That pretty well says it all. But it doesn't say enough, really. If a horse can't be handled, can't be ridden and used, then what purpose does that horse have? What will keep that horse from a one way trip to the slaughter house? Answer: Not much.
It doesn't mean I ignore pedigree and conformation, but it does mean I would never breed a mare who can't be taught to behave herself enough to be handled by a child. And the same goes for a stallion. You may be thinking: REALLY?! Not many people have their children handling stallions.
My daughter handles Habib Rafiq (El Norus X MB Deserelle) SE/AK:
And she rides him:
I remember a photo of Synbad++ in the old magazines. He was being groomed by a child standing on a bucket. That made a lasting impression on me. To this day I give disposition a higher rating than any other characteristic because that type of horse is what I want to produce.
Then there is this picture of Mirage:
When a 3 year old ungelded colt can be handled by a child, that's a good disposition. This is Stardust Ibn Rafiq - easily handled by a child:
When stallions can play together without killing each other, that's disposition!
This is Sean Daaim CH (Fa Daalim X Ms. Tuht) SE/AK/SO and Habib Rafiq.
Obviously conformation does matter to me. And with these pedigrees, bloodlines are also important. But without a good, using disposition, it's worthless. Why buy problems, when you can buy solutions?
Stardust Ibn Rafiq took me less than 2 minutes to train to using clippers on his bridle path. Now, why would you want anything less? Spend your time enjoying your horse, not fighting with him.
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