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Re: [RC] 10 year career horse - Heidi Smith

>I guess it doesn't count, because the ten years was 1985-1995, but my old Azzor Kishi (Oz) went over 3500 miles over 10 years.  He did at least 8 100s (ROC wasn't sanctioned then), one 5 day multi, and two- two day 150s, and was rarely pulled (the records don't reflect pulls for that time frame).  I sold him to LG Neal but continued to ride him some for LG. He was very toed out naturally, never interfered, and I was the only person to ever shoe him.  A good old horse.
 
I've likewise had two 10-year horses that don't "qualify" because they are no longer competing.  My foundation stallion Surrabu started his endurance career in 1973 with his first ride being the Virginia City 100.  He didn't do any endurance in 1974 (we really didn't have any up here to speak of then) but did earn the Reserve Championship of the Bitterroot CTR Conference that year.  (He also did CTR in 1971 and 1972.)  He continued (I think he went every year) until his last ride in 1986, at the age of 20.  He was in the PNER Top 25 seven different years.  So he did some form of distance riding for 15 years...
 
His son Abu Ben Surrabu went from 1986 to 1999, although he took 3 years off at one point (he spent them working on a cattle ranch) because *I* had a knee injury, and missed another year because I was simply too busy vetting rides to be able to ride.  He might still be going if he had not lost his eyesight to ERU--a completely non-endurance-related problem.  (He did complete one ride after becoming completely blind, which I've always considered to be quite a feat and quite a testimony to how much a horse can trust in a rider.)
 
Both these guys were just shy of 3000 miles, although if you could lump Surrabu's CTR miles in, he'd be over...  And his son had one season over 1000 miles, when he was well into his teens...
 
Heidi

Replies
[RC] 10 year career horse, Laura Hayes