>>> I ring stewarded a local show today... and was approached by a gal who has a smallish WB who wants to cross with some sport ponies. I think that as American's we have a different view of cross breds, because as long as my mare meets certain criteria she can be accepted into the Sport Pony mare book and her babies would be 'cross breds' but would be registerable as long as they pass inspection. ... Is that cross breeding? Or is it bettering the breed because I have a 'nice' mare?
Sport Ponies probably can't be considered a breed, but instead a registry. I'm not saying that's bad, just that it's a little different. But, regardless, I bought the QH X Mustang mare, Gracie, as a weanling because I knew her mom, several aunts and uncles, and her grandsire, all on the QH side. I have no idea why her mom's elderly owner decided to breed her, and to a mustang instead of another QH, but he did, and then realized his health wasn't good enough to keep up with a mare and foal. I bought her quickly to get her out of her situation, before he changed his mind - I'd tried to buy her mom before and he wouldn't sell her. Gracie has a lot of characteristics of her mom's family, three correct and lovely gaits for hunter and/or dressage use, so I looked into having her registered as either a Sport Pony or an American Warmblood - she would have had to qualify for either. (I think I remember that she ended up marginally too small at 14.1 1/2 H to qualify for the American Warmbloods, but that was a while ago.) I doubt I would have ever gone through with breeding her anyway, but then she developed the back problems when she was about 6 years old, so that clinched my decision. She recovered from the problem, but we never knew exactly what caused it, other than acupuncture stopped the symptoms. The vets who did the full workup for her back at Va. Tech actually said she was a good candidate to be a breeding mare, but I just couldn't think about breeding her any more. I wouldn't risk her back pain recurring, nor would I want any baby to end up with similar back problems. I never pursued registering her after that, although she has been a nice riding horse again since the acupuncture. She's never been bred, and is the last type of horse I'd ever consider mixing with an Icelandic - she's just way too different to have any clue what might result. If people want to get picky, a lot of horses who've been to the Olympics are "mutts" - some American and some European...but they are some darned valuable and talented mutts. Personally, I'm not as offended by people breeding compatible, nicely conformed, talented horses of different breeds as I am by people who think it's ok to breed any horse just because the horse happens to be registered, no matter what problems the registered horse might have. Karen Thomas, NC
