Mogans and what they do

["John & Sue Greenall" <greenall@vermontel.net>]

Mel asked me to expand on what makes Morgans different than 
Arabs on endurance rides.  I have competed both, and no question, 
there is a difference.  Please join in on this as I know that there are 
others who have experienced the same thing.  
I was told right from the get go that Morgans don't do endurance.  
That was fifteen years ago.  All I had was a Morgan so I did it 
anyway.  And I would tell anyone else with a Morgan to go out 
there and have a ball.  Mary Coleman has a terrific Morgan who 
can out tough any horse because she has learned how to compete 
him.
Pulse recoveries were difficult for Beau, but I have seen many 
Morgans recover as good as an Arab.  What gets weird is the CRI.  
It has happened to me many times and I have seen it happen to 
many other Morgans.  The CRI goes up 4-8 beats.  Guts sounds 
are low, some dehydration, but the horse looks perky and trots like 
a machine.  I've been pulled for that. Happily, I see more and more 
vets ask for the horse to come back and with some eating and 
cooling out, the horse usually looks fine.  Once I had an hour hold 
and when I went back had a 48/48 CRI, go figure. We had a 
Morgan do this at the Vermont 100 this year and since the vets 
understood they let him continue and the horse finished just fine

 I learned to take more time cooling out my horse.  I made sure 
that his pulse was down and staying down before going to the vets. 
 It took a few more minutes, but paid off.  And I learned to really 
pay attention to electrolytes before, during and after a ride.  

The biggest difference between an Arab and a Morgan is the speed 
envelop.  I simply could not race with the front guys, I had to lay 
back and wait for them to either slow down or be pulled.  Got us to 
the ROC, can't complain!
John and Sue Greenall
mailto:greenall@vermontel.net
http://www.vermontel.com/~greenall