Sometimes, you do ride the pedigree.

    As I reflect on Lincoln's first show this last Sunday, I continue to be astounded by his behavior. He took so many new stimuli and experiences in stride, with an infallible instinct to be alert, yet controlled in all aspects of the day. Truly, I feel like I've won the lottery with such an amazing young horse. It's not a lottery though, is it? Genetics can be notoriously unpredictable, but when you think about the generations of ponies/horses carefully bred, imported, and competed in Lincoln's pedigree alone, you start to realize it's less of a lottery and more intention than originally thought.

Lincoln's damsire, Glenormiston Cuchulainn, who has two 

crosses back to Carna Bobby, a very influential 

sire in the Connemara breed.

That look- I get it all the time!

I've always heard people say, "You don't ride the pedigree, you ride the horse." And I feel like for a grade horse, that's obviously true! Some grade horses or "oops" horses are just as competent in their vocation as their purpose-bred/registered/inspected counterparts. I, however, hold strongly to the fact that you are dealing with a known quantity when you look at a horses pedigree, but some traits are more difficult to qualify than others. For example, I was recently talking with Kelly of Dark Horse Station Connemaras, who bred Lincoln's dam, Dark Horse Leap of Faith, and imported her sire, *Glenormiston Cuchulainn in utero. She had some really interesting things to share about the photo I recently shared of Lincoln, with a very specific expression on his face. She mentioned that Sue Clark (of Glenormiston Connemaras) seemed that it was a very strong, inherited trait from the Carna Bobby line, as Cuchulainn also had that same expression on his face frequently, as did Carna Bobby. Is this a nature versus nurture argument? That is definitely a possibility, but to be "nurtured" that far down the line is near extraordinary. I believe it's definitely an indication of a strong sire line through Carna Bobby. In all reality, it's neither here nor there, but it's an interesting anecdote to consider. I do believe you do ride the pedigree, more often than we might know!