CMK, club foot etc

Robbi Pruitt (Robbi_Pruitt@bendnet.com)
Tue, 7 Jan 1997 18:46:03 -0800

Amazing! This E-mail stuff works! Thanks for the welcomes and the
notes. Several of you asked so I live in Redmond and yes there are lots
of great rides in this area. My suggestion to anyone wanting to learn
more about endurance is to call a ride manager and volunteer to help at
their event! I speak from experience when I say that the most difficult
thing about putting on a ride is recruiting help. Even without any
experience there is something you can do, and you will learn and have
more fun if you are involved.

Sorry, I don't know of any horses for lease. (for sale? yes)

CMK stands for Crabbett,Maynesboro and Kellogg. These were the largest
breeding groups in the US prior to WW11. The Arabian horses in the US
from the early part of the century until about that time were arguably
the best in the world.
More importantly, these horses were bred and used in the manner that
the desert horse had been bred for centuries. The CMK horses of today
trace in all lines to horses that were in this country prior to about
1950 and do not include any imports from that point on. The
significance of this timeline is that after 1950 (or some use WW11 as a
cut off) we Americans and other sources as well, started trying to
"improve" on the original qualities of our desert imports. Up til then
the Arab was bred for disposition, (after all they lived in tents with
their masters) for their extreme hardiness, (they were ridden hundreds
of miles across the desert without food or water at great speeds)(What
does that sound like?) and of course for their beauty, although not at
the expense of their other traits. The CMK breeders of today are
dedicated to preserving a beautifull, sound, RIDING horse.

Yes it is true, RTMuffin is club footed, but before you all go out and
start conditioning club-footed Dobbin, you should ask Terry Westlake
about managing that problem. Terry is a first-class farrier as well as
an owner of Muffin. He works his ******fanny off keeping that foot just
right, and for every success story out there I know of quite a few that
never made it. The severity of the deformity is the most significant
factor of who will be successfull, but if you have a choice pick a
horse without it. Club footed horses tend to develope arthritis in and
below the ankle joint on the affected foot. And Joyce, Thank you for
your comment that you would not breed your mare. Club feet whether
slight or severe are HIGHLY heritable.

Tish - I too have used easyboots in snow and have had excellent
results. I usually use them over shoes so don't see any need for foam.
Snow getting into the boots has not been a problem for me.

Bonnie - I have tied up endurance horses with several molasses products
and no longer feed anything sweet to my endurance horses.

Robbi Pruitt
Canyonside Ranch Arabians