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Kim, you are right about the Rushcreek program, and from what I've seen, it actually maintained its consistency longer than the Hyannis program did. 

 

One of my "cold winter night" projects is to go back and do stats on both Rushcreek and Hyannis, as well as some of the modern programs.

 

Heidi

I saw the mention of several good US breeding program that produced endurance horses but didn't see the Rushcreek name mentioned.  In the early 1990s Karen Zontelli and I sat down and put together a list of endurance horses that were progeny of Al Marah Knight, who stood at Rushcreek for several years.  We used the AERC yearbook and the Arabian Horse Data base which at that time was on CD.  We counted 42 horses which were either 1st or 2nd generation Knight horses that had endurance miles listed in the yearbook.  Three of those were Tevis Cup winners - Rushcreek Hans, Rushcreek Champ and Rushcreek Eaton.  One, Rushcreek Lad is an AERC Hall of Fame horse.  Rushcreek Pawnee ridden by Earl Baxter was a top NE regional champion.  Rushcreek Jake was a top competitior and multiday horse.  Many of the 42 horses had over 1,500 miles of competition at a time when it was not common to have this kind of career mileage. 

   What I noticed in this pedigree search that many of these top Al Marah Knight sons and daughters all had similar lineage in the female line.  I started looking at the mares Rushcreek used to produce good endurance horses.  I became interested in the mares in this program than the stallions or a particular stallion. 

       It is important to note that the Rushcreek breeding program produced many more endurance horses that did NOT have Al Marah Knight in the pedigree.  I have never done a count on the total number of Rushcreek horses that have competed in endurance.  It is quite obvious that it is a pretty significant number and that it spans over three decades.   Many Rushcreek mares have produced very good endurance horses.  For example Fire Mountain Blaize and Fire Mountain Scamp are out of Rushcreek Mares. 

      Today, it is over  20 years since Rushcreek Hans won the Tevis Cup two times yet the Rushcreek horses are still doing well in endurance.  Rushcreek Justin just finished the Tevis Cup and Rushcreek Fox won the Californios 100 in June.  You can look at the bloodlines in the current Rushcreek horses competing and see that they go back to the same lines that were producing great endurance horses in the 1970s & 1980s. 

    There is no question here that I am partial to the Ruscreek horses and certain Rushcreek lines.   I based my breeding program on some of the most sucessful horses from that program.  Most of the offspring I have from the Rushcreek mares I purchased are still too young to know if they have will be successful in the sport.  Regardless of my bias, I think it is undeniable that Rushcreek horses and the Rushcreek breeding program have contributed much to the US endurance program.

 

Kim Fuess

AERC #6648

    

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