I do want to get away from some arab traits (most bad ones she does not
have) and possibly add some height and make a good all-around horse not
geared for anything specific like jumping or endurance or what-have-you.
I was considering a paint stallian which is full quarter horse but I'd
like to hear any ideas/warning/suggestions any of you might have.
Hi Pat!
This is just my opinion---I have a half-Arab, half-running QH who is the
best horse I ever owned and a joy to be around for everything. I'm 5'10
and ride HWT and he carries me just fine, also a nice medium-sized horse
at 15.2. Small enough not to be clunky for endurance, big enough that I
don't look funny while riding in a dressage arena (though I still get
run over by 18 hand warmbloods!). On the other hand, the worst horse I
know is also a half-arab, half-QH. Ugly temperament, nasty
conformation, you name it. I guess you really have to breed a Good
Horse to a Good Horse and that's probably more important than strictly
the breed.
I also have a Anglo-Arab colt just seven months who's really wonderful,
but a real pistol. I bred him that way, but this is never going to be
what you'd called an easy ride through the park. However, I did get
what I wanted---a little more height than a purebred Arab, a little more
bone, something a little more likely to do some dressage and jumping as
well as endurance (don't everyone yell at me, I ride my purebred Arabs
in dressage, too! But if you're tall, the judges don't like an
unbalanced "picture" as well as if you're on a taller horse).
The only thing I have against SOME quarter/Paint horses is that many of
them bred for halter have small feet because when they're shown in
halter, a smaller foot looks "neater". None of us have to debate the
problems of a too-small foot. If I were going to breed to a QH/paint
stallion, or ANY stallion for that matter, make sure he's really done
something in PERFORMANCE to earn the right to reproduce himself. Color
is nice, but you can't ride "pretty". My old Saddlebred trainer from
way back used to tell me you gotta ride the horse, not the pedigree.
Smart guy.
The only other thing I would be careful about is just don't go too far
to extremes. Alot of the time when you breed two horses, you don't get
a nice halfway blend somewhere in the middle, you get a piece of one and
a chunk of the other, which doesn't always work out like you thought it
would. I saw two half-Arab, half-Percheron full brothers once---one was
a lovely medium size heavy hunter with a pretty head, and the other FULL
BROTHER looked like spare parts put together by a drunken sailor---a
dump truck on roller skates with a watermelon balanced on one end. He
was...different. However, to his credit, he belonged to a six-year-old
girl who loved him madly and quite logically rationalized that he was
perfect because his back was wide enough for her and about fourteen of
her friends, a couple of dogs, the barn cat and a box of Barbie dolls
all at once. We should all be so philosophical...
BTW, you should contact Karen Clanin @ kclanin@fix.net if she hasn't
already jumped in---she has a half-Arab, half-Halflinger who's a
half-brother to MY half-Arab (are you keeping this all straight?) and
he's really neat, too. We kept referring to him as being a "hoot" to
own, so she finally named him Hooter.
Good luck!
Susan Evans, also Cato (1/2 arab, 1/2 QH), Katy (PB arab), Lady (TB) and
Dakota the Terrible (aka Spudnuts)(1/2 arab, 1/2TB)