[wild_spot]

ANY horse can do ANYTHING if trained the correct way.

WRONG. I can tell you now that not ONE of my horses could jump an olympic height showjump course no matter how well trained they were. My Arab could NEVER be successful in WP no matter how well trained. My stockhorse could NEVER do well in an open hack class no matter how well trained. Most sprint bred TB's could NEVER bury their *** in the sand after a cow like a QH cutter.

Conformation and mind DEFINATELY matter.

If your statement was true, then there would be NO point of having individual breeds.

That is the most ignorant statement I have ever heard.

 

[wild_spot]

Training cannot override build - It cannot replace want or try or mental aptitude. It can't support a horse with weak hocks enough to be sound to do high level cutting. It can't change a WP horses natural low head carriage to enable it to do modern dressage. It can't create the instinct to work a cow.

 

[wild_spot]

Wow. I am in awe. You must be fighting off clients with a stick if you have found a way to get a 20yo pony with ringbone to compete a full day of polocrosse. A miniature to go around a CCI*** cross country course. An OTTB with weak hocks and soundness issues to get on the ground and cut a cow.

I bow in deferance to your greatness. Share your secret?

 

[wild_spot]

But BROADLY it isn't. And I happen to think this is worth argueing over - plus you're making me laugh, so it's fun as well! Win/win!

Also - You failed to take into account gaited breeds. They can do MANY things that no other breed can possibly do. They also cannot do things that many non-gaited breed can.

A CORRECT statement would be - Any horse with decent conformation and a sound mind can do most disciplines successfully at a low level. There may be exceptions who can and do go to great heights in an unconventional discipline, but they are few and far between.

Breeds are breeds for a reason - Their type excelled at a job so people wanted to preserve it. Why do you think 99% of reiners and cutters and WP horses are QH? Why 99% of flat sprint racers are TB's? Why 99% of endurance horse are Arabs?

If someone wanted to get seriously into Endurance, would you reccomend an Arab, or a QH?

 

[wild_spot]

Politically correct? That was the last thing on my mind.

OF COURSE horses can be cross trained. I have an arab that jumps, does dressage, does MG, does gameing (zone highpoint for half a decade), works stock, plays polocrosse, and is now at a riding for the disabled school. I have never owned a horse that I have done less than say, 5 different disciplines with.

I am a HUGE believer that horses can and SHOULD do many different disciplines.

However - Saying that ANY horse can do ANYTHING is ignorant and downright false. It really is. I probably wouldn't have taken such offense if she hadn't called Kevin ignorant and then spouted that statement :]

I am in no way bashing Mustangs. We don't have them here, but we have our own equivalent - The brumby. I have competed on one for a season - he was a lovely, simply little horse. I did quite well on him. I like brumbies - they are tough little ******s. But for some reason every one I have seen has a really large head, lol. But anyway - The point is - They make great allrounders. But as a specialised competition horse, they aren't the best choice out there. They require a lot more work, time, and knowledge to get to a certain point than a purpose bred horse would. That's all Kevin said - And someone took offense and called him ignorant, which is far from the truth.

 

[wild_spot]

If horses were as versatile as BP seems to think then you simply would not have disciplines that are so completely dominated by one breed - QH in cutting and reining, Arabs in Endurance, etc.

 

[wild_spot]

anyhow, another thought i would say is i would almost rather prefer a good "all around" horse that has the best genetics available opposed to a highly specialized horse that's potentially inbred for generations and generations.

And perfectly understandable! It's hard to beat a good allround horse.

However - I don't know about the US but our brumbies here are nowhere near best genetics - Because no one is monitoring their breeding they inbreed, they breed bad to bad and often magnify undesirable traits. You might get one in twenty brumbies that are buitl anywhere near as well as your average decently bred competition horse.

Breeding for competition horses is a bit different betweent he two countries I think, as well. At least in my breed there is little to no in-breeding or line-breeding. There are generally only 5-10 tap root or foundation sires that might appear on papers more than once - And generally once on the top and once on the bottom, way back.

So generally, buying a purpose bred horse is a better chance at good genetics than a brumby/wild horse.