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

Lif, was the woman Barbara Nishek?  Lud rode one of their horses when we
went to Kauai.  Their stallion was Bey Jangles, a Varian bred horse.  Sarah
Christie had apprenticed at Varian's, went over there with the stallion, and
stayed for some time.  She was Nishek's trainer when we were there, and I
rode her horse. Bey Jangles was speared by debris during the Iniki
hurricane, which blew in some months after we were there.  The neophyte
endurance riders sanctioned for a 25 and 50, but no one entered the 50.
Sarah came back to CA and now works for the Coastal Commission in
Sacramento.

Barbara


----- Original Message -----
From: "Lif Strand" <lif@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 3:16 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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