We’ve all heard the old breeding adage “Breed the best to the best and hope for the best.” It’s a simple statement that, when put into practice, actually works pretty well. That being said, should you buy a horse based solely on its parentage? Absolutely not! However regal a prospect’s ancestry, you still need to take into consideration temperament, conformation, and whether the horse is suitable to you and your needs. Even Secretariat’s progeny isn’t going to be worth much if it is ill-behaved, knock-kneed, with no apparent athletic ability.

So when is parentage important? If you are buying a horse to breed, show, or race, good parentage will increase the value of the horse and should be considered to some extent. However, if you are buying a horse for a particular discipline where ability is important—say reining or jumping—then parentage becomes less important. When it comes right down to it, you’ll just want to make sure the horse can do the task at hand.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that many high-achieving horses came from unknown parents. Similarly, many less-than-top-notch horses have come from famous sires and dams. The fact is many youngsters don’t take after their parents at all. Unless you are looking for a horse solely for breeding horses, a good rule of thumb is to simply look at the horse in front of you and determine whether or not he’ll do the job you need him to do. Famous parents or no famous parents.

In some cases, it is not so much the parents as individuals but the breed of the parents and its typical qualities that influence a buyer’s decisions. And that is perfectly acceptable. If you are looking for a thick-skinned, hardy horse who does well in winter environments, for example, your first choice probably won’t be a horse with a Thoroughbred background. Similarly, a horse by a 14.1-hand Morgan and out of a Saddlebred is typically not going to be a world-class showjumping horse. On the other hand, if you are looking for horse with some cow sense, picking a horse that has some Quarter Horse blood will probably serve you well. Certain breeds have certain characteristics that you can more or less count on. After that, it’s all a question of judging the individual for what he is.

Sometimes it’s hard not to get caught up in what brothers and sisters of a certain horse have done. But keep in mind, for as many winners as a particular horse will parent, there will be significantly more that don’t show the same winning traits. Just because a horse has sired one outstanding horse doesn’t mean they will all be winners. Again, you’ll do much better to look at the horse, his accomplishments thus far, and what you feel he could accomplish in the future based on his own individual characteristics.