HPB Kadenzia: SOLD
Congratulations to Jennifer Collman of Wisconsin. Kate has already gone to her first sport horse in hand show, where she tied for first place in her division with a 71%!
(2004 bay filly, by Aerodynamic out of H. Zsofia; breeder, Ellen Walker)
Kate is a deep-bodied, pretty filly with a gorgeous canter and a ton of personality and presence. She should mature to a powerful 15-2 to 16 hands. She is very people-oriented, and has been handled daily, trailered, clipped, ponied along rural roads and taken trail riding in the mountains with her mother. $4500
Conformation & history
You can see pictures and information on Kate’s dam by viewing Zsofi’s page. To see photos and a pedigree on her sire, click on Aerodynamic. I wish I had a good photo of Aerodynamic’s dam – she is a beautiful, deep-bodied, correct mare with lovely movement, and was a strong influence on my decision to breed to Aerodynamic.
Aerodynamic is unusually short-backed for a warmblood, and has exceptional bone, loin and hindquarters, along with a nice neck & shoulder. He also has a natural inclination to do a collected, balanced canter, and is very expressive and free in the shoulders. He is too young to have proven himself, but I spent considerable time watching him working, and he seems essentially good-natured and sensible – also exuberant. The only possible fault I might find with his conformation is that his pasterns are quite short – but Kate seems to have inherited Zsofi’s pasterns.
Kate is strikingly like her sire in looks. Not only did he stamp her with his color and markings, but she appears to have his excellent balance, with big, powerful hindquarters & coupling, short back and upright neck. The way she canters everywhere, and throws playful flying changes every few strides, is also reminiscent of her sire. I expect her to mature between 15-2 and 16 hands, and be more powerful than her dam, more refined than her sire. For a filly, she spends a lot of time rearing and doing airs above the ground, which I have found in the past to be indicative of good power from the hindquarters. She has correct, straight legs.
Kate has been a very friendly, people-oriented baby. She was not imprinted (I’m not convinced of the value of imprinting, but in any case, she was unexpectedly born three weeks early in the middle of the night, so we were not in attendance). However, she was easy to handle by the time she was three days old, and has been handled daily since birth. I am raising her the way I would want her to be raised if I keep her. Along with loading into the trailer, being sprayed for flies, picking up her feet, and having her legs and bridle path clipped, she has been ponied next to her sensible dam along our rural roads in light traffic. She has accompanied us on mountain trail rides, where she crosses water, puts up with dogs running along, climbs (or jumps) over deadfall, and follows her dam over a narrow, high wooden bridge. She stands tied for about an hour most days, while her dam works in the arena. She has been raised in a pasture, not a stall, and socializes with our other two mares (probably a good thing, since her tolerant mother doesn’t discipline her much, but the other two keep her in line).
Kadenzia is Hungarian for “cadence”. I named her for the pretty, almost passage-y, trot she did in her first few days of life (before she decided to canter nearly everywhere!).
Predicting how babies will turn out is chancy, but based both on her parents, and on what I can see now of her personality, I think Kate is likely to be a bold, sensible horse whose curiosity will be stronger than her caution. I’ve already seen her unlatch her gate once, and work at trying to untie knots. Within a few minutes of when we first showed her an umbrella, she was chasing it around. I used a plastic grocery sack to try to get her attention when I was taking pictures, and after her first look, she wasn’t impressed enough with it to alert when I waved it in front of her. When I have disciplined her for not respecting my space, she accepts the correction, and doesn’t get upset. I think she is going to be a real delight for someone.
Who should consider buying Kate:
If you would like to bring along your own young horse, and you want a dressage, combined training, pleasure or competitive trail (probably not endurance), jumping, or driving horse, Kate should have the athletic ability and temperment to do well. She should be big enough that anyone up to about 5’9” could be comfortable on her. Both parents have well-sprung ribs, so she will probably offer good support for someone with fairly long legs – but if you are really tall, you might want to look for a bigger horse.
As a general rule, it is a bad idea for a novice rider to buy a young horse. If you are a novice, you should only consider buying a baby under these conditions:
- You will be able to also buy or lease a well-trained older horse to ride for the next four years, both so you can improve, and so you won’t be tempted to rush the baby’s training; AND
- You can afford to pay for several months of professional training when it is time for the baby to be started under saddle (ideally at age four; not before age three). Assuming that by the time the baby is ready to ride you will have been riding your older horse for at least three years, you will no longer be a complete novice – but for your own safety, and the long-term well-being of the horse, you should still have a good trainer spend at least three months starting the youngster. Realize that this will cost AT LEAST $500 per month.
