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Re: [RC] Top five endurance horses-appys - heidiBear in mind that NOT ALL Appaloosas have these qualities. The ApHC has allowed so much outcrossing to the Quarter Horse that most of the original traits have been diluted. <snip> We breed Foundation Appaloosas, strictly Appaloosa to Appaloosa breeding. We are currently competing our 17 year old Foundation Stallion, Pratts Toby IV, in CTR. In 6 rides he has NEVER lost a point on p&r's. Alas, this sort of scenario is true in just about every breed these days. The Arabs that excel are the ones who are bred to the old standards, not the current halter fads, whether they be CMK, old Polish, Edie's Sa'ud horses, or whatever. It is easier to find such horses in programs that have stuck to the old standards (CMK, Babson, the Sa'uds, etc.) but there are pockets of them still in most major bloodline groups of Arabs if one looks for them. As you say, the Foundation Appy is a "whole nuther breed of cat" (as my dad used to say) than the "spotted halter Quarter Horses" that are led around the Appy halter ring. And likewise, the early Appy breeding crossed back with old-style Arabs (as per Claude Thompson and other early Appy breeders) produced some darn good using horses. The modern QH has gone far astray from its roots as well--the sorts of QHs that were brought together at the inception of their registry were horses that could work cattle all day, and were plumb respectable riding horses as well. They are hard to find anymore, but some folks still stick to their guns and breed them, because they believe in horses that can be ridden. It's been a few years, but you'd go a long ways to find a better horse than Dot Wiggins' old QH stallion Scotch and Soda--a consistent endurance competitor with good recoveries, and one of the first stallions in the NW to hit 1000 and 2000 miles, back in the days when there just weren't many rides to go to in order to rack up many miles. Likewise, one sees Morgans of classic lines doing well on the trail as opposed to modern show stock, and as Truman has stated, the old traditional TWHs were more suited to covering terrain than are the modern versions. Lee's cavalry likewise rode circles around northern armies for 5 years riding primarily Saddlebreds, back in a century when they likewise were bred for riding qualities, rather than for some artificial showring standard. One of the things I love about endurance is that it highlights the horse as he is supposed to be, without any artificiality or ostentation. Hence the horses that are bred to BE what horses are supposed to be--riding animals!--tend to do well, no matter what the breed. Heidi ============================================================ One would think that logic would prevail. But then, if logic did prevail, men would ride sidesaddle. ~ Bob Morris ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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