Re: breeding for endurance

["Becky Huffman" <TOS@htcomp.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy Bolinger <bolinger@bigsky.net>How much importance should be
given to the first two years of a  horses life when concidering a horse for
endurance....???If you have a choice between a two year old...nicely  uilt
from proven endurance lines...but who has so far spent most of his/her life
in a small pen or  asture...OR...a two year old who's parents have no
endurance back ground...also well put together but who has spent it's  ntire
life on 1000 acres of rough mountainous terrain...all other things being
equal ie worming, etc...I would  hink the one raised  on the big rough
country would have a HUGE advantage over the other one...regardless of  he
blood lines.

IMO, the one that was raised on pasture would *initially* have a huge
advantage that could be overcome on the first horse with a well thought-out,
long term conditioning program.

The thing that gets confused is that the ACTUAL bloodlines themselves are
not what you are comparing...  it is What those Lines CONTRIBUTE to the
horse....  It is difficult to separate in conversation, and I have seen it
happening during this discussion, because so many people use the same
words/terms for different meanings and different words for the same meaning
<G>.  You ask about the second horse, and comment that he is "well put
together"  ....  for what? does he have endurance conformation and attitude?
and you say that his parents don't have endurance background... what *is*
their background.  Did someone try to ride endurance on them, and have them
break down? Were they shown dressage or hunter/jumper, or were they pets, or
pasture potatoes?  what about the grandparents.  These are the very valid
questions you should ask in this situation.  It could be a case of a good
horseman, doing everything he can to squeak the parents of that first horse
thru the miles.

This is where *knowing* the 'bloodlines' is important...  insert one of
Heidi posts <here> about the difference of knowing and using the famous
names like buzzwords and knowing and using the famous names thru the
characteristics (good and bad) that they pass thru each offspring.

Becky Huffman
Huffman's Arabians ~ The Original Series ~
http://www.htcomp.net/Huffman/