Considering Mares

There has never been a better time to consider a mare for your next dressage mount. Several celebrity mares have been highly visible and successful at the FEI levels in the past few years in the US, and have been giving their male opponents a lesson in winning dressage. Consider three Diva-mares at the 2008 US Olympic Selection Trials: Brentina (ridden by Debbie McDonald), Rocher (ridden by George Williams) and Naomi (ridden by Lisa Wilcox, now competed by Lars Petersen). This past year several new young mares were debuted at international levels and are bright prospects for Grand Prix, most notably Katherine Bateson's Dea II and Tuny Page's Alina.

In Spain, the tradition of training only the PRE stallions for dressage competition is changing. For several years, top dressage riders, such as Rafael Soto, and the country's top breeders have called for the training and competing of mares in dressage. The result has been a change in the Functionality Championship competitions at breed shows around the country, culminating in the National Championship at SICAB. For the first time, mares are included in this under-saddle class, which was limited to stallions in all prior years.

At HGF, we have found a certain clientele for mares. When these riders approach us, they already know that they are "mare people" and in the end we are able to provide what they've been looking for. HGF mares are big in size and sporthorse in type, presenting large overstride at the walk and floating expressive trot and canter. 2008 was our top year in mare sales and we look forward to seeing two HGF mares in training and showing in Wellington this winter.

We have a fine young group of riding mares that will be available for sale next year. These three year olds will be trained to present in hand and will be started under saddle. For those clients who enjoy the mind and work ethic of a mare, or who are hesitant to make the commitment that a stallion requires, we encourage you to contact us about our mares for sale and the training packages that we offer with each of our sales horses.