As I work with Honey more and more I will also be working on my big Senior Project (yikes!). My topic for the project is Promoting and Educating folks about the American Bashkir Curly Breed! :) Super excited about this topic and looking forward to making new contacts and seeing just how much promoting I can do at the college (Vermont Technical College) so if anyone wants to join in and help out I would love to ask you some questions (probably mostly blah with some ah!). Thanks for any and all help :)
Questions Include:
-Your reason for choosing a Curly? -What's your favorite part about the Curly breed?
-What do you do with your Curly? -How do you choose which Curlies to breed?
-Favorite and least favorite thing about the breed? -What are your plans for your Curly?
Thanks to all who help and I'll let you know how tomorrow goes! (oh and Honey says hi!)
I love what you're doing! My horses get trimmed by a barefoot trimmer who also has an equine massage background. She's a top notch young woman with a wealth of knowledge! I love learning from her. I will make sure my next post answers your questions. I'm not a breeder, but if you can use the extra perspective then great! I love Honey's black-tipped ears!
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ReplyDeleteTemperament!
ReplyDeleteI do as much as I can with my curly, trails, ring, jumps, you name it he can do it!
Favorite thing is temperament - cool, collected, thinking, not a bolter!
Least favorite... can;t think of any but I'm glad he's not extreme because I like the fact that he keeps his mane and tail throughout the year.
I love their cool temperament - they just aren't as wired as some other breeds.
I don't breed...
My plans for my curly are to keep training in all sorts of disciplines. Tricks, dressage, trails, ex. cowboy, jumps, eventing. They can do it all, so why not!
-Your reason for choosing a Curly?
ReplyDeleteTemperament and hypoallergenic property (always feel the need to define hypoallergenic is "less" likely to induce an allergic reaction, not a guarantee), as we plan to offer equine assisted learning programs here and would like more people to be more likely to be able to participate.
-What's your favorite part about the Curly breed?
Oh, hard to choose! For one that they truly are an American breed, all domestic Curly Horses are descendants of Curly Mustangs, hence the shift from calling them Bashkir Curlies, to American Curlies, as it more accurately calls them.
-What do you do with your Curly? We have 10 American Curly Horses, we occasionally breed for a quality foal, train, promote, ride, and enjoy our Curlies. While we have focused on equine Assisted Learning (EAL), dressage and jumping in the past, we are incorporating farming and forestry into our Curly repertoire, and we may well add in some cow horse activities this spring as well. We are particularly fond of how versatile this breed is, much like the original Morgan horses.
-How do you choose which Curlies to breed?
We breed for temperament, conformation, and versatility. We believe a good mind and structurally correct body can accomplish a great many things. The Curly Horse is supposed to be "gentle enough for a child, strong enough for a man" and we keep that in mind when deciding which Curlies get to pass their genetics to future Curly Horse generations.
-Favorite and least favorite thing about the breed?
Least favorite is that Curlies are a trait breed, not a true breed. Meaning they do not always breed true, hence you can get a smooth coated Curly (typically bunny fur soft and also hypoallergenic). Also not too thrilled that so little is still know about Curly Horses, still lots of questions to be answered, it's also something I like about this breed, still mysteries to be learned!
-What are your plans for your Curly?
Riding, driving, EAL, farming, forestry, breeding, educating, promoting.
As for promoting, quality pictures and information. Denise has lots of them throughout her website and an article on what makes a good picture too. Something that pulls your audience in, like a sign that says "Allergic to Horses?" or "Got Allergies?" or "Got Curls?" or "Curl up and Ride", or something else that piques the public's interest. As for information, we've found less is more, little questions that lead to conversation, or little factoids. Denise has good info about the curlies, so does ICHO.
Hope this helped some, I'm always happy to talk Curlies if you want to e-mail or call, please do. Looking forward to hearing how this progresses for you! :-)
Nice topic!
ReplyDeleteI chose the curly because of their look and all the great things I read about them, that was about 15 years ago now. I knew then that my next horse would be a culry!
I love the fact that I can share my love of horses with many people, also people allergic to horses. Their curly coat and the fact that they are not well known here yet is always a good 'topic starter' when talking to horse people.
I ride my curlies for fun and and like to sometimes breed a foal. I enjoy promoting the breed.
I try to chose a stallion that compliments my mares, character is very important! Availability is an issue here as curlies are so rare. Luckily there is a great curly stallion here in the Netherlands!
Favourite thing: the curls! Least favourite: the price of curlies here (Netherlands and also the whole of Europe) compared to many other breeds! It is easy enough to promote this lovely breed but with prices this high not everyone can afford a suitable horse. The trained horses are even more expensive which leads to people not being able to buy the horse that would best suit their needs.
My plans: to promote the breed, keep working on my riding skills and getting both my mares fit and in shape and doing new things with them this year!
Thank you all for your help! I'll keep you posted along the way :)
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