This message is from: Arthur and Carol Rivoire <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hi Everybody,
This message is from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia. Ursula's comments about evaluating a stallion's temperament at the Evaluations, and her suggestion that we launch a discussion on the subject is important. This is a real good place to air ideas. A couple of things she mentioned particularly struck me. She felt that the bad acting stallion shouldn't have gotten a blue ribbon. I guess that depends what the blue ribbon signifies. If it signifies that he's a typey, well made animal that meets or exceeds the standards, then he should have the blue, and apparently that was the mandate the judges were judging under, so what else can they do. -- It certainly would be very hard (impossible, I'd say) to judge temperament in a ring situation. I mean, how many stallion owners can simulate that kind of situation where the stallion is presented in an enclosure with five, ten, or more other breeding stallions. Isn't it natural for a virile stallion to act up? The great ones I've seen in Norway and Holland very often do. I would think that if we want to judge temperament, we would require the stallion to perform in some capacity - jumping, dressage, driving, pulling, whatever he does. That situation is much easier for the owner to control as they can take their stallion to shows and at least get them used to being around, and performing with other horses, so the Evaluation ring wouldn't be all that strange, although the stallions would still have to contend with the other stallions. The point I'm trying to make is that it's unfair to judge a stallion's character on the basis of an in-hand stallion evaluation. Are we going to reward the quiet ones? Maybe the quieter the better? Is this a good idea? I don't think so. The quieter the stallion is could indicate his testosterone level. Think about it. I do speak from experience on this subject. Our stallion, Gjest, came to us as a ten year old experienced breeding stallion. He'd been a government stallion in Holland for many years. He was used to spending his time going from farm to farm breeding mares - 85 + mares per season. What do you think he was like when we took him to a show? Gjest descending from the trailer was a dramatic scene? It was awesome, and somewhat scary. Yet, that same super virile breeding stallion was soon hitched to his cart doing a cones course, or a dressage test, or a marathon. He was, and is at age 21, a phenomenal performance horse. --- He was, and is at age 21, still VERY IMPRESSIVE during breeding season. From late March until late June, Gjest remains a handfull when being led from his paddock to the barn. Yet, once in the barn and turned around for the cross-ties, he realizes the situation, and changes into his "good old gelding" role. You couldn't ask for a better horse. Gjest is ridden all summer by children. He goes on trailrides with mares. He's used in our Beginner Driving Program. He's a darn wonderful horse. And yet, people used to say that he was too hot blooded. They didn't want to breed to him for fear of getting a "too lively foal." etc., etc. We heard it all much to our dismay. Today, Gjest's North American offspring are old enough to be proving themselves in performance. All of them are doing extremely well in dressage, fox hunting, driving, combined driving. They're all good workers just as Gjest has always been a good worker. Not one of Gjest's offspring has ever (as far as I know) been a behavioral problem. Back around 1985, we took Gjest to the Woodstock Fjord Show, and showed him in the stallion class. ---- He was plain awful! Really badly behaved, although handled by a large girl with lots of experience. We didn't win any points that year with onlookers. It was probably a bad move to have taken him, from a promotional point of view. I'm sure we lost breedings because of the aforementioned fears of mare owners. That was too bad for us, and also for the people who lost out on getting a good foal. I don't know. This is such a very important subject. I guess what I'm trying to say is we shouldn't come down hard on a stallion for doing what is natural. If the stallion has such a bad temper he is untrainable, that's a whole different story. However, judging his temperament and charater by what he does in a ring full of other breeding stallions is foolish, and could result in damaging the breed. I think you'll get people with good stallions staying away from evaluations. --- Not good for the breed. --- I'll tell you what I'd hate to see is the rewarding of characterless Fjords. Those horses that are so quiet they have no character. Read the Norwegian standards. Read the Dutch standards. Read them in my book, THE FJORDHORSE HANDBOOK. The Europeans who know a lot more about the breed than we do, don't want wimpy Fjordhorses. It's a very difficult call for the judges. -- I really don't think that a judgement on a stallion's temperament made on the basis of his performance in a ring full of other stallions has much validity. How can you judge such a thing? Don't we want "Stallion Presence" in the Fjordhorse? If we don't then we're sure a long way from the European standards. Requiring a specific performance test would go much further towards showing the true character of the stallion. What does everybody else think? Regards from Carol at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia
