Re: Karahty (and Bloodlines in Arabs)

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/20/00 4:42:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
bobmorris@rmci.net writes:

<< Then there are many very excellent endurance horses out there that are not
 pure bred Arabs and do not have the "so called" bloodlines that some persons
 think are ideal. There have been many grade horses that have written the
 history of endurance riding. I will continue to feel that endurance horses
 are made, not born of paper statistics. The conditioning, training, the way
 they are kept, the attitude of the rider all are more important than the
 paper. Since most endurance horses are geldings the paper is useful only for
 starting a fire on a cold winter day. >>

The "paper" is not the important part--the inheritance that gives them good 
conformation, good metabolic capability, etc., however, certainly has some 
bearing on the final outcome.  The best raw material can be easily ruined 
without proper training, conditioning, nutrition, riding skills, etc.  
However, there is truth to the old adage about not being able to make silk 
purses out of sows' ears.

There are multiple families that tend to excel at this sport.  There are also 
individuals who got lucky and got the best of the lot out of less likely 
parentage.  What becomes interesting is comparing family lines that excel (as 
well as those who fail repeatedly) to their relative occurrence in the gene 
pool.  Folks with a good understanding of equine genetics and scientific 
protocol are beginning to do so. 

You make a valid point that if a gelding is successful, it really doesn't 
matter who his ancestors are.  However, in trying to produce the raw material 
with the best chance of success (when raised properly and put into the hands 
of a rider who will train, condition, etc. as should be), it still behooves 
one to look to lines that repeatedly do well under a variety of programs and 
to avoid lines who tend to consistently not do well, even when they seem to 
be managed well.   There is no "one" successful line--but a great many old 
programs sure seem to have an influence far beyond their representation in 
the general gene pool.  Can't say for sure without a comparison to something 
like Michael Bowling's random sample.  However, he and others have noted that 
it is interesting how folks tend to miss the relationships between a great 
many of the top horses in this sport.  I'm sure this is a subject which will 
be scrutinized more closely over the next few years.

Heidi