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Re: Breed of Horse



All so true----a few years ago a women wanted me to buy herhorse...It was a
Bezatal granddaughter...7/8 Arab...the other part paint...I went and looked
at the horse...she was green broke...conformationally she was a mess...post
legged---capped hocks ...long back...flat croup...incredibly pigeon
toed...so I gracefully declined...I few weeks later I was off at the Tevis
and when I came home my husband had a big surprise for me.....He's bought me
the mare!!!He was so excited because he got her for so much less than the
asking price:>(Not to hurt his feelings, I thanked him PROFUSELY and started
the long process of turning the mare into an Endurance horse...since then
I've completed six or seven fifties....nothing faster than seven hours.
They've been very relaxing rides as thereis none of the intensity or
bordering-on-out-of-control forwardness as was my other
horse...however---she obviously would rather be doing something
else....after this last ride both hocks swelled slightly---she always has
LOTS of filling after a ride in her front legs...SOOOOOO---after all the
time to get her to this point---I'm finally admitting that she just is not
suited for this sport...I should have done that in the very beginning before
I put in all the time and became 100% emotionally attached to her...I guess
my point is...when looking for an endurance horse...look for one as close to
the ideal as you can find...Sure you might be able to take a horse that is
not suited conformationally to endurance and nurse it through...but why take
the chance?.And once you've ridden a  horse that truly LOVES to blast
downthe trail hour after hour...you will probably never want to go back to
the ho-hum horse.

----- Original Message -----
From: Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>
To: <fasterhorses@gilanet.com>
Cc: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2000 5:38 AM
Subject: RC: Breed of Horse


> >><<I know Arabian is, but what about Qtr Horses or TN Walkers? I would
> >like to>>get a TN Walking Horse and currently have a Qtr Horse.  Which
> is >better to>>have?>>
>
> Seems sort of strange that you're choosing between those two...since
> they're so different from *each other*.
>
> Since plenty of other people have covered the difference in their
> abilities, I'd warn you to look at if from some other angles.  Riding a
> gaited horse with trotting horses can be a real pain.  Their walk is too
> fast for the non-gaited horse, but doesn't really fit the trot very well
> either.  I think that's the main reason you almost see gaited people
> riding with other gaited people.  I felt sooo sorry for a girl on a
> Quarter Horse that I saw with a bunch of TWH recently.  She was getting
> jigged to death when if she'd been with a bunch of Quarter Horses they
> probably would have walked awhile and loped awhile.
>
> Another problem I have with Walking Horses is that a running walk sounds
> a lot like a gallop.  I've had more than one trotting horse get
> hysterical when it heard a TWH coming up at a running walk. Without fail
> the person on its back had this big dumb grin like, "look at me I don't
> ride a crazy Arab, my horse is calm" as their horse came puffing up like
> a train and spooking everything.  You try not to get prejudice in these
> situations, but it's hard to be very friendly when they have no idea the
> havok they are reeking.  It's not just Arabs it affects.  My daughter got
> dumped from her pony at a horse show in the same manner.  The people's
> attitude seems to be "hey, he's just walking" but if he's walking at the
> same speed a QH canters and you'd yell at some kid for running through a
> crowd with his QH, you're guilty.  My Appaloosa only kicked one horse in
> 11 years...a TWH, and he kicked him twice on the same trail ride.  They
> just sound scarey coming up on you.
>
> Finally, this sport is a team sport...you and the horse.  I'd just warn
> you to make sure you choose a horse that's going to have fun too.  I was
> determined at first to compete on Appaloosas since that was what I'd
> always ridden.  My App loved trail riding, and had some speed, but he
> finally found more than he wanted in endurance and would get all bummed.
> He also took *much* more riding to get in shape.  Even if you like to
> ride 5 days a week, that doesn't mean their legs can handle it.  I was
> determined to be different, but once I accidentally got my first Arab in
> a trade I never looked back.
>
> I told my old basketball coach that the difference in endurance and
> basketball is this:  You get to start out with the body you've got, and
> then learn some, then you can go out and shop for a body that can do
> better, but you get to keep what you learn.  If you were going to be a
> basketball player and had that option, would you *choose* to be short, or
> slow?  I think that you'll find it's much more fun on a horse that's
> highly suited to it.  They have fun.  Otherwise, you horse will be like
> the poor kid whose dad is determined to make a basketball star out of him
> even though he was born to sit at  desk.
>
> Angie
>
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