Re: [RC] [RC-Digest] Vol: 03.2933 hard roads - Chipnml
Just a quick note about Alydar...in the book "Wild Ride" by Ann Hagedorn
Auerbach there is A LOT of suspicion cast on the cause of Alydar's broken leg
and subsequent euthanasia. It's an excellent book about how Calumet Farm
was basically destroyed by unscrupulous people.
I have worked with many dressage and show hunter people whose horses are
turned out for an hour or two at most. These are animal physiologically
designed to be in motion many hours a day, and I see more injuries, colic and
thrush (not to mention ulcers and crabby attitudes) than at the barns I take
care of where the horses are out all the time. I believe every dressage
horse would benefit from some cross-country conditioning and lots
of turnout. Maybe someday they'll figure it out, just as many of
us have discovered how beneficial basic dressage is for our endurance
horses. One of my favorite clients was the woman with the grand prix dressage
horse she galloped cross country so he could stay out on grass 10 hours and day
and not put weight on.
