Re: [RC] [RC] Arabian Horse Numbers - Mary Ann Spencer
Interesting. Would be interesting to figure
out which blood lines have that. However, like CID and HYPP, the big high
powered high dollars folks won't allow such information to be out amongs the
'little people' of the horse world.
I have quit breeding and many others quit long ago
as can't even recoup the feed bill for the mare. The IRS changes in the
80s killed the small breeders. The fancy breeders have kept their
numbers down so demand will keep the prices up. Horse prices have not
changed much over the past 20 yrs. Cutting horses and barrel horses are
where the money is. The balance sheet has not happened for Arabians.
Also, when Arabians were first introduced, their owners did not do it in a
friendly manner but as snobbery. Also, with the breeding pool so small,
some qualities that were not the best were retained.
Had an interesting discussion about dispositon of
horses. In past centuries horses were bred for disposition as well as
usuability. Now all the breeds are going for performance only.
This was a discussion during my group dressage lesson. Look at the halter
horses of Arabian and Qtr horses? Not much for performance or
attitude. The old Arabians were bred for all. Qtr horses used to be
breed for usability. The cowboys wanted a dependable mount as walking
several miles home was not a good option. Rank horses need to be
culled. My daughter is a working horse student and she says: never
breed a mare unless you want one just like her. Behavior modification will
help but will never replace the disposition given by nature. BTW, many of
the US warmbloods have nasty dispostion but they have been breeding for
'movement' and so ignored the disposition.
Recently a young trainer said she would rather work
with horses who had not been spoiled by another human. Many say that of
the mustangs.
Now I know why his tail does
that. Not at a walk, But when trotting he has always held his tail
slightly to one side........
>Hmm, seems there is a complaint
about crappy horses. It is difficult to >breed for what others
want. Yrs ago read an article that said one should >breed for
what one likes. In US, there are just a lot of people with a lot
>of different likes. A few yrs back I was riding with a group who
mostly >rode Arabians. Maybe it is nitpicking but one farm was
breeding knowing >the tails were cocked sideways on the horses.
Yup one doesn't ride the >tail but it sure looked 'strange' and surely
might be related to overall >balance of the
horses. >
