Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

At 06:07 AM 9/8/2004, Ed Kilpatrick wrote:

> many blm wild horses are mustangs

Could you cite your resource for info on what percentage of wild horses are 
mustangs (that is, a identifiable breed of horse)?  I'd be very interested 
in reading about how the BLM or whoever knows this.  Are all BLM horses 
blood typed or is there some other identifier that BLM is using that I 
haven't heard about?

> very few of the wild horses are two generations removed from a plow horse.

Probably so.  But how do you know what's in a wild horse's ancestry?  How 
can you insure that you're getting a mustang and not a horse that looks 
like a mustang but is the only one in the herd with a plow horse for a 
grandparent?

> a very high percentage of the blm wild horses are well suited for 
> endurance riding.  you might call it a "grab bag"  approach, but most any 
> of them that you pick will be able to get the job done.

Again, where's the documentation for this?  I believe that just because of 
sheer numbers we know that a high percentage of Arabians will be suited for 
endurance.  But do we have enough BLM  horses entered in rides to come up 
with as much meaningful data like we do with Arabians?  Has anyone done an 
analysis of BLM horses in endurance at all?  Is "BLM horse" even something 
that people put when they fill in the blank for breed?

If this data is available, who is keeping it?  Who can tell me how many BLM 
horses are not suited  for endurance compared to those that complete 
rides?  If "most any BLM horse that you pick" would be able to be a 
successful endurance horse, this is would be extremely valuable information 
for the endurance world to be able to rely on.

So, I guess what I'm asking, Ed, is are you providing your opinion or are 
you providing facts that anyone can check - because I'd like to check those 
facts myself.  Your opinion, by the way, is perfectly fine with me to push 
on RideCamp, but when it's opinion and not facts, it sure seems to me it 
would be polite to differentiate between them.

________________________________
   Lif Strand      fasterhorses.com
           Quemado NM USA
High Country Rider:  An endurance rider's journal
   www.fasterhorses.com/highcountryrider/