[drivingpairs] Color and height and gaits of pair members in CD
- From: atascill@xxxxxxxx
- To: drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 21:32:25 GMT
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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