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>O.K. Regarding great endurance horses who have lasted into their middle
>and late teens - What age did these horses start their training for
>endurance? Anybody know???
When I bought Kahlil he was three and a half and had just been "green-broke." I
began LSD conditioning at four, entering a single 25 mile ride late that year.
He started 50's (after just the one 25) just as he turned five. For most of
that year I held him back, and did not let him finish in as low a time as he
could have, getting a few Best Conditions but not going for first until the very
end of the year. We began seriously competing for first place when he was six,
which is also when he did his first 100 mile rides. He was first-to-finish and
BC on his first 100.
During his most competitive period, in the 1980's, I generally alternated
aggressive years with "easy" years.
I think another factor that helped was that he's always been an outside horse --
he was never kept in a barn except when sick or injured (which was very rare).
I think that, along with his conditioning and competition, has made him a "happy
horse.
I wish y'all could see him today ... he's really taken to his new home and acts
like a youngster, not a 23 year old with over 11,000 miles completed! Any time
I go out my door he calls to me, and usually comes cantering up. When we ride,
I still have to restrain him, not push him.
--Joe Long jlong@mti.net http://www.mti.net Business http://www.rnbw.com Personal
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