Hi Ridecampers. A friend at work just gave me Horse and Rider Magazine
from July. It was interesting reading compared with the things we talk about
on Ridecamp. I'll just give you a few ideas why, I was chuckling.(okay, maybe
being a little catty, but having been slammed for owning Arabs may times, a
person gets that way)
Someone asked how to know if their horse was "too
fat". The writer talked about being over a "7" on the condition
scale, and cutting the horse down to 20 lbs of hay a day! Ha ha, we feed
about 14 to get our horses that plump.
They showed a world championship horse walking over the
poles, and I kept thinking, "We'll he's about an 8 or a 9 on the condition
scale, and his cannons are NOT 8" per 1000 lbs, maybe 7" per 1200 lbs
would be a better guess." His Cannon bones were smaller than the
wrists of his young lady handler.
They had an article about building a better horse---i.e.
raising youngsters so they were lifetime strong and fit. The article
recommmended that the readers keep their youngsters in a big area so
they can run, at least 14 FEET in one direction! On flat even footing and
gentle uphill slopes. Don't let them run downhill! Be sure and
give weanlings continuous creep feed so they don't get ulcers, and
maybe they should be on ulcer medicine. This have to be show horses I
guess.
Then there was a six page article on the Chief
Joseph Ride, which is in the most gorgeous country, and I'd love to do
it. Problem is, they go 100 miles in one week, and they'd run me out of camp
with my Arab . They ride 15 miles a day. It's grueling. At one point there is
a climb of 1800 feet. On one particular day they started out at 8:30 and
arrived 15 miles later at 3:30 p.m. 7 hours. Isn't that about 3 miles an
hour or less? The riders did pack all their traditional gear on the
horses though. Big western saddles, Big saddlebags, sitting heavy in the
saddle, wearing chaps. Gorgeous chaps of every color with silver and
fringe. They said they have had a few injuries due to poor conditioning,
"cause riding 15 miles a day isn't like 2 miles around the park"
Okay, my question is this. Why aren't rides like the
XP in every horse magazine? So incredible an athletic feat, we don't even
hardly think about it on RC. We woulda done the Chief Joseph ride in 2 days,
and sat there barbequeing for 5 days afterward, waaiting for the other guys to
catch up. I wish some of these big fancy magazines would cast an eye upon the
accomplishments of people in the AERC, and do away with these stupid myths I
hear, "Arabians don't make good trail horses". Fie!!!
yours, Beth Glover