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Re: [RC] speaking of twh/mft - Barbara McCrary

Makes a LOT of sense.  I remember a talk by Matthew Mackay-Smith once, in
which he said that TBs have both fast and slow twitch muscle and are quite
suitable for endurance, "however, the TBs cross to bear is his feet".
Meaning that their hooves often are shelly and don't hold up to endurance.
We were "determined" to ride our Quarter Horses when we first started
endurance.  But these guys were 35 mile horses.  After that, they just said,
"forget it".  Since we went to Arabs, we've had some good ones and some
inept ones.  Oddly, however, one of the best endurance horses we ever had
was 1/2 Morgan and 1/2 Percheron.  He was a real oddity in the sport, but he
was SO good...."Grey" - "Nobility Without Arrogance..."

Barbara

----- Original Message -----
From: <rides2far@xxxxxxxx>
To: <bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: [RC] speaking of twh/mft




Stamina would come from
conditioning, rather than the breed, I should think.  And one can
ruin the tendons of any breed if he doesn't use care and
consideration.

I remember reading that QH, Apps, TB's etc contained something like 5%
slow twitch muscles which is what we want for aerobic work... but there's
a "can go either way" type muscle that can be trained over time to work
like slow twitch muscles. An Arab in contrast is born with about 40% slow
twitch which was more than you could train the others up to.

 I was very determined to stick to Apps when I started endurance and was
asking about an App that had won a 50 that was for sale. A guy who knew
the horse said, "Yeah, he can do it, but he takes a *lot* of riding".
That's when it hit me that I was breaking down the App I had (tendon
problems) from over training. By using a horse that didn't need so much
training I put less wear and tear on the legs. I switched to Arabs and
for me it was the perfect match. I'd never had one before so was avoiding
them for no reason.

So...whereas a Walker may have tendons that are just as good as the
Arabs, by the time you've put twice as much wear on them to get him fit,
you may do damage. Make sense?

Angie

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Replies
Re: [RC] speaking of twh/mft, rides2far