OscarEra said it all for me:

"He's the best of a bad bunch."


Of COURSE he's not a total 180 from what is winning in the halter ring -- have you EVER known the industry to move that fast in terms of fads? It's absolutely RIDICULOUS to think that he could be a complete departure from what is winning now and still win a world championship. That's not reality.

NOW... he's got a MUCH better topline than a lot of popular stallions out there. See BR Maximus. Bleh.

Is it perfect from a performance standpoint? No. Is his hind leg structure perfect from a performance standpoint? Again, No.

But what I see in him is a glimmer of hope in an industry that has, until recently, obsessed over how BIG a horse is instead of how CORRECT it is.

It started with Golden Gunslinger... when all the halter horses were 16+ whales, he was shorter (but still a whale). He still won. Not saying I like him, either, but it's the same sort of thing... they tried something different, and succeeded. And now people actually think more about correctness than height, which is good.

Now it's continued with De Renzo... less bulk, more grace, better attachment of the neck to the shoulders... while I don't think he's the absolute MESSIAH of Quarter Horse breeding... I think he IS a positive move for the industry. He's much more balanced than a lot of what is out there, that's for sure.

His win photo from his yearling stallion WC:

image

Now, somewhere I have a picture of the colt who came in SECOND to him... if you saw that, you'd realize... he IS DEFINITELY a step in the right direction.

RE: collecting him as a yearling -- they are probably going to syndicate him, if they already haven't. Who wants to buy lifetime breeding shares to a colt that shoots blanks? If they collected him as a yearling... that's their own business.

We need more people speaking out. This country is not overrun with rebels and free thinkers. It's overrun with sheep and conformists. - Bill Maher

The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done. -- George Carlin

Last Edited By: ohforcryingoutloud Apr 3 08 7:44 AM. Edited 1 times.