The Georgian Grande Horse "The Perfect Blend"

Purpose in creating the breed; The acceptable blend is that of the saddlebred with the Clydesdale, Shire, Percheron, Belgian or Friesian; The percentage of saddlebred can be up to 75% but never less than 25%;In every case, the purpose of blending of the saddlebred with the draft or Friesian is to produce offspring that are the perfect blend, having the best of both "worlds" and being even better than either parent. Such is the magnificent Georgian Grande.


This is Prince Romke, a yearling gelding, owned by Tammy Aldrich in Florida.
He is an example of a Friesian/Saddlebred Georgian Grande.

THE HISTORY OF THE BREED

The history of the breed is very simple.
My husband,George Wagner,Jr started breeding draft to saddlebred many years ago. His goal was to recreate the original saddlebred. One example was General Robert E Lee's "Traveler" Another example the noble Saddlebreds ridden by the officers in the United States Calvary. But those were the old fashioned, heavier boned, bigger saddlebred. The American Saddlebred of today has had a lot of that bigger bone, more robust
appearance bred out of it. While the modern saddlebred is still lovely to look at, it has lost much of the soundness and substance and calm dependable mind it originally had. You can still find an "old fashioned" or baroque saddlebred now and then. But by and large they have all but disappeared from the equine scene.

George set out to "bring them back." And you see them again today, even more noble, even more calm,
even more beautiful, in the magnificent GEORGIAN GRANDE. Where did the name originate? It simply means "George's Great Horse!"

The breed is becoming quite popular and more so each day.
There are IGGHR horses out there winning in dressage, eventing and show ring jumping; They excel at Renaissance exhibitions and make wonderful dependable trail horses for the entire family. The cross is that of American Saddlebred to Friesian or American Saddlebred to Shire,Percheron,Belgian or Clydesdale.(draft).

The International Georgian Grande Horse Registry,Inc. is a member of the USDF All Breeds Council and offers a full slate of year end awards. Anyone interested in the breed can find more information and printable forms at www.georgiangrande.com email is info@georgiangrande.com Membership is open to all and there is an associate membership for those who do not own a GG but are interested in being part of this magnificent breed.
submitted by; Fredericka Wagner, Registrar, IGGHR


This is 'SHERMAN"
He is a police horse and our association is very proud of him! He is a Georgian Grande of the Saddlebred/Clydesdale cross. He is a gelding and owned by Taya Workum of Ohio.

The Georgian Grande horse has the elegance and noble bearing of the saddlebred perfectly blended with the size, good bone and calm disposition of the draft or Friesian. It carries itself with an attitude that eludes description; some call it "presence, class, style, but this superior air distinguishes every movement of the Georgian Grande. They are extremely versatile and good at multiple disciplines; Their movement is
that of upper level dressage. They excel in driving as well as jumping; On trails they are dependable,quiet and calm. They grow big and stay sound. They possess strength, beauty and good mind!!


Paladin at two years of age, he is a Saddlebred/Percheron cross gelding owned by Kay Langmuir of Canada .

DISPOSITION; Intelligent, alert, proud but always calm and quiet. Easy to train and very willing worker.

CONFORMATION; The ideal Georgian Grande is well proportioned and presents a beautiful overall picture. Should be in good flesh, with good muscle tone, smooth glossy coat. Feathering on legs is quite acceptable, but not required and may be shown with feathering or clipped.
Stallions should exhibit masculine look while femininity in mares is desired.
Heights can range from 15.2 hands to 17 hands and above. Weights from 1000 lb. to l400 lb. or more.
Any color is acceptable.

HEAD; Well shaped head with broad flat forehead . Eyes should be large, luminous, expressive and set wide apart . Eyes can be any color, blue eyes shall not be penalized.
Faceline should be straight or slightly concave.Muzzle relatively fine but must have large nostrils;
Clean ,smooth ,strong jawline. The ears should be expressive, well shaped,attractively set and carried alertly.

NECK; The neck is one of the most important points of conformation in the Georgian Grande Horse.
It should be relatively long,heavily muscled denoting strength,suppleness and power; should be well arched, well flexed at poll with good clean throatlatch. The throatlatch should be clean and fine enough to allow for flexion and "setting the head",however, it should be large enough to allow for plenty of airflow in competition; the ultra fine throatlatch of the pure saddlebred showhorse of today is not desirable in the Georgian Grande. Rather it should be a sensible "perfect blend" of the ultrafine saddlebred and the more practical larger throatlatch of the draft or Friesian. (a happy ,common sense medium).

WITHERS; well defined

SHOULDER; deep, sloping,well laid back allowing for great freedom of movement

BACK; strong,level and relatively short, supple in movement with well sprung ribs

CROUP; Long and level to slightly sloping ,tail set high or moderately high.. The hip should be long,big and round,powerful. The hindquarters should be strong and well muscled.
The ideal Georgian Grande is short coupled with wide,deep chest.
The muscles of the forearms, croup and gaskins are especially emphasized.

LEGS; Front legs set well forward under the shoulder; Rear legs clean and correct, not cowhocked nor sickle hocked. Proper angulation to the rear legs to allow for a good jumper.

KNEES; Large,flat and clean.

HOCKS; Large,clean ,flat in front and at the sides,wide from front to back;hocks should be positioned so that a line dropped from the horse's buttocks falls straight down the back of the hock and cannon;
Legs must be straight with plenty of good clean flat bone. When mature there should be at least 8.5 inches (or more) of good hard flinty bone just below the knee (circumference).
The more bone the better!!
Cannons; well made; when viewed from side should be flat and broad ,tendons behind cannon firm
and smooth.
Pasterns are sloping ,tendons well defined.
Feet (hooves) should be of proper size to carry the weight of this big beautiful animal;well built, round, open at the heel, sound.

The mane and tail are full and flowing; Tail always natural, never docked (as the draft) and never cut(as the
saddlebred.)

MOVEMENT; The ideal Georgian Grande horse should move with a lot of suspension (lift) and power from behind (impulsion). Great flexibility in the loins and freedom in the shoulder. Above all, the horse must be able to get his hocks well up under himself from behind, ("deep hocks"). He must be able to deeply bend the hock and stifle, and set the hind foot well under the center of his weight. By bending the hind limb this way he lowers the entire hindquarters and thus appears to "lift up" the front end. He should be very light on the forehand, carrying most of his weight on the rear quarters. The hind foot will actually contact the ground slightly before the front foot on the opposite side (called Diagonal Advanced Positioning or "DAP"). The front feet should not wing nor paddle, but move straight ahead. The canter is balanced and round with hocks well up under the horse. The walk should be supple and very energetic with good overtrack. "Marching forward with good swing to the hips showing suppleness through the back."

OVERALL IMPRESSION; one of grandeur, and great power, yet very gentle and submissive to rider or handler. A large, very impressive horse that commands attention wherever it is seen.

THIS IS THE GEORGIAN GRANDE, "THE PERFECT BLEND!"
NOTE; in evaluating your Georgian Grande horse, keep in mind that the standard of perfection for any breed is exactly that; the standard we all breed toward; what the perfect horse should be; Very likely none will ever see a totally perfect horse in any breed; when shown the judge is selecting those horses which most closely match the standard of perfection for that particular breed. therefore, do not be disappointed if your horse does not score 100% when tested against the standard of perfection.
Indeed, in dressage, a score in the 70's is considered wonderful!!!Therefore,when evaluating your Georgian Grande by comparing it to this standard, bear in mind there is no perfect horse. Scoring is based on 40% conformation, 40% movement and 20% disposition. Disqualifications; Serious conformation defect such as overbite,underbite, only one testicle descended (stallions) or any unsoundness,lame,etc. Man made scars and blemishes shall not count against a horse. Poor movement;Bad temperment; any unruly behavior such as biting, kicking, rearing, striking, such is disqualification of a Georgian Grande in the show ring.

Tapestry, owned by Karen Patterson of Michigan She is a Saddlebred/Percheron cross.



This is Courage Under Fire at age two, owner Rocky Bills,Florida.
Courage is a gelding, Saddlebred/Percheron cross.

This is MAGIC SPELL a five year old mare.
She is an example of a Clydesdale/Saddlebred Georgian Grande.
Magic Spell is a Dressage champion.She is owned by Diane Taylor of Michigan.

 This article and all accompanying illustrations are kindly provided by the International Georgian Grande Horse Registry,Inc.
Please visit their website at: www.georgiangrande.com