RE: arab lines that do well in endurance

["Kathy Mayeda" <Kathy_Mayeda@atce.com>]

Title: RE: arab lines that do well in endurance

I’m not sure your post reached Ridecamp, but I’ll answer with my non-answer.  I bet the majority of the horses I see at rides are not bred specifically for endurance, but were “rejects” or just “re-routed” from other breeding programs.  There are some stallions and mares that have done well in endurance and are promoted for endurance specifically, and some breeders that seem to consistently breed good endurance horses, or at least keep a high visibility in Endurance News.  But I bet, if you really trace back their bloodlines, they’re the same strains that you might see with some preservationist breeders, halter breeders and backyard breeding programs.  And I bet there are a lot of sire lines that never get out to prove their endurance because they were just plain bred for other purposes, like halter even.  I have no doubt that Beau’s sire could have been a superior endurance sire if the owner even had an inkling to promote him in that direction.  He has the speed, the mental and physical toughness, and the competitive spirit that would make him a winner and he passes those characteristics on (despite his halter back)…

Remember, there are just as many desired characteristics for an endurance horse as there are different endurance riders goals.   Most of the people I ride with prefer the smaller Arab, which would not be preferred in the halter ring.  Hey, *I* would prefer the smaller Arab, but got stuck with a couple of skyscrapers.

It is true that there may be some physical problems with a tall, long backed Arab.  However, I have found so far that the problems actually seem to be overcome with proper management.  It is a pain in the butt to problem solve.  I would not trade the wealth of knowledge I’ve gained from trying to fix a crooked, tall, sway-backed, club-footed, but gorgeous horse for anything in the world.  Beau is doing well right now, and hopefully we have many years and miles on the trail together.  The ironic thing is that Beau does NOT have any Bey Shah in him, and the Drako, the double Bey Shah horse I have does NOT have a club foot and is pretty balanced!

K.

-----Original Message-----
From:   Laney Humphrey [mailto:laneyh@mbay.net]
Sent:   Wednesday, January 09, 2002 8:37 PM
To:     Kathy Mayeda
Subject:        arab lines that do well in endurance

Hi All,
    I'm sure successful endurance bloodlines have been discussed, but I
must have missed it.  Would someone mention a few again, please?
Thanks!
Laney