Re: Pairing up

["odd farm" <jsalas@tampabay.rr.com>]

Erin,

In the book "The Blood of the Arab, The World's Greatest War Horse" by Albert W. Harris (E-bay special!) he talks about Arabs in endurance. He states that a 4 year old stallion named Alhaamed, weighing 800 pounds carried a 200 pound rider and won 1st place in the heavyweight class at Des Moines, Iowa, 100 mile trail ride of 1940.

 

A 16 year old gelding, named Al Azhar weighing 825 pounds, carried 170 to win 1st place in the light weight class.

 

Susan has some very interesting info on her page about the relation of rider weight/horse condition. Now we can see how important the horses condition is, but in 1940 there was no Susan or anybody else doing that kind of research and the horses still did well.

 

A big part of it is in their breeding as well. Alhaamed's mother came directly from the dessert and was imported by Mr. Babson. They were bred to carry riders and supplies over the hot, deep desert sand as well as fighting in wars. And they certainly didn't have the nutritious meals that Susan recommends either. They are TUFF!

 

When you look at the pictures of the horse and rider teams from the 1940 ride, you just wonder how they did it. Almost every rider is in western gear, with the biggest saddles you can put on an Arab, including buck straps! Hey, I could use one of those!!

 

So Erin, feed your horse well, train smart and you will do A.O.K.

 

Lisa Salas, The Odd FArm  I try to put as much weight as I can on Loony Lance just to keep his feet on the ground. It doesn't work. Besides that, people thought it was odd to see a horse carrying a rider and the axle off a dually truck! And, when he would decide to walk on just his back feet for a mile or two, the axle would roll off his back and spook him anyway:)