Skips Radical Rascal1997 AQHA/PHBA Two Time World Champion Sire! (Click photo for more info) |
Hot Attraction1990 AQHA Superior Western Pleasure World and Reserve World Champion Sire! (Click photo for more info) |
Selecting the Right Horse!
At Old River Farms, we have found that some folks want to actually participate in the breeding, foaling, and early education of their horse. We were the same way! If you want to end up with the perfect horse for you, it is good to follow exceptional practices in the breeding or selection of your horse.
A recent AQHA Journal article provides outstanding advice for mare owners seeking to determine "Mr. Right" for their mare. We believe that these principles can also guide prospective owners in the selection of a young horse to train as well. The article states that the four most important considerations are pedigree, conformation, performance, and prepotency. Pedigree - Know the horse's family as well as the individual. Make sure that no known genetic defects are present in either the stallion or the mare. Conformation - Find a stallion that complements the physical characteristics of your mare. Performance - More than just a show record, the performance of a stallion is characterized by his talents and his disposition. A mare's natural ability should be enhanced by the stallion's movement, athletic ability and willingness to please. Prepotency - Does the stallion pass on its greatness to its offspring? Can you see the conformation and performance of the stallion in his offspring? Does the stallion consistently throw outstanding individuals?
One note to add to the article above...know what you want to do with the horse and look at the personal and family history of the sire and dam to see if these four principles apply in light of the type of performance that you desire from the animal. There are always unique individuals that may arise...a great hunter from cutting horse stock or a great racer from pleasure horse sires...but these are the exceptions not the rule! At Old River Farms, we believe that both stallions are truly representative of outstanding stallions in all of the principles above and are great all-around performance stallions.
Besides Skips Radical Rascal and Hot Attraction, Old River Farms is also the former home of AQHA World Champion Stallion Rare Bar. Click here to watch the video of Rare Bar as he breaks the track record winning the $68,0000 Remington Park Challenge Championship. Rare Bar currently stands at stud at www.texomaquarterhorses.com. Rare Bar is truly an all-around champion sire. In addition to siring many great racing horses on tracks today, he is a leading barrel racing sire having sired such greats as Rare Bugs Alive and Gonna Get Some Money. He is also the sire of All My Delight, AQHA Reserve World Champion Hunter Under Saddle and Working Hunter and Bad Acid, AQHA Congress Hunter Under Saddle Champion!
As you visit each of the stallions' websites, examine the pedigree, conformation, performance, and prepotency that they possess. We think we may have "Mr. Right" for your mare OR we may have "Mr. or Miss Right" here on the farm waiting for you!!!! So whether you aspire to show, race, or just ride through beautiful pastures and shady trails, we either have a young one that you can start, a finished horse that you can take off on, or we can help you find the horse of your dreams!