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Re: [RC] Standardbreds & Saddlebreds - heidiSaddlebreds have Standardbred blood in them if I am not mistaken. Actually, most of the American breeds go back to the same set of root ancestors. You will find common ancestry among the TBs, the Morgans, the Saddlebreds, the Standardbreds, the TWHs, the QHs, and several less common ones. Early horses brought over by early Americans were selectively bred in different directions to do different things. Many standardbreds pace naturally, few Saddlebreds are "naturally" gaited. The slow gait and rack that the 5gaited show Saddlebreds perform take a long time to develop in most of the breed. Although it takes training to "perfect" those gaits, many Saddlebreds at least have a tendency to be able to do them. I have ridden both breeds, and Standardbreds seem more suited to endurance in my opinion, because of their lack of the high knee action most saddlebreds have, which to me would seem to be a waste of energy out on the trail. Saddlebreds by breeding also have a very l...o...n...g back which makes them break down easier and sooner as well. The original Saddlebreds would likely have been well-suited to endurance as well, since they were bred to be saddle horses that could take a rider many miles in a day with ease and comfort. Much of the Southern cavalry in the Civil War was mounted on Saddlebreds or horses of similar breeding. As has happened with many breeds, the show ring has gotten the modern Saddlebred away from such roots and has drastically altered the breed--some of the early breeders would likely roll over in their graves. The Standardbred, OTOH, has been bred almost exclusively for the trotting track--so the traits that cause it to excel there have been well-maintained. What makes the Standardbred more suited to endurance as a rule than many other non-Arab breeds is that trotters/pacers tend to run heats instead of single races, and hence have had to develop and maintain at least a degree of the recovery capablity for which Arabs are also noted. I think it is that trait as much as the ground-covering trot that makes the Standardbred reasonably well-suited to endurance. As for the long backs in Saddlebreds--again, that was not a fault for which the breed was noted in early years, but rather is something that was selected for to achieve a specific "look" in the show ring--and which did indeed impact the athletic ability of those individuals which suffer from that particular fault. (As for crossing Arabs with Saddlebreds to correct this--unfortunately, it has also become one of the more common breed faults in Arabs as well, and if one crosses a long-backed Saddlebred with a long-backed Arab, the result is apt to be a long-backed crossbred... If one wants athleticism and conformation suitable to carry riders long distances, and one wants to ride an Arab-Saddlebred cross, it behooves one to choose parents of each breed that have the traits one wants!) 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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