The other day on the internet I read someone's comment about the
number of sport horse people who started out on Appaloosas, but "graduated
up" to a Warmblood. Over the past several years, I have run into a number
of folks who admit to having started out with an Appaloosa, but "moved up"
to a Hanovarian, Thoroughbred, or Quarter Horse. This concept has been
niggling at me. I do have difficulty with the concept that the Appaloosa
is somehow lacking, that it needs "graduating from."
I have been mulling this over, trying to decipher the factors that might
play into why people move away from the Appaloosa breed. I think I finally
have a handle on it: we are doing it to ourselves. You, me, and the
Appaloosa breeder down the road are all playing our parts in the sabotage
of the Appaloosa.
First, industry-wide, we are an apologetic bunch. I rarely see anyone
standing tall and proud, proclaiming, "He's an Appaloosa!" with the same
enthusiasm one hears the Dressage Queens use when identifying their
European Warmbloods. Instead we kind of duck our heads, shuffle our feet a
little in the dust, and say, "Eh, he's an App." We don't even say
"Appaloosa;" we say "App" or "Appy." (Come on, you don't hear the Quarter
Horse folks referring to their beloved breed as "Quarts," nor do those
Dressage Queens call their steeds "EWarms.") Others' horses merit full
breed recognition. Why must we, within our own chosen breed, belittle
them?
Along the same lines, we accept the phraseology of "improvement stallion"
when referring to another breed covering an Appaloosa mare, or
"improvement mare" when the Appaloosa stallion covers another breed. The
Appaloosa is a perfectly good breed in and of itself. The intent of
planned cross-breeding is to produce some type of specialty horse. I
propose that each of us, upon hearing the term "improvement" applied to
the other breed, gently correct the situation by saying something like,
"Oh, you mean a 'specialty stallion/mare.' Yes, that pairing would make a
good cross-bred." And then, taking that one step further, when referring
to the resulting cross-bred foal, giving it full breed recognition for the
strengths of both breeds: Appaloosa/Arabian cross, Appaloosa/Thoroughbred
cross, Appaloosa/Quarter Horse cross.
Second, we undervalue our Appaloosas. If we look at the number of ICAA
F-3's and F-4's available, there are less than 150 known to this
organization. That means that out of the vast number of horses existing in
the world (of all breeds), only 150 of them have highly concentrated
Appaloosa genetics. That makes them pretty rare. There are more
Lipizzaners in the United States than there are F-3 and F-4 Appaloosas,
and the Lipizzaner is considered a rare breed! So what do I see us
Appaloosa folks doing? Sticking a price tag that suggests commonality on
our unique and rare sale horses.
I see nothing wrong with a horse being affordable. One person recently
referred to the Appaloosa as the "American Warmblood that's easy to ride
and easy on the pocketbook." But I believe the terms "affordable" and
"cheap" are not interchangeable.
I read somewhere that a person buying a horse is not buying a horse, but
buying a dream. When our asking prices for our genetically strong
Appaloosas reflect the general pricing for the broad spectrum Appaloosa
cross-breds, we not only minimize the inherent value of our Appaloosas,
but we discount the dreams of the buying public.
One additional point is that we seem generally befuddled about promoting
and marketing our special breed. Because we are dealing with a rarity, we
suffer an ill-defined market. On one hand, our market is limited because
our potent Appaloosa does not fit traditional molds like other breeds do
(e.g., Thoroughbreds for racing, Arabians for endurance, Clydesdales for
pulling beer wagons). Our Appaloosas do not compete well against the
Appaloosa cross-bred horses in the "breed" shows, due in some measure to
the prevalence of judges who appreciate Quarter Horse conformation and
movement. So we have little success selling to the existing "breed"
market, and we don't have the benefit of an identifiable discipline on
which to focus.
On the other hand, our talented Appaloosas are capable of high levels of
performance in many realms, creating a limitless market. Once we embrace
this concept—that our horse is both worthy and able to compete against any
breed, in a vast array of disciplines—and we honor our Appaloosas with
enthusiasm and pride, our forays into the Open Show world will win
converts.
The re-emerging Appaloosa is proving to be an extraordinary creature. We
know this. It's time we let the other people in the horse world learn it.
It's time we get out there and show them what our Appaloosas are made of.
I believe we will then see people "graduating up" to the Appaloosa.
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