DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

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HafDressage
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DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

Postby HafDressage » Sun Sep 24, 2017 5:28 pm

I love to keep an eye on the horse sales market. At some point I'm going to purchase a second horse, although probably not for another year or so. BUT, still I love to keep tabs on what is for sale and for how much. So, I follow a bazillion of the facebook dressage sales horse pages. Probably over the past year I would say, I've noticed a massive influx of Dutch Harness Horses (DHH) being advertised as dressage prospects. So, I keep debating why this is happening with such prevalence all of the sudden. Dressage nor DHH are new, but seemingly a bit new to each other from a marketing standpoint.

Is it because we are breeding warmbloods that are looking more and more like DHHs in movement? Certainly the fancy trot that is so desired now (at least in the front end) is easily achievable with these horses and even the look/build of a horse like Verdades is not a far stretch to DHH land. OR, is it that DHH people have realized that the dressage market is a lucrative market and are just randomly pushing in this direction?

Cases in point - saw these two the other day on one of the big FB dressage sales pages:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGIHcinbJx4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dWpv5G ... e=youtu.be


So, just curious if others have noticed it and what they think about it.

Tsavo
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Re: DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

Postby Tsavo » Sun Sep 24, 2017 5:40 pm

I think there have been some part DHH at elite levels over the years though I am hard-pressed to recall any names.

DHH are more suited to dressage, old or new sport, than Friesians in my opinion.

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Imperini
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Re: DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

Postby Imperini » Sun Sep 24, 2017 6:14 pm

So funny I was just mentioning this to my husband yesterday not that he really cares, but I thought it was interesting too how many there are now. I'd guess people realized they can market them as dressage horses. I've only ridden one and she was nice and sort of auto-fancy but not very comfortable to sit.

Ponichiwa
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Re: DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

Postby Ponichiwa » Sun Sep 24, 2017 7:14 pm

Tsavo wrote:I think there have been some part DHH at elite levels over the years though I am hard-pressed to recall any names.

DHH are more suited to dressage, old or new sport, than Friesians in my opinion.


Verdades would be one. Gelderlander on the dam's side, which is a Dutch driving horse.

The Amish have imported quite a few to be fancy driving horses. They're not averse to crossing over to another market where they're worth a bit more $$.

My GP horse was Dutch Harness on his dam's side. Lots of hock action but not terribly easy to connect that action to the front end. His sire was jumper-bred and I think was the source of his strong canter. Very look-y and athletic, which is a bit of a tough combination especially at the lower levels because it can lead to some big spooks at inopportune times in the tests with few movements left to recover the points. He never looked like a GP horse when he was running around in the field, but ultimately turned into a great dressage horse.

So. I'd take another DHH if I found one with a great canter. It can be hard to assess the dressage talent from the at-large video, and of course you also have to look past the knees-to-their-eyeballs and hocks-to-their-bellies trot. Doesn't hurt that lots of them have high socks, too. I'm a sucker for socks.

exvet
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Re: DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

Postby exvet » Tue Sep 26, 2017 4:09 am

It seems to me that most carriage type horses have more than a handful of individuals who find their way to the dressage ring. Those with decent canters tend to excel if they have a rider who can assist them in putting the rest together. It's not too surprising since most are bred for showmanship in harness and the trot. They tend to have a look at me attitude and flash, again, the key to success is if they can more easily produce three clean gaits and the person in the stirrups. I wouldn't refuse one; but then I've had a few carriage bred types (of a heavier sort) come through my barn. I would also lean towards those that not only have a decent canter but also have their hind ends at least underneath themselves and not way out behind like one of the videos shown. Oh and I too love the bling......sabine's all over in my barn typically speaking ;)

Red's Mom
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Re: DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

Postby Red's Mom » Fri Sep 29, 2017 6:59 am

What breed registry do they belong to? I always thought thew were a branch of KWPN like Gelderlander. I know a couple that drive and I asked the owners if they were KWPN, and they said no, they were Dutch Harness Horse. Is that a separate breed? They look like they could have a lot of Hackney blood.

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Chisamba
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Re: DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

Postby Chisamba » Sat Sep 30, 2017 12:18 am

I believe they are all KWPN, they are all in the same registry, when in europe, once you come to the USA registries can be different. It used to be that no one talked about the DHH blood outside of saddle seat, where they have been a big thing in saddle seat for at least three decades. they are popular for their larger size and high leg action. They are quite popular crossed with arabians.

HafDressage
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Re: DHH - A commentary on the sport? or No?

Postby HafDressage » Sat Sep 30, 2017 2:19 am

I think they are all registered with the KWPN, but the KWPN does separate dressage horses from Gelderlanders and driving horses. So, I think there is some designation within the registry. Also the stallion testing for the Gelders is at a different time than the other stallion testing.

https://www.kwpn.org/kwpn_database


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