Ridecamp: Re: [RC] HAWAIIAN ENDURANCE????

For what it's worth, I remembered some movie about Cowboys in Hawaii and a
search on google turned up:

Paniolo have their roots in the cowboys of Old Mexico who were summoned to
Hawaii in 1832. The Mexicans taught islanders how to tame the cattle and
horses that were given as gifts to Kamehamaha the Great. Paniolo supplied
beef to prospectors during California's Gold Rush.

On the Big Island you can see Paniolo cowboys in action at the Parker Ranch,
the largest private ranch under single ownership in the United States.



Charles

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lif Strand" <lif@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 6:16 PM
Subject: Re: [RC] HAWAIIAN ENDURANCE????


> I met some Arabian breeders on Kuaui (I think it was that island) who gave
> me an earful about what it's like having horses there.  She's actually the
> breeder, he's into roping.
>
> 1.  Hawaiian grass provides little nutrition on islands with lots of
> rain.  Apparently the nutrients in the soil are just washed away.  So
these
> people actually had to have alfalfa imported from the mainland USA.  They
> bought it by the container load.  Very expensive way to feed - and I can't
> imagine any feed stores there having beet pulp!
>
> 2.  Hurricanes that hit Hawaii are very, very hard on horses.  The woman
> lost her best breeding stallion to a flying metal roof panel, which all
but
> decapitated him.
>
> 3.  To get to his roping events which often were on other islands, he had
> to put his horse in a trailer, then drive to the dock and load the rig
onto
> a barge.  This of course was a major deal, time consuming & expensive.
>
> 4.  Parts of various islands are impassable, way way too steep to ride or
> drive, and many areas are too dense with rampant growth to keep trails
open
> without constant maintenance.  If you check a map, you'll see there are
> very few roads on the islands.  That's a hint!  Plus the islands are
pretty
> small - I think it would be pretty hard to find enough trail to put on a
50
> miler unless you just had it go along paved roads.  Then there's the
> humidity and heat - unless you had the ride up at higher altitudes, but
> then you'd have the access problem....
>
> 5.  These people were/are *rich*.  No way could an ordinary person afford
> to keep horses on pastures on Kauai, import alfalfa from the mainland &
> barge to roping events!  So a big problem would be that of getting enough
> competitors to an event - I'm not sure how many competitors would be
> available for an endurance ride on Hawaii!
>         _________________________________________________
>             Lif Strand * Quemado NM USA * www.fasterhorses.com
>                                 ** You speak, I listen, We talk  **
>
>
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 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
 Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

 If you are an AERC member - PLEASE VOTE in the Director at Large 
 and By Laws Elections.

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