Breeds and Endurance

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@ici.net>]

This is fun.  Here's the same chart, but with an additional column
that divides miles finished by starts, sorted by breed.  How's that
for a normal distribution?  The thing is, when there are very few
horses represented in any breed, one could possibly be looking more
at the effectiveness of the *rider* than the inherent talent of
the breed.  For example, to what extent is the top ranking of Russian
Orlovs due to their natural ability vs. Steph's talent as a rider?
Is the Bakshir Curly really the second best breed for 50 mile
completions?
Notice how much better the National Show Horse (Saddlebred x Arab cross)
seems to do as opposed to the Morabs (Morgan x Arab).  (Morgan breeder
Margaret Gardiner has said that Morgans will never beat the Arabs in
endurance
until they run the races in the middle of a freezing winter.)

Do we have any statisticians out there that could begin to come up
with how many numbers per breed constitute "significance"?



BreedDescription               horses      starts      miles   
miles/starts   
------------------------------ ----------- -----------
-------------------- 
Russ Orlov                     4           11          625      (56.81)
Curly                          1           5           250      (50)
Trakehner                      1           3           150      (50)

Akhal Teke                     2           12          575      (47.91)
Thoroughbred Cross             2           5           225      (45)
National Show                  7           24          1070     (44.58)
Grade                          302         1219        53555    (43.93)
Anglo-arab                     86          363         15810    (43.55)
Fox Trotter                    6           57          2470     (43.33)
Mustang                        39          224         9505     (42.43)
Arab                           2560        10731       444220   (41.39)
1/2 Arab                       334         1431        58895    (41.15)
Arab Cross                     113         493         19740    (40.04)

Other                          163         544         21105    (38.79)
Mule                           32          141         5440     (38.58)
Paint                          15          58          2225     (38.36)
Quarter  Horse                 19          74          2810     (37.92)
Morgan                         48          149         5635     (37.81)
Saddlebred                     15          63          2340     (37.14)
Icelandic                      3           13          480      (36.92)
Morab                          12          55          2020     (36.72)
Standardbred                   4           13          445      (34.23)
Appaloosa                      51          179         6050     (33.79)
Thoroughbred                   32          99          3330     (33.63)
Belgian                        1           2           65       (32.5)
Tenn Walker                    28          112         3515     (31.38)
Racking Horse                  2           4           125      (31.25)
Pony                           5           10          310      (31.00)
Mo Fox                         12          48          1455     (30.31)

Paso Fino                      6           17          500      (29.41)
Appy Cross                     3           3           85       (28.33)
Quarter Cross                  10          30          825      (27.5)
Peruvian Paso                  6           13          310      (23.84)
Rocky Mountain                 1           25          580      (23.2)
Morgan Cross                   4           12          265      (22.08)
Welsh                          2           4           80       (20)

POA                            1           4           75       (18.75)


Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA