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[RC] Define Pony - katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxLucy said: On the subject of ponies, have people successful used them for distance riding? Before anybody can reasonably answer that question, one must first define what is meant by the word "pony." If you define it the way that other open competitive venues do as being any "horse" that is 14.2 hh or under, then John Parke's Icelandic's are not the only ponies successfully used for distance riding, but so are Rio (I believe) and Khalil (I am pretty sure). And the three horses of mine that I have competed in endurance have all been ponies (Saber's Clasy Star ~14 hh reg Arabian; Windy ~13.1 hh small horse of indeterminate breeding; and Lady Marla 14.2 hh reg TB). I could get USEF pony cards for all of them. In fact, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that (if one defines pony in this way) that a most of the successful endurance mounts are ponies, and a goodly number of people (myself included) will contend that they are successful because of their small stature. And one of the reasons being that short horses are easier to keep sound (so, no, you won't de facto, have lameness issues). It is worthwhile to note that the challenge faced by John Parke's Icelandics, being more of the "cobby" type of pony is metabollic (because of their origin in northern climes and their heavy coats and muscling) rather than soundness, and I don't believe that either of them has EVER suffered even the mildest tendon/ligament issue (since the shorter the tendon is, the more difficult it becomes to put undue forces on it). The reason you don't see very many people (owning up to) riding ponies here in the US is that pony, for some reason, has acquired some kind of perjorative connotation to it (which is why you have Icelandic afficianados insisting that their ponies are horses despite the fact that if Icelandics aren't ponies then the word pony has no meaning). Maybe it harks back to the days when the english made mockery of Americans with the song Yankee Doodle and Americans have been over-sensitive about the word since...although it didn't keep them from naming the (now) world famous overland mounted mail service the Pony Express. Ponies make great distance mounts; they live longer (study done in Germany), stay sounder, are easier keepers, and are easier to get on and off from the ground...unless you want to define pony in some other way. If so, please advise. kat Orange County, Calif. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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