I have come to find out that what might just be of more
importance, however, is how quickly an endurance horse can actually RECOVER to
whatever its resting heartrate is, particularly during an endurance ride that is
more "race" than "ride".
A horse that can be ridden in the way, and still recover
quickly could have a resting heartrate higher than 23 and still be the quicker
through the vet checks due to other factors (stroke volume, heat dissipation,
etc.).
So, that said, I'd still like the horse with 23 bpm
resting heartrate better than one with a 60 bpm...BUT I'd always consider the
other important factors that make up the platform of a quality endurance
mount.
