Nobody knows what quality means anymore.

This stallion is not breeding material. This is where I have a problem with the damn color breeders. They overlook all the other aspects that make a horse truly superior all in the pursuit of color. This stallion is a woppin' 15 hands and has no hip to speak of. The hocks are too upright and he has short pasterns. The front end is pretty enough, but the back end is mediocre at best. He'd make a nice gelding.


Now, if we were to compare him with this gorgeous example of another piebald stallion (as to avoid bias), note the difference. Nice, filled out hindquarters, good muscle tone, broad face, solid legs, compact build. He's a decent height, too. 16.1. It's impossible to tell his temperament or general health from a picture, and he's not absolutely perfect, but he's a good overall example of a quality stud.

As I've said before, I only believe in breeding top quality horses. Especially in today's economy. Top quality doesn't simply pertain to successful show careers and boxes upon boxes of ribbons. Now, a lot of quality horse owners show their horses because that's what they're capable of, but the number of rosettes doesn't necessarily determine a horse's quality. Top quality means being above all others in conformation, health, temperament, athletic ability, everything. These are the horses that you breed. Not poor quality/ grade horses.

I've been browsing Craigslist lately and I can't believe the horses that are going for $500 or less. Most of them being broodmares or yearlings. None of them were even close to breeding quality. And the owner are trying to sell them because the tough economic times, when the horses aren't even trained to ride. Hmm... let's see. You breed them as many times as you can started when they're 3 years old and you didn't even bother to give them any kind of decent training? When are they going to realize that there are no homes for these horses? Nobody wants a couple of unfortunate looking grade mares that are barely halter trained. It's the sad reality. Every horse deserves a good life, attractive or not, but it's anybody's charity case. Don't they realize that horses like that usually end up with dealers or already overflowing rescues? And yet they keep breeding more. It defies all logic.

If breeding was regulated and kept on a tight leash, we wouldn't have this problem. Instead, horses are allowed to reproduce indiscriminately and therefor adding to the death toll at the slaughterhouse. Very sad.