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RE: [SPAM] [RC] How do you pick the horse? - heidiLet's suppose there are a number of 3 year old horses with similar back grounds and breeding available. How would you select the one or two to put two years of feed, training, and conditioning into with the idea of having a good 50 mile horse at 5 years old. None are yet under saddle. What conformation qualities would you insist on? What else would be important to you? First, I'd clarify that the "similar backgrounds and breeding" are GOOD backgrounds and breeding that represents fairly consistent relatedness to successful endurance horses. This is really your only window into metabolic performance in the untried youngster. Conformation-wise, I want a balanced body--by that, I mean a horse that is roughly 1/3 shoulder, 1/3 back, and 1/3 hip (at very least, the back and hip need to match and have reasonable angulation), and that has a depth of body equal to the distance from the sternum to the ground. (You won't get that in a 3-year-old, but you should have some idea that he is headed that direction.) I want good substance, and nice short cannons with long forearms and long tibias. The other things that I'd look for would be the one that goes to the feed pile first and digs right into it, the one that accepts work calmly and wants to be a part of the team, and in general the one that takes care of himself rather than going off on a tangent because something changed in his environment. 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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