Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> There were only 47 people from ridecamp who signed it--- ironic as the
> majority of the signatures has come from non-endurance riders (even
> though the most of the issues that went into the letter addressed
> concerns of endurance folk).
> Interesting....... if you have feedback re: this you can email me
> privately so as not to clutter up ridecamp with peripheral matters,
> although this letter started out as a means to make the wishes of many
> ridecampers known.
At the risk of being perceived in a negative fashion once again, I have to
say that no, I don't find it "ironic" or surprising that this letter has
not gotten more signatures from ridecampers.  The reason for this is that
what a great many of us have been TRYING to get across is that while it is
true that we need to change AHA policies, the bigger problem remains that
we also have to reeducate people who consider themselves to be breeders of
Arabians that we as riders do NOT wish to ride the sorts of horses that
lead to e-mails such as Jim Holland's in the spooking thread asserting
that this is simply the nature of the Arabian.  Unfortunately, what Jim
says is painfully TRUE about far too many Arabians today.  And statements
such as his should make breeders everywhere shudder and examine their
breeding programs.

The breeders themselves have to learn what constitutes a good riding
horse, and select breeding stock accordingly.  It does us no good to put
the image of the classic sane and athletic Arabian horse on the marquee if
the product behind the advertising is still a flighty, spooky critter that
a doting dad would not consider buying for his horse-crazy daughter to
ride.

With all due respect to Bette, her letter does not address the sorry state
of the breed as it is being bred today--it concentrates solely on changing
the advertising jingle.  That may get somebody to buy once--but it won't
make them keep coming back.  The only thing that can do that is
success--and by that, I mean happy riders on horses that can do what the
riders want to do.  And the only way to achieve that is to consistently
breed horses with sound minds, trainable dispositions, decent
conformation, good metabolism, and a work ethic.

The good news is that riders ARE becoming more educated to the fact that
just being a purebred Arab isn't enough--the horse also has to actually
POSSESS the qualities that made the Arab desirable as a riding and
distance horse in the first place.  And they ARE learning to shop for
those qualities.  Furthermore, those same riders are also not apt to sign
a petition that suggests that the only problem is the marketing arm--they
know better, because they've experienced the difference.  But I am not at
all surprised that those from outside the endurance community are happy to
endorse such a petition--they have likely not yet found themselves in the
position to realize that we can't achieve the public support through
advertising until we have the products we claim to have.

And thanks to the knowledge and support of an increasingly educated riding
public, those breeders who ARE producing such a product are once again
gaining ground, from what I have observed.  I recently received a post
from another breeder of good,solid athletic horses who does not
particularly happen to market to endurance, but she had made a statement
to AHA to the effect that she was seeing a MUCH higher education level
among buyers looking for sport horses in general, who have finally
realized that they CANNOT find what they want in the show barns.  THAT is
the message that AHA needs to hear--the fact that the people who want to
actually ride Arabian horses have to struggle to FIND horses worth riding,
in the aftermath of the breeding practices of the past few decades.

So, that is why MY signature is not on the petition.  Bette's
protestations notwithstanding, it has nothing to do with personalities,
bloodlines, or any such thing.  The letter simply does not say what I feel
needs to be said--both from the perspective as a rider and from the
perspective of a breeder trying to breed horses that possess the qualities
necessary to be safely and pleasantly ridden, as well as those qualities
that will enable them to get around an endurance course with ease.

Heidi



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=