[MHO is that Andies are
gorgeous creatures, but being
more Baroque type horses,
they are a bit heavy muscled
for distance riding.]
I went on a riding vacation
in Andalusia 10
years ago and was amazed at the horses we were given to ride. They looked like
a horse version of a greyhound. While they had the Andalusian breed size and
type, all the big rounded muscle mass one is used to seeing in the
show/dressage classes was not there. We rode at good speed for 8 - 12 hours a
day; they subsisted on a few handfuls of corn and something that looked like
straw (without a trace of green to it.) Some were not even shod. The owners did
not use saddle pads or blankets, contending that the sand got under the saddle
pads and caused sores. While I was appalled at some of their horse management
practices, I cannot deny that these were superbly fit and conditioned animals.
I will always remember galloping on roller-coaster dirt tracks through the cork
forests, hoping the horses could see better than I through the clouds of dust!
I imagine they would be superb endurance candidates.
Then I look at my fat round
Andy, out on summer pasture, and wonder if she is even the same breed! Is it
all a matter of conditioning, or does a leaner, hardier type develop where
life is harder and demands greater?
