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Our Breeding Philosophy Our Philosophy Our Horses For Sale / Previously Sold Contact Us Home |
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Our Breeding Philosophy Our Philosophy Our Horses For Sale / Previously Sold Contact Us Home |
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Our Vision |
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To breed correctly built, easily trained, good tempered affordable sporthorses for the amateur.
What is a "good temperament"? Everyone can mean something different by saying that their horses have good temperament.This is what we mean: Calm, trusting, curious, people oriented, attentive, active, playful, respectful, friendly While there is no way we can know for sure what personality our foals will eventually have, we can give them the best chance of having good temperament by picking for them parents with those qualities. We all have our part to play in making our horses braver and more trusting but what you breed into your horse you don’t have to teach!
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Our Breeding Philosophy |
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Why the Warmblood and the Andalusian? In Europe both the Andalusian and the Warmblood were specifically bred to be riding horses. Both are strong horses with 3 good gaits and quiet yet bold temperaments. They both have good bone and muscle mass and are particularly suited to the English riding disciplines be it dressage, jumping, eventing or driving. They are also generally built uphill making their hindquarters easier to bring underneath themselves.
Why the Saddlebred? This American breed was developed for over 200 years to be a good saddle horse, comfortable, tractable and with a good dose of stamina. The American Saddlebred is built uphill, has an excellent head and neck carriage. It is a very generous and active horse (lots of go). It generally has a playful if sometime high-strung nature. To complement this very light, active, strong trotting breed it is desirable in our opinion to cross breed to a more quiet, substantial, good cantering breed. The European Warmblood and the Andalusian can each fit the bill so to speak.
Why crossbreed? Cross breeding is at the origin of many breed of horses. Where would the thoroughbred be today without the influence of the Arab? The Hanoverian would still be a large heavy draft horse if not for the infusion of thoroughbred blood. Just as in-breeding (or line breeding) re-enforces desired (and undesired, unfortunately) traits and qualities and amplifies them, cross breeding seeks to combine the best of both parents. Generally speaking in cross breeding you can : 1- Breed similar type together (i.e. draft horse to draft horse) 2- Cross two different types together (thoroughbred to draft, quarter horse to TB etc..) At Formosus we focus on breeding like to like. Yet in striving to maximize the genetic diversity that can yield hybrid vigor we selected breeds that have had no contact at all in their genetic history. Since we strive to produce a riding horse we think it just made sense to cross breeds that were specifically bred to be riding horses.
Why purebreds? Warmbloods have proven time and time again that they are particularly good at the english disciplines. For some the warmblood is the ideal combination of size, temperament and athletic ability. We aim to offer quality warmblood foals at reasonable prices for those that seek those particular characteristics.
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Care and Handling |
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Care and Handling Our mares are kept as close to natural condition as possible. They roam all summer long in the pastures with their foal and our stallion. In winter they are fed mostly hay with a supplement of grain (oat, barley and corn) and some minerals. Although free to roam all year long they are handled daily and trained to be riding horses. When too heavy in foal to be ridden they are hand walked along the canals or the road to keep fit and keep seeing the world. The foals are handled daily with a special emphasis early in their life. They learn their manners from their dams and from us. They are fed minerals and some protein supplement from their third month on as well as de-wormed and trimmed regularly.
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But... What can I do with a foal??? |
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But….what can I do with a foal? Buying a young horse allows you to have the most influence on its development. Good relationships start early. You will get no better horse than the one you raise yourself, not to mention the joy of seeing it develop over time. A lot of time people don't know what to do with a youngster because it can't be ridden. There is so much more to owning and training a horse then just riding it! Lipizzaners are not ridden until they are 6! The better your relationship on the ground, the better it will be when you eventually ride him! Here are some examples but don’t let that limit you!
Year 1: A yearling can get used to:
Year 2:As a two years old
Year 3
Year 4
If you are not sure if you can do all that or if you want more ideas contact us! We will be glad to give you pointers.
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A word about our prices. |
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A word about our prices We don’t breed for profit; we breed to produce beautiful horses that are within the reach of the discriminating amateur that wants to invest time into a long term partner. At this point in our life horse breeding is not our livelihood but a hobby. I would not jeopardize my financial future or that of my children to buy a beautiful athletic horse, neither should you! Yet breeding horses cost money: stud fee, vet fee, mare care, feed and supplements travel, registration, advertising and time. Our price will reflect both of these realities.
Our foals are priced as followed (prior to weaning): Saddlebred crosses are $2,500 to $3,500 Warmbloods are $4,000 to $8,000 Price goes up by $500 after weaning
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Comments / Questions / Inquiries / Suggestions |
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Like Minded Folks |
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Links Golden Venture Farm http://goldenventurefarm.com/ Three Hat Farm http://www.threehatsfarm.com/breeding.html Friesian Color Farm http://friesiansincolor.homestead.com Cante Winds Farm http://www.cantewindsfarm.com/ Flying W Farm http://www.flyingwfarms.com/ Americana Sporthorse Registry http://www.americanasporthorse.com/ Saddlebred Sporthorse Association http://www.americansaddlebredsporthorse.com/index.html Dutch Warmblood and Gelderlander http://www.onestone.com/OneStoneGelderlanders.htm
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Our Location: |
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