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[RC] Size of horse at AERC nat'l champ - rides2far.> I would not have let many people take this mare to be pointed towards the Pan Am with this given time frame. Before making my final decision, I spoke at great length with Randy Eiland a trusted friend about Alyx?s ability. I knew her strengths/weaknesses before sending Mommesin to her. O.K. I feel like saying...let's start over at the beginning. :-) It's the reporter in me. You started off telling us her pedigree etc. Could you instead tell her story from the beginning. Things I'm curious about: How many years did she race? What was her record? Is Alyx riding her for you or does she own her? (sounds above as if it's a loan but I'd gotten the impression she owned her). You are in Fla. but she seems to be getting your horses in NM. Are you racing them there are are these horses you've sold in the past? Keenly aware that anyone can look up the records of a given horse/rider competing in Endurance and may try to emulate that same program, I love looking up the records...but I am well aware they don't tell the whole story. If anybody looks on *my* record they'll see a horse I started out in 50's placing 3rd, then 2nd, then 1st & BC, then I guess it won't show it but the next one was "didn't vet in". At the time I thought the fact he'd been ridden at all for 2 years counted as 2 years of conditioning, but it really hadn't been consistant enough. Live and learn. When I see a horse do it successfully I've found chances are that it is a horse who has been conditioned long before they competed that fast. Anybody who goes by the records needs to look closer. I've seen records that look kind of rough when it was a good rider who had some bad luck. On the other hand there are some pretty reckless people whose records don't convey that either. Nevertheless, the records are a great place to start. By the way, you talked a lot about Alex being so physically fit. I'm sure she is, but don't underestimate the Bev Grays out there. When you get to the upper levels of competition it's pretty awe inspiring to see legs with calves that look like steel springs on these women. They're fit, and they're good. Amy Whelan used to say that Val could beat you on a Shetland Pony. I'll add Meliss Crain to that. :-) Alyx is now working with Stacctinacity who while trained for the track, was not raced and therefore will need to have a more Classic Endurance Training Schedule, slowly building her endurance/stamina. I noticed 3 different Stacc... horses on her record. One I believe was just Stacc and I figured might have been an abreviation for either of the other two. Are there 2 or 3? I have a hard time getting excited about names and pedigrees. One comment about a "ground eating floating trot" gets my attention much quicker. Were the horses you speak of not successful > because of their maturity (mentally/physically) at the time of > training/racing ? the distance they ran ? the trainer ? the expertise of the exercise > rider ? the jockey that rode them ? That's the problem. If you're not an insider at the track...who knows? You have to be fairly astute to know which of the factor/factors came into play. Spent a little time as a 17 year old hanging around the QH & App racing at Pompano Park. Saw a lot of people doing things wrong from what I could tell...but a lot of broke trainers who had to take practically anything they could get to get rid of a horse 1/2 way through the meet when he wasn't winning or...even if it just needed 6 weeks off because they couldn't afford to keep it there and couldn't afford to send it home. but if you?re going to purchase one I would spend $500-600 to have the joints ex-rayed and the tendons ultra sounded. Preferably this work be done by a Track Vet in a Clinic set up for racehorses. Do you feel an outsider would get a fair shake when the seller might be a regular customer and the buyer just someone from "out there"? I checked into the ad for the Darley Stud that was in endurance news. They have lots of 4 year olds for sale. What age do they start racing Arabs? There was no mention of race records, just herd reduction. $2500 for a horse that's ready to start and very well bred doesn't seem like a bad deal. You'd think somebody would put their photos up on a web site. I'm not quite ready for another horse yet, but I do notice these guys. My daughter would love for her next horse to be off the track too but I'm a little partial to the 14.2 mountain pony build. >g< Angie McGhee Wildwood, GA ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! 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