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Re: [RC] Saddle horse - heidi

I missed Hiedi's post so I don't know what led
to Kat's slam of the thoroughbred horse.


I can only say that she must have missed MY post too, since it included
the statement that I am of the opinion that the Thoroughbred is "The
most athletic horse of the face of the planet."


I had meant to get back to kat's post disagreeing with me when I had said
that no breed was being bred to be a saddle horse in modern times, at
least not in its mainstream breeding.  Her statement here helps to
underscore one of my points.  She is right that the TB is a very athletic
horse.  However, he is bred to be a specialist, and that specialty does
not lend itself to being a saddle horse.  The dynamics of having to run
fast does dictate that the TB maintains some aspects of being a good
saddle horse, since a horse with poor balance and incorrect ratios cannot
shave the necessary seconds off of his race time to be considered an asset
in a TB breeding program.  TB people do not go out and compare angles and
ratios--but they do look at times, and the horse cannot achieve the times
without the proper angles and ratios.  And admittedly, this is the aspect
of athleticism and conformation that has most consistently gone down the
drain in breeds that have been bred for show.

However, to equate this with "being bred to be a saddle horse" is quite a
stretch.  The TB has been specialized for speed to the extent that other
necessary traits to being a saddle horse have gone down the drain--among
them disposition, foot quality, and longevity for performance.  Like other
breeds, you can look among the ranks of the TB and still find individuals
who possess those necessary qualities and therefore make good saddle
horses.  But like other breeds, being a saddle horse is not the focus of
the mainstream breeding, and hence one still has to select individuals
that do possess the necessary traits from among the ranks of the many who
don't.

And, like other breeds, the more classic sorts of TBs also make the best
saddle horses.

Heidi



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