Is it acceptable to breed for movement...

[whitney]

I would love to see halter AND performance horses use the same conformation standard.

 

[shelia]

In my eyes the ideal halter horse and the ideal driving horse would look slightly different. The driving horse would be heavier boned and possibly slightly cowhocked. The halter horse would be very refined. Idealy they would both have perfectly straight teeth great movement, beautiful heads, and upright necks. The driving horse could have a slightly longer back than what I would like in a halter horse. While breeding for the perfect halter horse you are bound to get some that are more suited for driving. I don't know if there is a need to breed specifically for that. Maybe as the halter horse becomes more and more refined a person might want to add a bigger boned mare to the herd. From what I have seen there certainly seems to be no need for it at this time.

 

[Fred]

I have really really good driving horses and all the BREEDING horses I have for driving have straight legs. I have one gelding here that is an awesome driving horse but he is so cowhocked behind THATS why he is a gelding. My stallion has fantastic movement, pretty head and a good bite and so do all the mares here that are bred to him. He has his HOF in halter as well as performance and when we first started he was in the top five at nationals in halter. Would he be in the top five now in halter? No but in driving he excels. That is the movement we are breeding for. His sons and daughter have his movement and headset and they will be out driving next year.