Being a very small British breeder i.e. owning our own very quiet, well mannered stallion and a lovely allaround mare both with points and breeding one foal a year with a view to sell - i certainly agree we should look to the UK first. I show my stallion in order to display to people what a nice individual he is and give folks an idea of what his progeny may be like and beleive me luckily they are as nice as him with level heads and excellent temperaments! However i do believe that some youngstock (that have done nothing) in this country is overpriced and perhaps this is why people look to the states. I agree about the importing geldings i'm sure good ones can be sourced in this country again though people may find cheaper ones in the states and be able to import them too! importing mares and stallions for use of breeding however (perhaps showing first) is i beleive improving the overall genepool here in the UK. Showing UK horses against these horses is challeging but rewarding when you do acheive good results.

Hi Michelle, I think we have some lovely youngstock here - twice now we've gone to the US to look and ended up buying in the UK. People like to have the choice though and it's certainly easier and cheaper to import than it used to be.
There is certainly a definite shortage of nice, ready-to-go-show, mature horses though, ones that are capable of performing to a high level and have been shown extensively without souring.
What is the name of your stallion?
regards, Amanda

I do agree that there is a shortage of ready to show mature horses over here - and then when they do come up for sale they are relatively expensive and perhaps cheaper ones could be sourced in the states. Amanda my stallion as pictured is Warralee Mr Montana for a free pedigree and show history for him, his sire/dam and offspring go to www.aqha.com.au and click on studbook type in his name or number - Q-35481 and you can get all the info you need. He also has AQHA points but of course you have to pay to see those!

Hi.....
I'm now the proud owner of my third qh bought from the uk, (although their mums were imported in foal,does this count?)
Jac, who is now four has been really successful in the show ring and a lovely boy to be around, i now have his brother.. hopefully he'll be similar.
I do understand though, why people want to import older, made horses.
Youngsters are hard work, but definately worth it.

There are many good horses in the uk, but as in all situations there will also be the not so good. I also know of a couple of people who've had disasters with their imports...not being what they thought they were and i think knowing their history is very important (if the seller is honest!)

I think providing people do their research, finding out the temperament of other offspring, conformation, trainability etc.buying in the uk or importing doesn't really make any difference. If people are breeding good horses, they'll sell wherever they're from.

Here are some Gouchos from Argentina



My horse is imported from Aregentina, I wonder what everyone is ranting about - just think of all the cows you eat from Argentina!! they travel for weeks before getting chopped up and put in your mouths!!

Here is my Criollo

[b]appynospots wrote:

And while I am on a rant, if you want a safe plod, buy a cob, instead of a criollo. Ever considered what a pitance must be paid for those horses in south America before they are brought over here!
Is it ethical to import horses from abroad when the UK is so overstocked that tradgedies such as Spindles farm are in the news everyweek!
[/b]



omg- how can you generalise like this on the criollos- and how dare you say that they';re a "safe PLOD!!" i have a criollo- and yes he is imported and he's a youngster but he's well trained, very forward going, athletic and moves like lightning. he is so far away form a cob that you may as well compare a shetland and a cleveland bay!

And why is it ok for people to import QH (i own one of these as well by the way but he was bred in england) but not criollos? criollos are used for many different diciplines not just as a sensible riding horse (which they do excel at btw) , but for endurance, western pleasure, working cattle , polo and eventing. I know many people with them now and i fell in love with the breed last year after riding a friends criollo she uses for polo- who is now 28 and still active and raring to go (not playing polo still obviously ). I rode many different types of criollos and fell for a 4 year old chap who is proving to be an absolute star.


I looked for many months to find a horse which would be a good allrounder and that would be safe to take on trail rides and pub rides in the new forest (there are many things which terrify horses here- wild cattle, pigs, ponies,deer etc) and rode loads of different horses and the ones i found to be consistently calm and non spooky when out hacking was the criollos. I love quarterhorses and if i could have found one which would have been suitable i would have easily have gone for one but didnt even get to try one out as there was none for sale - i wanted a gelding, over 15.1h between ages of 4 and 7 and there was nothing at the time that was trained to a reasonable level and was level headed.

I love my criollo and don't regret buying him for a second and it really irritates me when people like you come on and do a post like this which is such a generalisation that it's laughable.

my 4 year old criollo archie freeschooling




Post edited by: Trio, at: 2008/04/15 12:10

Post edited by: Trio, at: 2008/04/15 12:11