying a grade horse 
gives you a mystery package.

When we ran gymkhana horses I went looking for a Quarter horse with a 
background in reining and/or cutting.  I could take that horse, if it was 
not cowboy'd and clean house in barrels and poles.  They had been bred for 
and already knew how to roll off your leg and turn on and off the speed at a 
flick of the wrist.  I also picked up a horse that was burned out from 
playing polo.  A grade horse could be trained to do the job but to have that 
extra something that meant state and national championships took that little 
extra something that I got from a horse with the right breeding.

Same with racing.  Sure, you can find a grade horse with a lot of speed but 
not enough.  Plus I can go look at mom, dad, the grands and great-grands 
plus siblings and see how sound/unsound the line is.

My only exceptions were mustangs.  For those, again, though I only shopped 
for animals out of certain herds.  Of course, I was looking for animals to 
do certain things (gymkhana, Tevis Cup, Ride and Tie, jumpers, etc.).

Unless someone is an expert, take one with you before you buy any horse. 
Buying horses is one of the riskiest businesses out there.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <paxamicus AT earthlink.net>


> One of the things my ex-husband and I did during the "off-season" (ie,
> not foaling out) was break race horses.  One time some guy brought us
> a little QH he wanted to use as a track pony.  Where doing a good,
> kind, long-lasting job in a Thoroughbred could take a month, about two
> days after this QH showed up I tacked him up and rode him down the
> driveway. Bliss. If they were all that easy, I'd still be doing it.
>
> Why wouldn't you use a Connemara in harness? I've seen them drive,
> they are fabulous. They might not be able to do as much as a big
> horse, but I think they are on a par with any other horse their size.
>
> The other thing I meant to say earlier but didn't was that buying
> *anything* based on a pedigree might be a real waste. There are tonnes
> and tonnes of nice workaday horses to be had for cheap.  Just like a
> mutt can be the best dog ever...so can grade horses. You don't need a
> specific breed unless you really LOVE the breed, or you want to breed
> it.
>
> I am currently paying about $3 a mile to ship horses when I need to
> send something long distance. You might consider the cost of shipping
> when you are factoring that in, to get something from Carolina to
> wherever you are might be more expensive than the horse itself. Not to
> mention shipping  something fresh off the beach could be a real
> challenge. Ooooh boy that could be a real fustercluck.
>
>
> Celia
>
>
>
> On Apr 16, 2008, at 1:48 PM, Lynda wrote:
>
> > Icelandics are like that, as are Connemaras.  They are frequently
> > "born"
> > broke.  We did quite a few of the Connemaras for pony clubers and
> > within 30
> > days they were ready for the clubbing circuit.  They simply needed
> > to learn
> > to give to the leg.  Not one of them bucked or was cinchy or swung
> > their
> > hindquarters to get away from humans.
> >
> > Our neighbor has Icelandics and they are the same AND tough!
> >
> > I wouldn't put Connemaras in a work situation but the Icelandics
> > would pull
> > just fine.
> >
> > Our "evil" pony was named Precious <g>
> >
> > Lynda
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Warren" <mogrits AT gmail.com>
>
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