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Re: [RC] speaking of twh/mft - heidiWell Lori, that was my question when I first started LD rides with my paso fino last year. He has done well this year; He is currently listed as the top BC horse in LD in the NW region. He IS a good endurance horse in that he can go the distance, but he is not particularly competitive against arabs. "Pete" is about as good a Paso Fino as I've seen in this sport--he's a wonderful horse, and Paul has done well with him. Why do I say that? Well, the reason we are doing well on the BC front is twofold: luck and weight. The luck part I won't go into, but the weight part is straightforward. Gaited horses can carry more weight for long distances. This year my gear and I weighed in at 235 lbs. If I can make top ten, I am hard to beat. A 120lb woman coming in an hour before me does not have a chance, if Pete (my horse) has a passable recovery rate. I would argue the point about gaited horses carrying more weight. Some pretty tiny Arabs carry some pretty awesome HWs and finish up front looking fresh as daisies. A well-balanced horse of any breed should be able to carry the weight. Pete is bigger than a great many Arabs that I've seen carry 250 and more and do it well. As for Speed. Pete and I can go like a bat out of hell downhill, because of the gait. We can really beat other horses there, BUT on the straight at a "trot speed" we cannot keep up. I was out riding with Snip (a great arab formerly owned by the Teeters) last summer. Snip's working trot is Pete's hand gallop. A four-beat gait does not have that over-reach that those really competitive arabs have. This is a good observation. But don't forget that many Arabs also gait downhill... The original Morgan horse was gaited. The U.S. cavalry bred it out of most of the breed, why? They wanted to cover more ground. IMO, the ideal horse to cover ground rapidly is one that is a trotter on the flat but has the flexibility and agility to break into a 4-beat gait downhill. And don't forget that a trot being a diagonal gait is a very stable gait in rough terrain. Now as for your question "I was told that a gaited horse could not fair as well, because of the stamina, and because their tendons couldn't take it.", That is NOT true for Pete, but as Amy Berggren pointed out to me at the Dust Devil ride, Pete has a "pleasure" gait. He does not lift his feet up high like some gaited horses are bred and encouraged to do. That way, he covers more ground with less energy. Don't forget metabolics! Yes, part of what makes an endurance horse is biomechanical efficiency. (And again, the most biomechanically efficient tend to be those who have good walks, good trots, good canters, AND the versatility to break the trot up into a 4-beat gait downhill.) But the bottom line here, IMO, is that few gaited breeds have been specifically selected for long, fast marches the way the Arab was in the desert. They have been selected for comfort to the rider for middle distances and moderate speeds. All breeds have a distribution of metabolic capability (the old bell-shaped curve) and you can find good ones in all breeds. (Paul has one in Pete, IMO.) But you will find more of them among Arabs, simply because that IS what Arabs were bred and selected for, for centuries. Gaited breeds tend to be kind of mid-range with regard to metabolics--on average better suited than fast-sprint breeds such as the QH and the APHA, but less so than the Arabs. As I go up to 50's next season, I will be really interested to see how we do. I am a little scared with all this talk of dying horses, but the LD's just aren't doing it for us any more. Wish me luck, Luck from me, Paul--and I think Pete can do it just fine! :-) Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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