Re: The Way We Win: Change the "Pay Scale" for Endurance?

["Michelle Fink" <michrowe@redwrench.com>]

> Horses must be registered and hold a Log Book in order to progress through
the levels.

I have been thinking about registration of endurance horses in reference to
the comments about the best horses in endurance leaving the country.
Iceland has a similar dilemma with their best stallions - they are being
sold out of country and they lose important bloodlines.  The breeders in
that country solve that problem by requiring sale horses to be offered in
Iceland *before* they can be sold out of the country.  The most important
and expensive horses are bought by syndicates and kept in Iceland.  Having a
registry specifically for proven endurance horses with this sort of
arrangement might be something to consider as a long-term solution to
keeping top endurance horses with good bloodlines (particularly mares &
stallions) in this country, and it might provide a stepping stone for those
breeders aiming to produce incredible distance athletes.  I know this is not
a simple task and not something that can be done short-term, it's just an
idea for consideration.

Happy trails -

Michelle
(Colorado)