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RE: [RC] Standardbreds and Part Standardbreds in Endurance - Mcgann, BarbaraIts kinda a chicken and egg question, though, isn't it? Which came first..."Arabs do so well in this sport because there are so bloody many of them competing." OR "There are so bloody many of them competing because they do so well in this sport"? :>)) When people go to rides and see the winners are arabs, the top ten are arabs, and the other breeds are basically middle to back of the packers, they come to the conclusion that they need an arab to really compete. This ain't true, but its almost a self-fulfilling truth. I'm like you, Carolyn. I like to ride both standardbreds and Saddlebreds, but I am a middle to back of the pack rider and so I contribute to the feeling that they aren't suited for running up front. I have ridden several horses in each breed that would have happily been a front runner if they had just had a front running rider! Barb McGann -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Carolyn Burgess Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 11:45 AM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Standardbreds and Part Standardbreds in Endurance This thread has been really wonderful. Lots of experienced endurance riders commenting on what a nice breed the Standardbred is. My guy is a pure Standardbred, competes in 50 mile rides, and is a middle of the pack finisher. His last endurance ride was the FairHill International where he finished 16th overall (7th in our weight division). This ride had alot of pulls for lameness and my guy trucked right on through the finish, pushing two riders in front of us over the finish line, faster than they really wanted to go. And I screwed up and he did an extra six miles on top of the 50. There is nothing unique about this horse as Standardbreds go. He is about 15.3H and around 1,100 lbs. He raced until he was 10 and came off the track sound. He is a little big for an endurance horse, but very typical for the size and body type of a Standardbred. He is not lightly muscled like an Arab, nor is he bulky like a QH, but somewhere in between. And he does well, but will never be a front runner, but we are happy to be in the middle of the pack. He has done both endurance (200 miles) and competitive trail in ECTRA (200 miles). The reason he is not a front runner is not because he is a Standardbred, but because of the type of horse he is. He is just a little too big to be able to get rid of heat quickly. But that doesn't mean that a Standardbred a little smaller and with a little lighter muscle wouldn't be a front runner. I just got an email that from someone that said that he thought that crosses might be OK, but a straight Standardbred would never do well. I think my guy disproves this theory. The one thing that I hope comes out of this discussion is that Arabs are not the only horse that you can compete with and do well. Part of the reason that Arabs do so well in this sport is because there are so bloody many of them competing. If you want to get a feel for this, go to the AERC website and look at the breed statistics. Something like 95% of the horses that compete in AERC rides are Arabs or 1/2 Arabs. If there were that many Standardbreds, or Thoroughbreds, or Saddlebreds, or Tennessee Walkers competing in this sport, you'd see alot of those as top finishers. Please don't forget that, "To finish is to win" and I have 4 - 50 mile completions so far with this horse. I went looking specifically for this breed of horse, found the best mount I could, broke him to saddle, trained him to ride and compete in this sport. Whether anyone else feels like this horse is meant to compete in this arena is their issue. I feel like a big winner. Carolyn Burgess =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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