Re: New to endurance

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

CabinBar@aol.com wrote:

it seems as though your
> sport seems to prefer Arabs or Arab mix. What about Thoroughbred/Standardbred
> or maybe a Morgan mix? Would they not have the stamina required? I have no
> idea I have just seen that most people prefer Arabs.

Maggie Mieske wrote:
> 
> Being a newbie myself I may not be the best person to give advice but this is what
> I think.  The reason you see so many Arabs out there is because they are so well
> suited to endurance... research any pedigree and somewhere, somehow they all seem
> to end up with *desert bred* in their background.

Kristi, you'll be getting many posts from the folks on the list citing
instances of very successful non-Arabians, so this post is from the
physiology point of view.  One of the primary reasons that Arabians do
so well in endurance is due to the type of muscle fiber they have. 
Specifically, Arabs have a high proportion of what is commonly called a
"slow twitch" fiber, one that is suited for sustained, relatively slow
exercise for long periods of time.  Horses such as quarter horses tend
to have a much higher proportion of "fast twitch" fibers, which can
produce intense bursts of speed/strength but only for a short period of
time.  This is why a big, stout quarter horse will be able to outsprint
an Arab for 100 yards, but the Arab will keep trotting happily for miles
and miles.

So, to answer your question, there are many other breeds of non-Arabian
that are capable of doing very well in endurance, because a number of
breeds, ie TB, Standardbred and to a lesser and varying degrees, the
gaited breeds and Morgans, have muscle fiber proportions that, while not
quite as endurance-suited as the Arabian, are pretty close.  Certainly
close enough that they would be perfectly suitable for distance work. 
Breeds that will be less likely to have the muscle fiber physiology
suitable for endurance would be the stout, heavily muscled breeds such
as the bulldog quarter horse (you know the type), the heavier draft
breeds (though even crosses of those have done well in endurance) and
generally breeds like Andulusian or Lusitano.  In most cases, it's not
just the fiber type, but more difficulty in dissipating heat through
that blocky muscle that's a disadvantage.  Though even those breeds can
do endurance at some level, just don't expect to win Tevis next year. 
Totally unsuitable are the breeds (or more specifically, the
individuals) where all the energy goes up in the form of park-type
action, instead of down the trail.

There are always exceptions within any breed, so before everyone starts
telling me all about the 1800 pound Belgian that can gallop 400 miles
holding his breath, consider the above just as a general guideline from
someone who's a physiologist instead of a 10,000 mile endurance rider. 
There are TONS of non-Arabians that are nicely suited to doing endurance
at one level or another, and a beautifully (meaning functionally)
conformed, fit, densely-boned non-Arabian with a smart rider and the
right attitude will do better than a poor Arabian anyday, desert-bred or
not.  And actually, ALL Arabians eventually go back to desert-bred,
since that was the original source for *all* of them.  Genetically
speaking, anything in the pedigree farther back than about the third
generation has very little direct influence on the horse you're
considering (unless it's repeated in the pedigree over and over), so pay
attention to the parents close up rather than the fact that the
grandsire eight generations back was Muffy the WonderHorse---but of
course, you already know that.:-)

Best of luck to you, and welcome to endurance!

Susan G