Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Since I got my first horse (age 8) my first priority has always been is 
the  conformation adequate for the job to be done.  After that came 
gait then looks and personality.  My last 2 horses have been chosen 
according to looks and personality first, then gait and conformation.  
Big mistake.  I'm definitely switching back to conformation first.

While Dizzy and Taffy will remain the fondest in my heart, neither was 
capable of holding up to the rigors of endurance.  Taffy is truly the 
biggest, baddest bitch in the barn (but it's all a sham because she's 
really a sweetheart - honest, she's a pseudo-bitch) and, yes, that is 
the personality I chose - she actually makes you laugh your head off.  
To top that off she is drop dead gorgeous (at least she used to be when 
she was in condition - now she's just fat ... like me).  But her feet 
couldn't deal with the pounding of all those miles.  Dizzy was my dream 
horse.  She loved to go explore unknown trails and she hated going home 
(she would actually try to turn away from home if we hadn't been out 
all day).  She was the sweetest thing I've  ever owned, but her canon 
bones were toothpicks and her hoof walls were paper thin.  She was a 
joy to ride, but bursitis in a shoulder cut short her riding days by 
the time she was 11.

All my other horses had zero personality (I thought one was brain 
dead), but they remained healthy for the entire time I owned them.  
It's getting close to the time where I will be looking for a new horse, 
and I'm definitely going to forgo personality and looks and go back to 
conformation being number 1 on my list.

Tori

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They're athletes! This is a partnership between horse and rider - we don't
have any jockeys out there, just pals and partners. We'd allow a rider with
a broken foot, a sore back and a nasty cold to compete - but we would never
let a horse in a similiar condition hit the trail.
~ Dr. Barney Flemming DVM

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