RC: endurance prospect

[Janice Taylor <JANUSTUDIO@compuserve.com>]

>Dear Mona
In that case Val must also like tall Russians because she bought a
15.2hh daughter of Halynov and a 16.1 son of Halynov. I tend to believe
she bought them for their conformation and athletic ability rather than
for their pedigrees, although they both have nice ones. One incorporates
the Hearst breeding program and the other includes Polish lines. Neither
is pure or straight anything.
Bette<

OK, guess I'll have to slide off my bench now and state my opinion. In my
limited experiences with distance riders - Valerie, like most distance
riders looks at the individual horse first.  He/she (the horse) can be from
a dedicated breeder's life long endeavor to breed exceptional endurance
horses, or it can pop up at the local sale. Makes no difference.  We each
have a mental picture and a set of 'wants' that we use to assess the horse
for sale.  No doubt top riders like Valerie have many offers sent  her way.
 She can pick and choose, and can afford to try the ones that appeal to
her.  Sometimes they work out, sometimes not.  
As in flat racing Arabians, it takes generations and generations to prove a
certain line is capable of producing runners.  There are still horses out
there with bloodlines unheard of that could and would have been racing
stars.  But that 'someone' with the bucks to back him, promotes his/her
choosen lines.  Then all you really have is that one line proven on the
track.  But only because someone was willing to put out the dollars.  How
many so called back yard horses also have the ability to blow 'em away if
only he'd had the dollars and effort it takes to make a horse to his full
potential?
I would have never known my stallion could produce running horses if a
racing enthusiast hadn't bought one of his fillies and put her on the
track.  High Winds Jedda became a h@ll of a runner/money earner. Then she
bought another 3 in one package in the hopes of racing more of his get, but
alas the money ran out before these youngsters had their chance.  If
someone like *Wiking's owner (sorry his name escapes me) had owned and
raced these horses, then no telling what would have happened.  For a while
there, there were only a few people willing to stick their necks out in
racing and it looked like Sam Harrison and *Wikings owner were the only
ones racing.  They had the biggest stables, they had the most winners.
Those are the breaks.
Same thing with High Winds Jedi. A group of us raced him as a youngster, he
was unimpressive until his final race where he broke the track record
winning for several lengths.  Found out later he could run, he just didn't
like it out front where the boogies were.  Obviously he got over it. <G>  I
then used him as a back up horse to my stallion, his sire.  He was
wonderful to ride, but we did mainly CTR  (he excelled)and a few endurance
rides.  My 'game' is not racing, still he managed to get me into top ten,
even when I fell ill.  When I quit, the distance riding scene for a while,
Nina Warren came to the farm and had to have him instead of the one I
really wanted to sell.  Well I needed to sell something, so he went.  Then
of course the rest is history.  Again, those are the breaks.  He could just
as easily set here in 'my back yard' and done nothing incredible.
Do I have offers with lots of dollar signs?  No.  Endurance riders in
general don't breed. I commend those that do.  It takes too long to get to
the point of racing, and as any breeder will tell you, it is expensive to
just maintain a horse for five years. So why breed, pay stud fee, maintain
foal for five more years, then hope he is 'the' one.  It is way easier to
keep your eyes open, pay less than $2000 for a non-show type and do well
within a year. Plus he just might be the next Cash or Jedi.  Some, the ones
that are seriously into endurance are taking note of bloodlines. So there
is hope, and perhaps with more money coming into the game, breeders may
someday see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope so.  I'll be too old
to notice though.<g>

Jan
Tut El Sakkara, HW Akeema, HW Jammecca, Panama Jack, Rider and the Midget,
sorry, no Jedi's for sale.