Not Only is She NOT a Clydesdale, She's Also NOT a Cross

My Beauty Queen full Perch that can wear WB tack, believe it or not.

Every now and then I get questioned about exactly what Klein is as far as breeding.  I get asked what she is point blank, if she is a full Percheron, or what she is crossed with on an assumption made by looking at her that she just can't be a full Percheron.  I assure you, she is.  This is where you have to give the owner of the horse just a little bit of credit.  I totally can appreciate the fact that people that don't know us and question what she is have no clue that I've had her since she was two and that I bought her DIRECTLY from her breeder.  They also don't know that her pedigree is online in a database anyone can access 24/7 that shows she is not 100% Percheron, but 101% Percheron.  FULL Percheron.  Yeah, hi, I've owned her for ten years now, since she was a two year old.

You can find more here (including the link to her pedigree):

 Why It's Dangerous to be The Jumping Percheron

Most times I laugh it off, because they don't know any better, it's a harmless question, and point out that the whole reason her tail is docked is actually because she IS full Percheron.  She came from a breeding program that breeds big hitches and she got the boot into the slaughter-bound sale herd because they knew she wasn't going to get to 18 hands, therefore not making the cut for a big, fancy hitch horse.  This operation competes at the international level and also sells their teams to places like Disneyland for their fancy parades.

This week I got the typical skeptical response when someone asked me what she is when we were at another farm.  They asked, I answered that she is a Percheron and they said in a condescending manner "a full one, are you sure?  She's so light though."  Yeah, she is.  It's possible.  You're looking at it.  She is a Westbank Percheron.

Definitely not the head you would expect a full draft to have.

Like I said, normally, I laugh this off, besides it's a compliment, I know.  Her looks combined with her freakish athletic abilities can definitely throw anyone for a loop.  But, sometimes it gets old VERY quick when someone talks to me like I don't know what kind of horse I own.  That's fine, you don't know me, and you don't know our history, but don't respond to me like I'm an idiot.  Like there is no possible way that I could know what I own, and that somehow I must be mistaken.  News flash, you don't know everything.  Bonus, I don't own ONE full draft horse, I own TWO.  This kind of stuff is along the lines of when people try to tell me how much draft horses eat, yet...they own approximately ZERO draft horses.  Not crosses, FULL, PURE draft horses.

You know how people always say something like "be kind, you don't know what that person has going on in their life."  It is kind of the same thing.  Don't be a smart ass when you have zero background information about what you are looking at.  Can't we all agree you can ALWAYS learn something new?  That you will NEVER know everything, ESPECIALLY in the horse world?!  Why do you think the riders competing at the very top of any equestrian discipline STILL have coaches?!  Because they can ALWAYS learn more and improve something.  That's part of the beauty of the equestrian life, you never stop learning, never stop improving, or I would hope so at least.

A little off track, but this kind of thing reminds me a little bit of what happened at Badminton a couple weeks ago.  A lot of Facebook Four Star Riders came out of the wood work to make comments about a rider riding at a level they'll never, ever get close to riding in their life.  But damn, they sure are the expert about riding at that level and what everyone else SHOULD be doing.  Must be nice to never make mistakes.  The view must be great up there from the land of perfection.