So I'm in a group where we like to share some of the more "acrobatic" ponies out there. You know, those that can put their head down between their knees, while rounding their backs and launching themselves straight up and down? Yeah, that kind of acrobatics. Every time someone posts a video or picture of them getting dumped off of a buckskin we like to comment, "but it's a buckskin!" It's good stuff because, you see, it has gotten to be a thing. It doesn't seem to matter what their qualifications, breeding, training, etc... if it's a buckskin people gotta have it.
There used to be a phrase that people would say, "no such thing as a bad color on a good horse." I definitely feel like we have lost sight of that fact. I see more people breeding for the pretty new designer colors and less people focusing on conformation, disposition and trainability. I see more people worried about what the color chances are for a grulla, buckskin or palomino and less people worried about if the horse will be able to ride decent without killing someone in the process. There are some sub par stallions and mares out there being bred simply because they are cremello or perlino and "guaranteed to produce buckskins and palominos". Unpopular opinion time - I'll take my boring old red ponies, my greys or my bays over most of those buckskins and palominos every day, DESPITE the fact that I admit that mine (and Tim's) favorite color is a buckskin.
I have bought ponies that were a pretty color. I have had buckskins and I've had palominos. I will admit I bought them all pretty much because they were buckskins and palominos. Every single time I ended up selling the pretty colored pony because it wasn't going to be the quality or the disposition I needed to accomplish my goals. The best horses I have ever swung a leg across were a chestnut gone grey and a bay. The gray would never be the color pony I would go shopping for, but if I had passed on her because of color I would have missed the best rides of my life. One of the best ponies we ever owned was a fewspot POA and as white as a sheet of paper. I didn't want to buy him either, but what other pony on this earth would have tolerated and packed around angry 9 year old Sophie who had the attention span of a gnat when he was only 4 years old? I've learned over the years that color doesn't matter. It's fun to look at in the pasture, but it doesn't matter when you hit those entry gates.
I've seen a lot of pretty colored ponies on the rail over the years. I love nothing better than a beautiful buckskin or palomino to look at. I've heard the argument that a pretty color stands out on a rail full of sorrels and bays. Standing out can be a good thing or a bad thing. Pretty sure my red pony and I are going to stand out as well. Pretty sure that I might wish I was a little less noticeable this first part of the season. (If you know, you know...)
I just want us all to take a good hard luck at what we are breeding and why. I'm not gonna lie; it's super tempting to breed the colors that everyone is looking for, especially when you are breeding to sell and everyone seems to want the designer colors. Look at the foals that are selling first this year. It doesn't matter the breeding, if it is a black with a blanket people are falling over themselves to find out the price. I say go for it! As long as you don't sacrifice quality in any of the other key areas that make our breed what it is. Knowledgeable breeders, sellers and buyers know to look for other qualities besides the pretty color. Be one of those.
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