Do you dislike "odd" coloured horses?

[jenal]

I have tried for a long time to sell a couple of horses that are roan...very good bloodlines, cheap prices( maybe too cheap) and generally I find that even though I mention their colour in the ads, that when pics are sent,
the colour of them is a turn off....what do you think? Would you by a horse of a different colour?

[The Sales Barn]

I think everyone usually has a colour preference (mine is grey!), but I can't say that I wouldn't buy an "odd" coloured horse. For showing it can be both good and bad to stand out in the crowd, so I can see how that might affect a buyer. Riding a roan in the hunter ring for example would get some attention.

You might be right about the price being too cheap. Maybe raise it a bit, and see what happens.

Good luck!

[Marti Langley]

jenal, where are you located? Roans seem to be quite popular here in sunny California. I think they are really beautiful , myself. Post some pics if you can. And think about raising the price some.

[Fiona Hill]

Don't let the 'colour snobs' put you off, although it is true, everyone has their preference. First time I bought a grey even though I liked chestnut and second time I fell for beautiful but totally inappropriate chestnut even though I wanted a bay! I think anyone who is only interested in the colour is not the person you would want to own your horses anyway! It's like saying 'oh I only go for blondes' - way too shallow! :-)

[Petstorejunkie]

roan doesnt bother me (unless it's a WB), but i would never buy a paint, pleh. (personal preference of course)
or these goofy warmblood colors now adays... i guess i'm a traditionalist when it comes to color

[jenal]

lol...well, yes they are both Warmbloods! :)

The 4 year old is an Oldenburg/QH X and the yearling is Oldenburg/Dutch Warmblood...and both can be registered
in a variety of open stud book WB registries.
Unless of course, the inspectors are colour snobs too! :)

[Petstorejunkie]

see, to me if its mixed with a non-warmblood, it's not a warmblood.... ah but i am not the authority. i think that's why i dislike them.
I used to ride this BIG 18h hano import years ago, he was aged when i was a teenager (so long before these color fads) and his quality is in a whole different ballgame than today's warmbloods. is it from color breeding? can't say for sure, but there is a definite difference in what he was and what warmbloods are today.

perhaps you are encoutering the same mind set in the market? i'm not really sure; (i'm actually a TB person ;)

[Jennifer Lamm]

When I got into horses my friend gave me four books. They were written by Mark Rashid.... one was "A good horse is never a bad color".... and yes I would... I find Roans with soft eyes and ears to be lovely creatures. :) If they don't kick or strike or bite they can be purple for all I care...

Hey Petstorejunkie!! :)

[Over Fences]

Good horses come in every color, and so do bad ones. It is perfectly fine to prefer one color over another, and there's nothing shallow about it. Thats like saying you're a shallow "colorsnob" If you have Irish Setters, and not one dog of every color, people just like different things.

I would ride, or buy a horse of any color if everything else was perfect.

My personal tastes have gone from loving bays with 4 white sox and a blaze face as a child, to Blacks, to currently having a fascination with dun factor and creme dilute horses.
I love every shade of Buckskin, Grullo, and Dun. But the quality of my broodstock is in no way sacrificed because I produce Dun & Buckskin foals.

I think It's unfair for people like "Petstorjeunkie". To be so judgemental of "mixed" with non- warmblood horses. And to simplify what people like myself are doing with our Sporthorses and Warmbloods as Color Fads and goofy. Perhaps there are some unsound, strictly for color based programs but many of us are educated and are breeding responsibly.

We are lucky to live in an age of knowledge and wealth, and that we are able accomplish things with our breeding programs that previous generations had to master to over years or decades, and through "trial and error" procecesses.

No Warmblood breed is maintained by closed studbook breeding, So the words cross or grade never apply to these types. An unapproved Warmblood is still a Warmblood in type and purpose.

The best Stallions often are admitted to multiple books. And the best are often only 1/2 WB or not at all. It is because color is irrelevant that our modern day Sporthorses and Warmbloods are now available in every imaginable color or pattern. I would hope that our American Warmbloods continue to evolve and meet modern sporting demands, Like the european Warmbloods have for centuries.

The Hanoverian breed was established in 1735 using fourteen black Holsteiner Studs, crossed to "native" mares, and then later refined trough the grading in of Thoroughbred and Cleveland bay blood. The stud book remains an open studbook, and horses from other registries as well as thoroughbreds continue to make the cut.

So how Ms. Petstorjunkies, do you justify calling anyone goofy for "crossbreeding" their horses? And yes there is a huge difference in the Warmbloods that we see today in America. They are no longer the massive 18 hand military types that were being sent over here in the 50's and 60's when European sporthorse demands were veering towards lighter faster horses for the Olympic Disciplines.

Alot of people spent alot of money on those huge Warmbloods back then, but you dont see those lines anymore because the modern Warmblood lines are the ones doing all the winning.

[Bri Harrison]

I agree,

I have my preference of dappled horses. I don't care what the colour, bay, dun, even black *although not very common* simply because I like dapples. I also adore paints, and *again* duns.

However, I have part boarded a lovely pony that was chestnut, a beasty little freight train black pony, and then I also leased 2 other ponies (coincidentally also black and chestnut) However, I rode my friend's grey connemara pony for her when she was away on vacation, and I loved it. Probably the nicest pony I've ever ridden.

I agree that colours have nothing to do with the quality of the horse. I have my preferences of "odd" colours, but colour does not in the slightest affect what I think of a horse. I'm looking at around 7 horses over the next couple weeks, because I'm looking at buying, and if memory serves me correct, I am looking at 2 bays, 2 chestnuts, a dappled black *first time I've ever seen one* , a grey and a pinto. Any horse in good condition with a nice coat can have a nice colour. I've seen stunning horses of every colour except, unfortunately, purple as Jennifer mentioned ;]

[Petstorejunkie]

Howdy Jennifer *waves*

I think cross breeding is "goofy" the same way I think crossing a beagle and a whippet together and calling it a beagle is goofy. If it's a performance horse (bred for a specific purpose regardless of breed crossings), then call it a performance horse, not a purebred when it's a mixed breed.

I'll fully admit i am not the authority when it comes to WB breeding, but as an outsider looking at the various warmblood breeds i have to scratch my head at the logic

[jenal]

when it comes to WB breeding and breeds being "goofy", one must remember that their books are open because they still consider themselves a growing and developing breed, and considering that some registries have been around since the eighteen hundreds and they still realize that there is no such thing as perfect and there is always room for improvement, to me is nothing but a good thing.

After all, thoroughbreds and quarter horses, didn't start out as anything of the sort when someone decided they wanted to breed a good cowhorse or a good racehorse...so no matter what, every breed has done the same thing that the WB breeders are doing now.

[Petstorejunkie]

ah, okay so really the breed is not established the same way, say a lippizzan is with 6 foundation sires. Every lippi on the planet has ancestry with 1 or more of the foundation sires. Since all my breed experience is with TB's and Lippis, you can see where i'd be a tad confused by the warmblood registry.