Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Horse size, Rider Size, weight, trivia, training and observations

> While out on my new 15-3 Anglo Arab this morning I had some thoughts on
> horse size and soundness.  There are quite a few larger horses that seem
> to do well for a great many years.  I have 1020 AERC endurance miles on
> Ranger (plus 445 LD and CTR miles),  I checked the record of a friend
> and found over 3200 miles on record for her NSH.  And there are others.
>
> I submit for your consideration that there are reasons why these horses
> have lots of miles and are still going strong:
> 1. They were brought along slowly.  Lots of LSD.
> 2.  They were allowed to mature before starting their athletic training.
>  I do not believe that Arabian horses mature more slowly than other
> breeds.  I think that other breeds are just started on heavy work to
> young.  5 to 7 is plenty soon to start endurance training.
> 3.  All these horses have good conformation, relatively short cannons
> etc. I suspect that it is easier to find good conformation in a horse
> that is near average size for the breed than in one that is tall for the
> breed.

The above are all good points, but I'd also point out that the examples
you gave are of crossbreds, not purebreds.  Crossbreds by their hybrid
nature have a tendency to be naturally taller, which is a whole different
scenario than selecting the extremes on one end of the bell curve of a
purebred breeding population as one's breeding stock.  Interestingly
enough, Albert Harris also commented in his article which I excerpted in
previous posts the phenomenon of crossbreds being larger than their
purebred parents.

Additionally, as you pointed out, when one is discussing purebreds, the
fact remains that as height increases, it becomes increasingly difficult
to find well-conformed individuals (not just my own observation, but
something that has been noted by experienced horsemen/breeders for years).

Also, there is quite a bit of evidence that Arabians do, indeed, mature
more slowly than other breeds--however, I believe you are still correct in
saying that being started too soon is a factor in the eventual lack of
soundness for a great many individuals.

Heidi



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