Seven Hacks For Picking A Great Dressage Foal - Hack #2: The Right Footing

In my retirement years as a dressage professional, I’ve discovered an activity that is really enjoyable; foal shopping in Europe. If you want a back-stage tour into the horse world in its most raw form, travel around from farm to farm and meet small breeders. Every address is a new discovery. 

I especially enjoy meeting the breeders, typically down-to-Earth people who often invite you into their homes to enjoy coffee. They are so proud of their foals and pleased to show them off to you. 

More times than not, you have to look at the foal in less than ideal conditions. That’s where you have to be careful. Sometimes you have to be sure to see the foal on the right footing. 

Having shopped for decades and been in more than 1000 different circumstances, I can attest that horse shopping puts you in some pretty crazy circumstances in which to evaluate horses, and not all are ideal. A friend and I still talk about the time we showed up to look at a 2 year old filly. It was with a group of at least 15 other 2 year old fillies. It took the barn managers 45 minutes to catch her, a round-up that entailed her escaping into the large indoor stabling complex and her exploring places in that facility horses typically wouldn’t go. She outsmarted 3 determined Dutch horsemen who ended up exhausted, bruised, and humiliated. It was like capturing a wild deer. 

The point at which my client said, (after 30 minutes into the high speed chase), “please, don’t go to any trouble,” left us laughing so hard at this ridiculous situation, we couldn’t speak. By the time they caught her (she ran into an empty stall which made it possible to get her halter on), she was too tired to show, so they just put her away. We did our best to keep a polite composure and showed gratitude for all their trouble, but when we got in the car, we laughed so hard we couldn’t drive. 

While not all circumstances are that bad, there are a few common situations you often get into when foal shopping. The most common problem you might encounter is a poor area to present the foal. 

A smart seller will show you a foal in deep grass, deep mud, or deep sand. Foals will lift their knees and articulate their hocks in an exaggerated way to compensate for the unnatural footing, and it will make them appear to have much better movement and a very different natural technique than nature actually gave them. You can be easily misled by this type of presentation, in person, or on a video. Be careful. 

Ideally, you will want to see a foal in the same type of footing that they would perform a dressage test. That might mean a turn-out paddock, or a field where the grass is mowed. 

The size of the turn-out area can also make a difference. Sometimes, when a foal is turned out in a very large field, it will start galloping. By the time it stops running, it is a bit tired or too far away to evaluate properly. So, very large fields often don’t work out. Longing pens tend to have deep footing and foals might not show you their best movement when confined to a circle. 

The ideal area to see a foal can be an indoor arena. Typically, you’ll have the depth of footing that is ideal for the foal to show you its natural ability, and in a safe environment. Also, the size of many riding stables’ indoors (20m x 40 - 60m) is perfect even if it is an outdoor paddock of a similar size or maybe a bit smaller.