2003 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event

Rolex Breeders Symposium: The Effects of Dressage

A dilemma facing breeders now is that the future of the sport of eventing is uncertain: if everything changes to a CIC format, then more emphasis will be placed on dressage and show jumping and the warmblood types may become predominant. If the CCI format endures, then thoroughbred types, or more likely thoroughbred crosses such as the Irish Sport Horse, will reign.

David O’Connor said, “The evolution of the sport is something we can’t stop. Dressage is lighter and more fluid than twenty years ago. Eventing used to have two combinations on the cross-country course; now you have so many efforts, and you need an adjustable horse that you can maneuver. Sport horses are on the increase straight across the board. It’s up to us to find the best tools for breeding sport horses. I’m a believer that we must change or get left behind. We need to organize our thinking because the planning takes years.”

The first presenter on Thursday, Dr. Peter Birdsall has been researching pedigrees since the 1960’s. He pointed out that most event horses are either Thoroughbreds or “near-Thoroughbreds” and that most of the horses in the US come out of the racing industry.

According to Birdsall, factors to consider when matching a sire and dam include: conformation, soundness, boldness, movement, rideability and pedigree. He developed what he calls “The Blueprint of an Event Horse” based on the pedigrees of 61 successful event horses, studying the durability of the bloodlines based on performance and the number of racing starts where applicable. Interestingly, he noted that often the dam had a mediocre career on the track and that the maternal grandsires of these exceptional event horses were often stakes winners.

His conclusions were that top class event horses come from soundness and speed, noting that the sires of top event horses tend to also produce successful steeplechasers.

Emerson noted that in their research, these breeders have focused on the United States. “We haven’t looked at Ireland or England or any other countries,” he said. “It’s a big world out there.”

Gary Lavin, a selector for racehorse sales including nine years at the Keeneland Sales, talked about what to look for when assessing a horse physically. “Form is function,” he said. “When you look at a horse step back and look at him and imagine what you can see him doing.”

Lavin presented a slide show with photos of all of the horses competing in this year’s Rolex Kentucky CCI**** and made comments on a few of the horses’ conformation. Pippa Funnell, who ultimately won the event, looked on nervously as he took apart her gelding Primmore’s Pride’s conformation piece by piece, interjecting that the photo didn’t do her horse justice, which in. all fairness it didn’t

Ultimately Lavin said, “If you’re satisfied that the horse is adaptable and has common sense you’re halfway home right there.”