 |
Re: [RC] speaking of twh/mft - Barbara McCraryMakes a LOT of sense. I remember a talk by Matthew Mackay-Smith once, in which he said that TBs have both fast and slow twitch muscle and are quite suitable for endurance, "however, the TBs cross to bear is his feet". Meaning that their hooves often are shelly and don't hold up to endurance. We were "determined" to ride our Quarter Horses when we first started endurance. But these guys were 35 mile horses. After that, they just said, "forget it". Since we went to Arabs, we've had some good ones and some inept ones. Oddly, however, one of the best endurance horses we ever had was 1/2 Morgan and 1/2 Percheron. He was a real oddity in the sport, but he was SO good...."Grey" - "Nobility Without Arrogance..." Barbara ----- Original Message ----- From: <rides2far@xxxxxxxx> To: <bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxx> Cc: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 10:07 AM Subject: Re: [RC] speaking of twh/mft Stamina would come fromconditioning, rather than the breed, I should think. And one can ruin the tendons of any breed if he doesn't use care and consideration.I remember reading that QH, Apps, TB's etc contained something like 5% slow twitch muscles which is what we want for aerobic work... but there's a "can go either way" type muscle that can be trained over time to work like slow twitch muscles. An Arab in contrast is born with about 40% slow twitch which was more than you could train the others up to. I was very determined to stick to Apps when I started endurance and was asking about an App that had won a 50 that was for sale. A guy who knew the horse said, "Yeah, he can do it, but he takes a *lot* of riding". That's when it hit me that I was breaking down the App I had (tendon problems) from over training. By using a horse that didn't need so much training I put less wear and tear on the legs. I switched to Arabs and for me it was the perfect match. I'd never had one before so was avoiding them for no reason. So...whereas a Walker may have tendons that are just as good as the Arabs, by the time you've put twice as much wear on them to get him fit, you may do damage. Make sense? Angie ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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 Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|