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Very well put, Heidi!
Laney

heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> > hi laney,  it is not so much the bloodlines, but the horse's
> > confirmation, physical ability, and way of going.  and i know some will
> > say, well, thats what determines the  confirmation and way of going, but
> > i guess what i mean is, dont get hung up on thinking you have to get a
> > particular well known bloodline in order to do endurance riding.
> >    
>
> For those of us who pay attention to bloodlines that excel in the sport,
> it isn't a matter of getting "hung up" with bloodlines--it is a matter of
> increasing our odds of getting a horse that can do the job.  Such traits
> as conformation, metabolic ability, temperament, and desire to do the job
> are heritable.  Some families fairly consistently pass these traits on,
> some fairly consistently don't, and some are a crapshoot.  I would never
> advise anyone to turn down an already successful horse because of
> bloodlines.  That isn't the point.  The point is in evaluating "prospects"
> and having better odds of getting a good one in the first place.
>
> If one truly understands conformation (by that I mean not just looking at
> legs, which is where far too many people stop in their evaluation, but
> rather at the entire body, with an eye to balance and a good understanding
> of biomechanics), one can rule out those of any bloodline who did not
> inherit that part.  But the rest of it you can't find out until you've
> ridden them, and in some cases, until you've ridden them enough to already
> be in competition.  By that point, if you've gotten a dud, you've invested
> not just money, but lots of time, effort, and emotion.  Personally, I want
> to know that I have better than average odds of success before I
> start--hence the study of bloodlines.
>
> I'm sure this holds true in breeds other than Arabs as well--and in
> general, what I've seen in other breeds is the same tendency that I've
> seen in Arabs--the bloodlines that do the best in endurance (and in fact,
> in pretty much any discipline which requires athleticism, savvy, and the
> ability to get along with a rider) tend to be the older traditional
> bloodlines which have not been messed with for show purposes.  All light
> saddle breeds were originally developed and bred to be ridden--and to that
> end, the traditional ones tended to have that ability.  Most of the
> conformational and dispositional problems have been magnified by the
> breeding for a specific "look" or fad for the show ring.  Ray's post about
> his TWH is a case in point.  A horse that couldn't go down hills safely
> would not have been the choice to breed on a couple of centuries ago to
> cruise around the plantation.  Likewise, the original QHs had to cover a
> lot of rangeland in a day, the original Saddlebreds were bred to ride all
> day (and in fact made outstanding cavalry horses), the various Paso breeds
> had to hike up and down the mountains in Central and South America, etc. 
> If one does nothing more than study the foundation lines of a given breed
> and try to select horses that have been bred to preserve those original
> traits instead of being bred to an extreme for show purposes, one will
> increase one's odds of finding a good one.
>
> And no, this isn't a guarantee, but rather a trend.  If the odds in one
> bloodline are one in ten of finding a good riding prospect, you can still
> find that one and be a success if you are willing to go through ten to get
> there, whereas if the odds are nine in ten that the horse will be a
> success, you can still find the one dud and be a failure.  But it still
> pays to study the bloodlines if you want to shorten your search.
>
> Heidi
>
> PS:  All too frequently, the bloodlines that succeed as riding horses are
> NOT "well-known" bloodlines--because in most breeds, few people REALLY
> ride anymore, and the most highly-promoted lines tend to be the show
> lines.
>
>
>
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