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Re: [RC] PoundHorses/Mustangs - Barbara McCraryI'm sort of enjoying this ongoing discussion. There are several indisputable facts that apply to the topic: 1) Man originally domesticated the horse to help him extend his range beyond which he could cover on foot. 2) Show horses are/were fetching much greater prices than using horses, so many people went into breeding/showing them. 3) Watching horses parade around the ring, unridden, has limited fascination for most folks. 4) Breeding horses for the show ring exclusively has done horrible things to each breed, same with dogs. 5) Take away the pure usefulness of horses for the sake of someone's idea of a breed standard of perfection and the original purpose of domesticating the horse has been ruined and lost. 6) Breeding horses for endurance and other usefulness is definitely a step forward to restoring the purpose for which horses were first domesticated. Viva la endurance!!! Barbara (Who is in a lighthearted and slightly facetious mood this morning, but means every word stated above) ----- Original Message ----- From: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <greymare56@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <pepperja@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 10:02 PM Subject: Re: [RC] PoundHorses/Mustangs Just a couple of comments here...He's not a BLM but a registered Kiger born in captivity from 2 wild(BLM) horses.The twist here is that I know his sire,Steen's Vaquero,who only one yr after being captured (at 2yrs old)was winning at open & mustang shows in reining,working cow,hunter hack etc, which said to me this colt HAD a pedigree,mustang or not.The Steens Mountains group (Kiger group) is a fairly consistent group, and is the result of the very sort of breeding I talked about earlier--the local ranchers being very selective about what stallions were turned out in the early days. One CAN identify specific groups like this and have a much better chance of getting a good horse from them than from simply looking at feral horses across the board. That said...BTW, there were no Arabs as Dressage in the Wine Co., except for a breed demo of a Shagya Arab stallion, who was handled on a lead.....and not terrible well behaved either.......It sounds like this show was an exception to the norm, as the #2 use for Arabs in competition (slightly edging out Class A shows) is to show them in Open competition such as dressage, jumping, etc. The "powers that be" in the Arabian show world were downright stunned at the response to having a separate Sport Horse Nationals--it drew over 1400 entries (all dressage, jumping, hunt seat, etc.), a great many of which had earned their qualifications in open competition against all breeds, since so few Class A Arab shows have been offering such classes. I did some checking on the number of Class A shows in Region IV (where I live) vs the number of endurance rides in the same geographic area (about half of the NW region of AERC), and looked up the numbers of entries at same--I can't find my notes on my desk at the moment, but there were roughly 8-10 times as many Arabs involved in endurance rides in that geographic area as there were involved in Class A shows last year, if memory serves, and WAY more endurance events than Class A shows. Between the endurance rides and the popularity of the Sport Horse events, it is pretty clear that the average amateur Arabian owner/rider is not into the show scene either... 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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