# Impressive-bred horses. Are they really nuts?



## oh vair oh

That's funny, I've always heard impressive horses had good personalities. Our granddaughter mare is the most sweet and steady horse you'll know. My friend also has a halter mare granddaughter and she is the best minded halter horse Ive ever seen.
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## nikelodeon79

The mare I used to work with (sired by Impressive) was very level headed.
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## karliejaye

I have never heard that Impressive bred horses are nutso. My Impressive bred paint gelding is pretty level headed other than his plastic phobia. I have heard they are all have tiny, weak feet, but I am not so sure about that, either.


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## Zexious

I had an Impressive filly. Though she was not my cup of tea, she definitely wasn't nuts by any means.


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## BugZapper89

Sounds like your horse has a trainer who best keep their day job and/or find a new career, as they are failing miserably. While some lines can be tougher then others, for the most part issues like this are all trainer (or there lack of) problems.


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## Corporal

Horses inbred with "Impressive" blood have physical weaknesses. Never heard of any mental ones.


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## Elsa5

My friend has a gelding with impressive 3 times on his papers! That horse runs 2d in barrels, used for lessons and 4h. I would give anything to own that horse!
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## Rain Shadow

BugZapper: He's not my trainer. He's my farrier's son and he has had problems with this line. Googling it has shown that some people do experience it. They are stubborn, dumb. Apparently in N/H horses its seen more often. Rebel is N/H

I personally do believe that some temperament problems are genetic. And Rebel has a brother and he has the same problem. His sire should have been gelded and never allowed to bred. That stud is scary!


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## COWCHICK77

I have rode and dealt with some Impressive horses. It's one of the bloodlines I avoid.
They are drivers not thinkers.. LOL Although I will have to say how closely bred they are to Impressive and what they are crossed on makes a difference.
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## Rain Shadow

COWCHICK77 said:


> I have rode and dealt with some Impressive horses. It's one of the bloodlines I avoid.
> They are drivers not thinkers.. LOL Although I will have to say how closely bred they are to Impressive and what they are crossed on makes a difference.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


This is Rebel's sire. 

Sonny Dee Impress Two Paint

His mother is a BLM Mustang so no clue on her.

Are these lines known for this driven behavior too? Rebel does not think. He just reacts.


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## usandpets

We have an impressive gelding. He is a spooky horse but I don't know if really is due to the impressive. When we got him 7 years ago, we were the 6th owners of him and he was only 6 years old. He was trained for halter and as an arena horse. He was always alert when we took him outside and very jumpy. Put him in an arena and he was great. 

Within the last year, he has changed a lot for the better. He still jumps when spooked but just a small hop to the side. He now carries his head and neck level most of the time when rode instead of up and alert. 

I never thought of him as being nuts though. He is N/N. We got to meet a brother of his that was hypp positive and had seizures.
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## danicelia24

this is my Impressive bred horse. When I got her I had been told that I and anyone else who worked with her had to be very careful cause she could blow up at anytime without warning. My sister showed her this year in 4-h and did wonderful and is going to the District 4-h show this month in 4 classes. She has had two blow-up but those were due to bad experiences not because of her breeding. She is also HYPP N/N.


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## BugZapper89

Rain Shadow said:


> BugZapper: He's not my trainer. He's my farrier's son and he has had problems with this line. Googling it has shown that some people do experience it. They are stubborn, dumb. Apparently in N/H horses its seen more often. Rebel is N/H
> 
> I personally do believe that some temperament problems are genetic. And Rebel has a brother and he has the same problem. His sire should have been gelded and never allowed to bred. That stud is scary!


I didn't say your farrier was the problem I said the horses trainer is the problem This sounds like a wanna be trainer in over their head


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## oh vair oh

Lol, are you sure it isn't the Sonny Dee? I have one and she can be a little weird at times xD
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## smrobs

There have been a ton of Impressive horses through my barn over the years, though they were a bit closer to Impressive than yours is (mine were first and second generation). Not a one of them was difficult. True, most of them weren't overly smart LOL, but none ever had a freakout if they had been at least somewhat trained for what you were asking.

Between the impressive and the TEJ in your guy's lines, I'd be more inclined to believe it was a training (or lack of) problem or a problem with the way the farrier was handling him and approached the issue of the hoof stand.


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## Saddlebag

Perhaps the farrier's son has developed a closed mind about Impressive bred babies and it's reflecting in his training. One has to approach each animal as an individual. My N/H was properly handled from the beginning and is as level headed as they get.


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## Rain Shadow

Rebel was treated like a big dog until he came to my family at 9 months old. My grandmother bought him so they could "learn together" against my objections and everyone else. I received him about 6 weeks ago because he was becoming dangerous. 

The farrier IMO didn't do anything wrong. Rebel is quite good about putting his hooves on my stand, and the farrier knew this so he asked Rebel to put his hoof on his stand. I don't know if its because they looked different, but Rebel reared up. I brought him down, made him back up, yield, to refocus him, then went back to the stand, he reared again, and this time flung himself sideways and went down on his side.

He has a SEVERE lack of training, but I'm doing my best with him. He's a huge challenge, but I'm learning, and he has gotten so much better. 6 weeks ago I couldn't touch his hooves, now I can pick them up, place them on a hoof stand, rasp them, and he's fine. This was his first official farrier visit so maybe that was the issue?


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## BugZapper89

My N/H was properly handled from the beginning

THIS is the answer! While some are easier then others and some are smarter then others, at the end of the day its all about what is allowed to occur. Even if it rides like a box of rocks, like many halter horses, the basic manners are the same for all.


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## COWCHICK77

Rain Shadow said:


> This is Rebel's sire.
> 
> Sonny Dee Impress Two Paint
> 
> His mother is a BLM Mustang so no clue on her.
> 
> Are these lines known for this driven behavior too? Rebel does not think. He just reacts.


 If that is your colts sire, then I would say that there is so little Impressive to make much difference.

I put Impressive horses in the same category as Hancock horses, either people love them or hate them. They are either great or they're not.

I know of people that love them and knew a lady that had a son of Impressive that was a great horse/stud. On top of being good natured he won a ton of money in the roping pen and most of his get were money earners as well.
I have rode a few Impressive horses and owned one as well. He was also had Miss Farmer Deal and Quincy Dan on his papers. Fastest horse I ever owned, extremely athletic but like a said, a driver not a thinker. I sold him a few times and he always came back. He flipped over backwards on someone and was labeled "a killer". And a stock contractor had offered to buy him from me after seeing him buck. I am not blaming the Impressive breeding as the Quincy Dan sure didn't help! LOL But between the ones I had rode they had a common lack of brain power.


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## PaintHorseMares

We've got 3 generations of Impressive line horses here, our 15 month old colt, his mother, and grandmother (our boss mare). None of them are wacko. They are all, however, very curious and mischievous, e.g. explore/touch everything, untie leads, open gates/stall doors, etc. Tommys Gamblingman Paint


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## Saddlebag

For several years my horses did not like one particular trimmer. I was always there and can vouch for the way he handled the horses. I couldn't find even the smallest fault. So why did the horses dislike him? One would try to kick him and the other would snort and tighten up. The new fellow was a totally different story as both horses were relaxed.


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## flytobecat

My lease horse was Impressive bred. He was stubborn as heck, but you could do just about anything on him.


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## TimWhit91

We have four horses out of an impressive bred mare here. One is the sweetest, most willing horse. Two have attitude, but will do what they are told without being stupid. One is a complete nutcase. If she doesn't like something she throws a fit, backing up, spinning around, rearing, cow kicking. She is not a very smart horse, I need to really repeat things for her to remember the next day. Short term memory loss. I call her Dory. I will never own an impressive bred horse.
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## Rain Shadow

TimWhit91 said:


> We have four horses out of an impressive bred mare here. One is the sweetest, most willing horse. Two have attitude, but will do what they are told without being stupid. One is a complete nutcase. If she doesn't like something she throws a fit, backing up, spinning around, rearing, cow kicking. She is not a very smart horse, I need to really repeat things for her to remember the next day. Short term memory loss. I call her Dory. I will never own an impressive bred horse.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



THIS! Dory is exactly what I'm dealing with on Rebel. Does she seem to get something and the next day look at you like your nuts and throw a fit when you ask her to do the same exact thing?


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## TimWhit91

Yep, I have to repeat the same thing for about 5 days before she finally gets it
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## Kristyjog

We have only one impressive bred mare. She's a big sweetheart super quiet horse very willing but have a few quirks. She is cinchy, you have to go slow and not tie her while cinching, and she's hell on pipe corral panels. I've never seen a horse so destructive on corral panels. She's a very curious horse wants to check everything out. This weekend my daughter showed her and she wanted to check out what was in ever garbage can she passed.
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## JCnGrace

I have 2 mares with Impressive in them. 99% of the time they are sweethearts, it's the 1% of the time you have to watch out for. I've talked to other owners of Impressive bred horses who say their horses are the same. That 1% of the time they will do absolutely anything to get out of what you're asking them to do even if it means hurting themselves. Switch tactics and ask them to do something else for 5 or 10 minutes and then go back and ask for the original task and they're more than willing. I always describe it as a brain fart. LOL


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## Chasin Ponies

oh vair oh said:


> Lol, are you sure it isn't the Sonny Dee? I have one and she can be a little weird at times xD
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


There may be some truth to this statement!

I have an Impressive gelding who is one of the calmest horses I've ever known. Have never heard anyone complain about behavior when it comes to Impressive lines however, I did own a Sonny Dee mare who was always extremely high strung. I took her to a lot of places, desensitized her like crazy and she did OK but you had to handle her with kid gloves

She also had very bad hooves for her entire life, often was ouchy for a couple days after a reset and then wouldn't hold shoes for more than 5 weeks.

Her dam (the Sonny Dee side) was in the same barn and every other foal she threw would be like my mare and some much worse.

I think your farrier just has a predjudice against Impressive horses or he just heard it somewhere and took it as gospel! 

I saw your other post about pain problems in both of your horses after this guy got done doing them-I'd start to be a little suspicious of him unless you've been using him for many years with no problems.


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## Chasin Ponies

Kristyjog said:


> We have only one impressive bred mare. She's a big sweetheart super quiet horse very willing but have a few quirks. She is cinchy, you have to go slow and not tie her while cinching, and she's hell on pipe corral panels. I've never seen a horse so destructive on corral panels. She's a very curious horse wants to check everything out. This weekend my daughter showed her and she wanted to check out what was in ever garbage can she passed.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 I have an Investment Asset gelding who also tries to peek over the fence into every trash can while in the show ring too!! Kinda funny but frustrating too!


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## Cynical25

I worked with many lovely-mannered Impressive horses at a Halter show barn. The only "crazy" Impressive bred horse I've personally known was a stallion who was poorly handled before arriving in our care - too much going against him to blame the bloodline.


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## TimWhit91

The horses on our ranch were all started by the same reining trainer. Three of them are spur sour. I don't know how much is breeding and how much is training. Three have bad front legs. Sire and dam had beautiful, straight legs.
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## Larissa

I personally am not a fan of Impressive bred horses. One bc the HYPP stuff. And two, because the ones who have a good amount of the blood in them, tend to seem to be a bit tempermental and difficult. I was at a barn who had a filly. And she had been worked with correctly, the trainer is a very good trainer. But if she didn't want to do something she would just rear up or fart and buck around some while you were just leading her. Considering she was too young to be broke. She was just annoying at the least. The trainer did all she could with the filly. But no matter what, when the filly felt it was a good time she would do it. She ended up being sold. Just not something I have any desire to deal with.


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## BlueSpark

Everyone has different experiences. I've dealt with several seriously reactive, nervous, bucky Doc Bar offspring, but heard other people love them. 

I typically avoid halter and western pleasure breeding like the plague, but my 4 year old is halter on the top, pleasure on the bottom, and the most willing, cooperative mare you can ask for, and very intelligent, she thinks through every scenario. Too smart actually, she steals the BO's fencing tools and dumps them in the waterer just because she's bored

I have seen people that cant stand thoroughbreds, but I have worked with a lot of good ones. Every horse is an individual.


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## Saddlebag

There are many textbook trainers who have one method of dealing with difficult animals. How many figure out a method that gets the animal to want to do something. There is nothing wrong with repeating the same action 7 days in a row as horses learn by repetition. Perhaps it's time to add incentive to the filly when her hoof is place on the hoof jack. Pop a treat in her mouth as she sets her foot down. Help her remove it then set it again. After 3 or 4 times she'll want to do this in order to get the treat. Gradually extend the time her hoof remains on the stand before you remove it. She's not to remove it or no treat. Do this many times with all fours. When the farrier comes, use his jack a couple of times and treat her if she does as you've been training. From the horse's point of view, when a hoof is being worked on, the horse fears it can't escape that predator that's lurking about. Anticipating a treat causes a surge of endorphins and the horse relaxes.


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## Delaware Equestrian

I think sometimes Impressive bred horses can be on the more difficult side. I have one myself, a 5 year old mare who has impressive a couple generations back. I've even talked to some people who's horses have Impressive in their line and they tend to have the same problems I do. I love my mare more than anything and wouldn't trade her for the world but sometimes she can be difficult. She's a spooky horse and when she spooks there is no calming her down. She tends to not think things through, she just reacts/blows up. Another trait which might just be a coincidence is that they don't like you being in their mouth. Some other Impressive bred owners have told me the same thing, you have to have very soft hands.


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## COWCHICK77

I have noticed that too, you have to stay out of their face.


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## karliejaye

I still don't consider my Impressive bred paint crazy or nuts, but yes, you absolutely cannot take a hold of his face. 
Long, loose reins and he is a happy camper, put him on a tighter contact and he tosses his head and bucks. He also will not tolerate hackamores...doesn't appreciate nose pressure...maybe just his quirk, though!


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## FrostedLilly

Given that Impressive sired 2250 foals in his lifetime, I think the fact that you have a nutso horse who also happens to have Impressive are completely unrelated. If you own a QH or Paint, there is also a strong likelihood that he/she could have Impressive in their background. 

I have a filly born this year by a stallion who goes back 5 generations to Impressive. My reason for choosing him was that he was so extremely calm and docile. My young nephews came with me to look at him and they were brushing and grooming and making noise and he barely batted an eyelash. 

She is much the same. She stands stock still when I bathe her, has no issue with being sprayed with fly wipe, spot remover, show sheen, picks up her feet, has had her feet trimmed with no issue, doesn't mind being touched anywhere and tries really hard to do what I ask if she thinks it will get her a "good girl" and a scratch.


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## Saddlebag

You'd love my NH, big boob that he is. He loves people. Has impeccable manners most of the time and pretty good the rest of the time. Set out the mounting block and he'll line himself up even when at liberty. He loves to be touched, brushed and even lifts his hind leg to make it easier for me to slather petroleum jelly on his nether parts.


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## littlestars

Rain Shadow said:


> Rebel was treated like a big dog until he came to my family at 9 months old. My grandmother bought him so they could "learn together" against my objections and everyone else. I received him about 6 weeks ago because he was becoming dangerous.





Rain Shadow said:


> He has a SEVERE lack of training, but I'm doing my best with him. He's a huge challenge, but I'm learning, and he has gotten so much better. 6 weeks ago I couldn't touch his hooves, now I can pick them up, place them on a hoof stand, rasp them, and he's fine. This was his first official farrier visit so maybe that was the issue?


I'm going to say the 'SEVERE lack of training' is your issues here :wink: It wouldn't matter if Impressive lines have a history of being nuts at this point (especially since Impressive is very very far back in your boy's lines), an untrained horse being in unexperienced hands being treated like a dog is more likely your problem. Even a calm line would probably have some issues after that.


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## DMoon

I've had 3 Impressive bred horses, my first horse was not Impressive bred, she was by Bar Danger out of a daughter of Mr Hackberry. I purchased her knowing she had some issues that someone lazily claimed was her bloodline and come to find out later through others with horses of the same breeding did not have any issues at all with theirs - So, did a little research from previous owner and found that they couldn't cope with her because of how badly abused she was in the past. She never received foundation training at all, infact she was just saddled and rode without any training at the age of 6 coming off pasture life with little handling. 
Later on when she was sold again to another ranch - more abuse. By the time I got her at the age of 14 she was really sweet but dare shoo a fly away and she'd come unglued. Had her spook only once on me but more problem with tantrums and problems with fear of being struck, her ears touched and quick movements. I spent a year just working with her headshy issues, everything from tellington jones method and some others which were very helpful in teaching her to lower her head and eventually allow me to handle her ears. I learned alot from dealing with this mare to know you can't really blame pedigree completely. She had always been ridden with a Mechanical hackamore and a tie down, after a year of reconditioning her, I put a snaffle in, no tie down (after i was told to watch it, she'd flip on me) and never had any issues anymore and she rode beautifully. Only thing I could never break her of was the small blowups she'd have if someone waved a hand too fast near her or riding behind another horse and their horse swished it's tail.
With that being said, I bred her to a grandson of Impressive and got a beautiful replacement for my aging mare (at 19 I bred her) and I have never had any issues with the filly she was calm, smart, didn't spook or have blowups - she was inquisitive and willing. Infact, I can't recall her ever closing off and reacting like a dingbat over anything. Several of my friends and a couple family members also bred their mares to the same stallion and all loved their babies and enjoyed working with them. My next two Impressive horses were also the same way, just great individuals, good foundation training, manners and great riding horses. I find it curious how these rumors go around about certain lines having bad attitudes or legs and yet I haven't seen that in all the impressive bred horses I know besides the ones I've owned. But then again, you can have a nasty disposition from any bloodline - just depends on environment, training and many other factors. Only time I really see a halter horse acting up is when they've been stuck in a stall with loads of grain fed to them and no turnout, they get so "HOT" they can't stand themselves. I had my Impressive bred stud get very excitable when left in his stall with no turnout as any other stud from various bloodlines do, I don't chalk that up to anything but an abundance of pent up energy. Seen way too many good horses go bonkers just from being stalled too long. 
It's far too easy and convenient for people to blame a horse's bad behavior on bloodlines, breed etc than suspect maybe it's lack of training, manners, handling and perhaps even other underlying issues - Seen horses turn into psychos when bridled, their owner thinks the horse is nuts, turns out the horse had dental issues.


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## Prisstine

My Impressive bloodline mare is nothing but a calm and gentle soul. I think my vet assumed she would be a bit of a handful and repeatedly told me what great ground manners she has and that I found a "good one". I've only had her a short time but so far I have yet to see any nutso in her


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