My point really is that the "culls" from the
halter programs are good old "dawgs" that can do anything and are
sound. There is nothing wrong with them except that maybe they don't look
good in make-up and don't have long enough legs, dishy enough head or flat
enough hip. They still have those original genetics in them going
strong.
Actually, my halter bred Drako has a little bit of
slope in his hip. This doesn't go as well for a halter horse, but it makes
an excellent performance horse. Believe me, this guy has incredible
suspension and he's like riding a mini-warmblood. Scares the s*** out of
me when he's pogoing.
> On the
contrary, the endurance horse IS the original "typical" Arab (as you point out
with the "good old dawgs") and are not merely "culls" from halter breeding.
The best endurance prospects tend to come from programs that never did buy
into the fads of the halter ring, and who stayed true to "using breeding"
through it all.
***This is also true in
the Appaloosa and Tennessee Walker breeds, not just the Arabian breeds.
My horses come from the old bloodlines, from breeders that didn't fall into
the fad of the decade. The horses are small, wiry and tough and have
tons of work ethic.
> The majority of endurance horses today weren't
bred specifically for endurance.
***At our barn,
we are a minority (chuckle) and
*DO* specifically breed for endurance. These horses are actually well suited for
many disciplines which require agility, athletic ability and stamina -
versatility horses - and for a
couple years now, the horses we've bred for distance are competing distance
and doing exactly what I felt they should do.
