My Saddlebred, now 31, has 2000 endurance miles and finished
Tevis 4 times. Seventeen hands of tough, still gets ridden,
and still knows how to buck. Also, a great people horse.
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Man, I do love this breed. Or, at
least the one I have. He's a friggen fireball, this horse.
He'd probably be more comfortable competing against Thoroughbreds on a
mile and a quarter race track, but he does just fine doing his thing,
which is a very quick 25. And trust me, I'm pulling back on him
almost the entire first loop and part of the second. And, because of
this LD/endurance training regimen I have put him on for the last 3 years,
this is one powerful horse.
I've retired him from 50's, or if I do enter
one, I'll pull after the third loop. I'll go though the vet check,
making sure he's ok (my horse, not the vet), then tell Nancy I pull on the
grounds of being dirty, smelly, old and thirsty. This horse is worth
a whole lot more than a completion, to me, anyway.
Joan, I bet we can count the number of
American endurance riders who ride a full blooded (no Arab mixed in)
American Saddlebred, on one hand. 50 milers anyway. I think
Dance has 3 or 4 50 mile completions under his belt (one for sure didn't
get counted; we did the 50 and he almost died on me), and there won't be
many more, probably no more, cause I scare easy when it comes to his
health.
People laugh at me when they see me climb up
on the back tail gate of my truck, the gate is down, and then get on top
of DAnce Line, my 17 hand giraffe. But, man, can this horse move
out. I'm planning on having some fun with him at the 25's my wife is
making me ride. She and I just got a pair of walkie talkies (this
should be fun; bet I lose one real quick attached to my saddle) so I can
ride up ahead, and let Dance pass all those horses in front (not for long)
of him that he loves doing. Then, I'll slow down the last part,
hoping she'll catch up. If neither one of us loses one of them,
knowing where your partner is on the trail might be fun to try and
do. Hey, watch out for that hole that's about 3 miles a head of
you. Right next to that pine tree. Her response would be,
"Could you be a little more specific since we got millions and millions of
those scrawny things down here?"
Even if pure Saddlebreds aren't the best
breed for the sport, damn if I won't come out and say, they're the best
ride. Nothing else comes close.
cya,
Howard