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Re: [RC] USEF, Tom Johnson & damaging speculation. - Barbara McCrary

I agree with this issue of horse's age wholeheartedly. I have brought along numerous horses over the years from 4 year olds to a strong working endurance horse. In my experience, a horse is ready to start a few LDs when he is 5, then a few slow 50s when he is 6, then more 50s and maybe a 75 when he's 7, a greater workload when he's 8, and finally, at age 9, I think he's ready for 100s. I'm not just talking about conditioning, either, but about the horse's maturity, both physically and mentally. To me, when a horse has reached 9, he's ready to be considered mature. If I would make any amendments to the above, I would say a horse might try a slow or easy 100 at age 8, but it wouldn't bother me any to see him a full 9 years old before trying 100s. Yes, I know that Rio won Tevis as a 7 year old, and that he was still in great condition and soundness at 22 or 23, but there aren't very many Rios in the world. The horse was a real "freak of nature", very much as the legendary Justin Morgan was one.
JMO, and not a very humble one, either.

Barbara

----- Original Message ----- From: "Lynne Glazer" <anyone@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Ridecamp Correspondence Correspondence" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 12:31 PM
Subject: [RC] USEF, Tom Johnson & damaging speculation.


Re horse age: I am concerned to see a 7 year old horse on the team. 7 years old! Doing 10 hour 100s! I know the rider is very experienced, but dang--that horse isn't done growing yet. I am not a fan of rules except to protect the horse--and wish we had a minimum age for international competition, especially since we know these are fast courses.

Lynne



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[RC] USEF, Tom Johnson & damaging speculation., Lynne Glazer