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Re: [RC] CA breeders - Bette LamoreHeidi "I agree that there has been overbreeding of mediocre horses. >But there is still a relative shortage of good ones." Magness Arabians was breeding between 250 and 500/year--- hardly what I would call mediocre. They would pick out 20 for their first string race prospects and then another 20-40 backup and then give-away or sell for peanuts the rest. They were just one of the race breeding farms in CA. The problem in CA (I'm not talking about other states here) is not mediocrity so much as overproduction. I've looked at MAgness' "discards" and they were very nicely balanced, good conformation and good attitudes. We are in a unique position perhaps in CA as the race industry for Arabians centers here, Texas, FL and Delaware. They breed numbers to beat the odds. The problem was that many of these horses wound up at killers-- not enough buyers and they were not promoted as trail or show horses nor trained-- simple gotten rid of ASAP for pennies. Many of the other breeders gave up as we could not compete with these big farms. IT was responsible of us to lay low-- what with ARabian registrations down and horse production skyrocketing. Fortunately (in one ironic sense) with the introduction of the French so-called "purebreds" entering the racing field and blowing away the competition, racing revenues went down, purebred breeders went out of the business or cut way back, and now things are much better in CA. In fact the Riding MAg wrote that there was a shortage of show horses due to breedings being down. Too bad so many of those athletes went for cat food at the zoo. Yet, the pendulum swings for a reason. Bette -- Bette Lamore Whispering Oaks Arabians Home of Bunny and 16.2h TLA Halynov who lives on through his legacy Hal's Riverdance! http://www.arabiansporthorse.com Always remember: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." (George Carlin) ============================================================ Every horse can be taught to walk faster than you think. It is one of the most important qualities of a good riding horse. Some have it naturally, others need to learn. On the other hand, if you are riding a tired horse, an easy jog is more efficient, covers more groumnd with less effort. (it's the rebound effect of the two beat trot) ~ Dot Wiggins ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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