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I think the reason you see the undesirable temperament in these posts is
that someone has a problem that needs to be remedied and asks for help.
What you do not see written about much are the horses with wonderful
dispositions who are very competitive endurance horses as well. If he's
not a problem most people just don't talk about it! Many horses that
are a handful when first starting an endurance career become extremely
reliable with time and lots of trail miles. Yes, most Arabs are very
game. And they were bred to do what I enjoy - happily travelling at a
brisk pace for long distances. They really were not bred by the
bedouins to be fed heavily and kept in a stall most of the time!
A bad temperament is not a requirement to do endurance. In fact, in the
majority of cases, I think that an endurance career does wonders for
developing a exceptionally reliable horse. One of my geldings is an
ex-track horse. I bought him at a bargain price because his owners were
convinced that he would run away with anyone who rode him. With a
steady diet of long-slow-distance and completion-only endurance rides he
became very sane and exceptionally reliable. Then we speeded up. He
just needed to have his energy channeled in the right direction.
Several years later he is still very game, which IS desirable in an
endurance horse. .
Dave Bennett
Chickamauga, Georgia
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