Dear Lif;
Having been involved in this sport for nearly twenty years, and having
friends who have competed for tens of thousands of competition miles, I
have watched the progression of the discovery of which horses are suited
and which are not. As a data collector and observer at heart, I have
noticed that many years ago, anything equine with four legs would do.
Then, certain quarter horse types were eliminated as too bulky. Then
more arabians were purchsed, but as the market for these purebred
animals was so costly, and this sport was still very small and obscure,
the culls and neglected animals were often the ones used. I remember
Gerry Luternauer's horse, a beautiful gray that had a bad club foot, who
was rescued from a box stall and a neglectful owner. He managed,
through good shoeing and careful miles, to compete that horse well for
years. Diane Luternauer had a wonderful palomino mare, that obviously
was part quarterhorse, that she rode to many top ten completions. Dolly
DeCair rode a palomino quarterhorse mare back then, also. Then people
started breeding endurance mares to stallions that had put their mark on
the sport, such as Cougar Rock, Bezetal, Fadjur and the like. Often
riding the offspring of these crosses, we continued to compete. The
bloodlines of the successful horses were still hearsay, as other horses
continued to do well. Rushcreek horses became popular for those who
could afford them. It has only been fairly recently that the general
endurance population has started comparing the bloodlines of the
successes in our sport and making the connections. However, people in
this sport have for years competed on horses that were other's
rejects(often due to being too hot to ride, or too much horse for the
previous rider)with the hope of uncovering a diamond in the rough. Many
riders love the endless possibilities and undiscovered potential in that
horse that they "find", wasting away in someone's yard, waiting for the
human to bond with them and use them to their potential. I do. Have
two of these.
So, though we know more now about which horses have "proven" bloodlines,
it doesn't mean that anyone who wants to compete will have to go out and
buy one. There are still plenty of good horses hiding out in the most
obscure places, and if they keep finding me, they can find you, too.
Katee
>
> Over the years we have been blessed with lots of information on what the
> best endurance horse qualities are -- these include things like
> certain conformation, muscle fibers, temperament, pedigree, etc., lots
> more. As I understand the science of it, race horses, show horses, etc,
> don't generally have this *specific* combination of qualities, because
> these qualities are not what is perfect for their sport!. Thus I
> conclude you cannot reasonably expect to find these good endurance horse
> qualities by looking to horses from other disciplines, or to horses that
> don't fit in anywhere else.
>
> My point is and has been that if there is a rock bottom cost to produce
> something and no one will pay even that, then NO ONE WILL MAKE THE
> PRODUCT ANY MORE. So, I have been trying to find out by asking this
> question over and over, is this what the endurance community really
> wants to happen, that no one will want to or could afford to breed
> endurance horses any more?
>
> I feel I now understand that the bulk of the endurance community at this
> time is content to not support endurance horse breeders. I will be
> curious to see where the sport goes from here. I have to say that I am
> pretty tired of this thread by now, so nuff said! Lif
>
> ____________
> Lif & Paul Strand STRAND ENTERPRISES www.fasterhorses.com
> Arabian Horses * Nutrition for People & Critters * WebArt