I greatly appreciate your tactfullness. I always respect a person who has gived great thought to what they have said and have taken the time to explain where they are coming from. I may not agree with all of your points, but I do respect you for them.
LOL... I didn't think I was contradicting myself. Truth be told, I have not participated in an I&C and I guess I am niave about it. In theory... it is to be used as a breeding tool so that you will know your horses strengths and weaknesses as told to you by a panel of unbiased expert judges who know the breed and know the standards.
I will say, the Fjord registry is a lot easier to understand as far as what is considered per breed standard and what is considered a fault. Too bad I like Haflingers much better than Fjords though!!! (sorry Fjord lovers) It's a shame that our registry couldn't take some cues from them when it comes to their marketing and online presence. Don't get me wrong, I like the American Haflinger Registry, and I understand how the registry works and who to ask and what to ask. I have been a member for awhile, so it is not so confusing for me. But based on the questions that keep coming up year after year from Haflinger owners on this list, not everyone finds it easy to understand the purpose of the AHR and what the different programs they offer are about.
That being said though, the Fjord registry to me seems more beginner friendly... everything is in writing and all laid out before you. Their inspection book actually has illustrations. They have a book on how to hold a Fjord show, what to expect etc... (They EVEN have a "pie eating" contest as part of their Fjord show. The horses are served pies of apples or carrots!)
Anyhow... as far as making a breed easy for a newbie to really become involved in and to understand the registry, seems like the Fjord folk have it figured out. I went and checked the Dreamhorse listings in the US yesterday. There were 194 Haflingers listed for sale and 52 Fjords listed. I can only surmise that they also have owner retention from that number... or perhaps more careful breeding practices?
I know I am most likely walking on thin ice when bringing up another breed on the list, but I guess we can learn things by looking to see what others are doing and are helping them to be successful.
Your Haffiefriend,
~Kiola~
Breir, WA
PS... sometimes some of the things you say remind me much of some friends here on the West coast (Clatskanie, Oregon) who used to own an enormous number of registered Haflingers... Some of the things you have been talking about on this list have been eerily similar to things they would tell me. Did you know Randy or Lorna Bergman of Fall Creek Farms?
--- In haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com, "rivervalleyph" <rivervalleyph@...> wrote:
>
> Kiola,
> Don't take this wrong, as I do agree with much of what you have said, however, be careful not to contradict yourself here as the I&C IS in my opinion, very "trendy". If you don't think so, take a horse that was classified twenty years ago and re-classify them against todays standards. You might be surprised! Sure you can appeal, however, I have not EVER seen where appealing a score and re-classifying a horse has ever made much more than a points difference. Sure, there is debate on the classification scoring system, and how to get all judges to see through the same eyes- good luck! Everyone of us likes certain traits in horses more than others. Every person does NOT want the SAME horse. There IS NO way of creating a perfect situation in classification, or judging. It is a personal opinion, and yes, it is influenced to the best of its ability, for structure and traits or characteristics, but NO THREE PEOPLE will have the EXACT SAME score very often. That is what makes each and every one of us and our horse unique!!!!!!
> Also- my opinion again, but the I&C is ONLY ONE TOOL to help a person with breeding. There is MUCH more to breeding then a score on an I&C chart. In this country it is NOT mandated at this point for I&C. We, the people, have a chance to influence the breed with OUR standards for the breed as well as the WHF and the AHR's standards. The intergrity of the breed should not be comprimised in my opinion. Just to breed for numbers is wrong in my opinion. To breed with purpose IS what MOST people who are serious about breeding do and have done. I don't feel that most people want to deter from anything less than what we have now.
> One more thing...if we only bred the top mares, do you understand how that affects the gene pool? Most of the top mares are closely related to each other- if you do not understand the lineage of the haflinger, and how to strengthen and develop the breed beyond today and its best of today, then I do not think you should critisize others. There are many lines of Haflingers that need NOT to die out because they are NOT Todays "TOP" quality!
> Really- how many good haflingers are there out there that nobody wants? Please let me know- my doors are welcome to haflingers that have no home and are not beyond 40 and ready to be laid to rest!!
> I know of many haflingers for sale, I will admit, but none that NEED a home and people are willing to give away for free, that are in good health. Not grades either please... I am breeder don't forget!
> Not to say that what you wrote isn't very correct in a lot of ways, and I do agree with many parts of it- be sure you understand breeding, that the outcome is a foal, and what you are planning to do with it, but Kiola, I guess I do not know many haflinger breeders who are just breeding to breed right now, if ever.
> And most on this chat are owners of one or two haflingers, not a breeding program for sure, so I do understand your thoughts here. But a person still has a right to breed a mare if he or she wants to and yes they should be responsible about it, but I don't think they have to have the top horse in the country to breed, today, yesterday or tomorrow. OK, I'll step down now. Have a good night, and don't take this all personal, it is my opinion just as yours was your opinion. I respect you for that and sincerely hope you do the same in return.
> Sincerely,
> Your haflinger friend as well,
> Dawn
>
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