Dumbloods

Around here people have a special name for those behemoth sized horses that people use for English disciplines.... and it's not nice....

Maybe it is their long ears or big brown eyes... or maybe it is the lumbering roll of their walk or maybe that they can be a little slower minded than other breeds but either way, "Dumblood" is an affectionate, if not slightly inflammatory nick name for various warmblood breeds.

I will admit that I've used this term once or twice before!

But while I generally feel entitled to hold any prejudice I see fit, I usually try to due so based on an educated opinion. Which I am sorely lacking in this instance.

What in God's green earth am I talking about?

I havent a clue! That was my pathetic attempt at introducing the fact that I am going to bore you all .... *the silence echos* or the one or two of you who read this.... with yet another breed post.

I've discovered that my knowledge of the various Warmblood breeds is seriously lacking and so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone by researching and writing a post about them... . But before I got very far at all I realized that before discussing warmblood breeds we really must explore the difference between open stud books (which the average warmblood breed association holds) and the more common closed book registry's like the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) , The Jockey Club, Arabian Horse Association, Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC), American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) etc..

Actually, we dont really need to do anything of the sort but if I am going to write a long, rambling and boring post anyways, so I mind as well.

Where where we?

Ah yes! Closed Book vs. Open Book. You know I just realized that people have a little registry of sexual partners too! Its called a Little Black Book!

Sorry.

A stud book is quite simply the registry, or records, controlled by a breed association that keep track of pedigrees, births and breedings and issue registration certificates. They also control which horses qualify to be registered within their breed association based on one, some, or all of the following: conformation, movement, pedigree, performance record, and offspring record.


A closed stud book like the AQHA only allows foals to be registered if both parents are registered stock from within their association. Some exceptions apply in a few "closed" books (AQHA allows Thoroughbred registered stock in their Appendix registery, Appaloosa allows AQHA blood etc.) but no "grade" (unregistered horses) are allowed and only very limited outside influence from other registered breeds.

At one point in time AQHA had an open stud book as their objective was to develop a breed. They "closed" the stud book when they determined that they had reached their objective and wished to preserve the breed qualities of that horse by not allowing influence from outside breeds.

Whereas many Warmblood breed association books are considered "open", meaning that they accept a number of specific breeds in to their registry and a few even accept"grade" stock so long as the breeding mare or stallion passes an inspection by the registry. The reason for this is because their objective is to breed a horse best suited for a specific discipline (usually eventing, dressage and show jumping.) and so they do not choose to exclude a superior horse, with the movement, conformation or ability they are looking for merely for lack of the appropriate sire and dam.


Some breed registry's even require their own registered stock to be rated and approved by the registry in order for any of their offspring to qualify for registration. This ensures that all of their registered stock have the physical qualities they are looking for within the breed.

So, now that we have that down, maybe you'd like to consider the pluses and minuses of closed book vs open book registries.

Or perhaps you'd rather not.

Either way this weekend stay tuned for a breed post on Warmbloods.

*cue suspenseful music*

And then next week....

*Count Dracula voice*

My rant about the AQHA...closed book registries and the future (or lack thereof) of the QHs breed!

Bwahahaha!!

Sorry...

I'll go now.

Bye.