[drivingpairs] Color and height and gaits of pair members in CD

I'm sure this has been asked before (apologies if it has), but for combined 
driving, do the dressage judges really care (as in noticeable score 
differences) about color when judging the pair, if it is otherwise well matched 
in movement? I have a possible future pair in mind (as the filly grows up, 
she's expected to be the same height and similar build and movement at 
maturity), but the mare is a black bay (black in winter, almost black in 
summer, just light enough to see that she has black legs), and the filly will 
darken to almost black, but thanks to liver chestnut, will have a not quite 
black coat, and about 4 colors in her mane (gwageous by herself).  Next to each 
other, it will be obvious that they both approximate black in very different 
ways :) ....  

Now for height.  In ("up-top" :) ) eventing, we're looking for just about 16 
hands.  That's what the jumps (and 10 meter circles) are designed for.  Too 
short, they can't stride right or get over. Too big, they can't stride right, 
and make the turns.  In combined driving, you have pony and full size. Is there 
an optimal full size horse size for the obstacles?  If my future pair is a 
matched 15 2.5 hands (cannon bones are so nice, aren't they?), I would assume 
that we're quite fine for driving, and that the dressage judges won't penalize 
them for not being as big (read scopey) as other horses? Not that 1.5 inches is 
the end of the planet by any means, but it got me to wondering in general ...  
After noticing how wonderfully floaty the older (4 yr old) mare's movement is, 
and how "fun" it is to ride (flat gaiters are definitely easier to ride when 
you aren't actively collecting them), though seeing how beautiful it is to 
watch, and remembering that she's a true throwback to her carriage pulling 
ancestors, with a legendary dressage sire and old mare line, she seems like a 
shoe-in for combined driving.  But then again, the Cleveland Bay Society 
doesn't like floaty movement, they like flat, ground covering movement.  And 
they were a cart horse.  What if the horse floats over the ground, covering a 
lot of ground, but floating over it?  What if the AHHA (Holsteiners, the 
legendary carthorse, with Cleveland Bay/Yorkshire Carthorse ancestors) gave her 
an 8 for this movement as a foal?  Please correct me now, before I buy her 
(just leasing now for a breeding), and then waste time pairing her off with 
this future-purchase baby :) ...      

Finally, gaits.  Of course I'll assume that trotters are preferred for combined 
driving.  Carriages are how the world got flooded with trotters, when riding 
horses were traditionally gaiteds :).  But does anyone attempt to show gaiteds, 
and if you pair up a trotter and a gaited, does the gaited trot to match?  My 
gaited (pacer) 23 yr old pulls a buggy quite nicely, just like she did a sulky 
when she was young, but what happens when you pair one up with a trotter?  I 
have photographed this mare doing all 5 gaits, including trot, so I know she's 
capable :).  Other gaiteds pop on my radar from time to time, and I'm very 
curious on the topic ....

Whew! Okay, I'm done .... thanks!
Anya










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