Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> > The US team came in riding together, all looked great.
> > I talked with Skye and Dr. Beecher, they said the plan
> > is for the  team is to ride together and finish as a group.
> It is a good thing that I was not on the team since this particular plan
> isn't one that I would buy in to, since it is in contravention of my own
> endurance maxim of "Ride your own ride."
Kat, I was very concerned about the same thing.  And before I say the rest
of this, a disclaimer:  I do NOT know what happened to the pulled horses,
I do NOT personally know the specific horse involved, and I am speaking
only in generalities from past observances of horses of similar
breeding...  That said, the horse I worried about the most when I heard
that our squad planned to ride as a group was PR Tallymark.  It may well
be coincidence that he was the first of ours pulled, and for metabolic
reasons, but--here is my observation from Arab/Standardbred crosses in the
past...  Many of them have done VERY well, and I was very interested to
see that PR Tallymark was on the squad.  But it has also been my
observation over the years as a ride vet that the Standardbreds (and often
the Standardbred crosses) "shift gears" at different points, and that the
biggest mistake their riders historically have made is to try to ride WITH
the Arabs.  Too often they end up going at a pace that is a notch faster
or a notch slower than their "comfort zone" in that particular gait, and
so do not perform optimally.  However, if they go out at their own pace,
they will leapfrog with the Arabs, sometimes in front, sometimes behind,
and in the long haul, will put in a pretty good account of themselves.

This may have absolutely nothing to do with why Tallymark was pulled--but
I did find it odd that he was the one horse about which I thought "Oh,
no!" when I read about the squad riding together and that he was the first
one pulled, and I could not help but wonder if he would have fared better
not going "with" the rest of the group.  I'd be very interested to hear
comments from those who were there.

Heidi



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