For a change in subject, I am wondering how many read Deb Bennett's article on starting horses in the January Endurance News? I found the article fascinating and found her website very informative. I printed up her article "Timing and Rate of Skeletal Development," a 13 page article. Although, I haven't read the entire article it does have a table (?) showing how long it takes growth plates to close. I had no idea that that the point of the hips & scapula takes between 3&4 years to fuse. I was even more fascinated that the vertebral column does not fuse for at least 5.5 years minimum and longer in taller horses. Her example is that a 17 hand Thoroughbred may not be fully mature until his 8th year. Males take 6 months longer to close.
Wow, if this information is correct, we are competing on horses that are not fully mature. I will explore this further but it really has me thinking that perhaps it is not in the best interest of my horse's to be riding them in LDs as 4 years olds if their pelvis & scapula is not fully developed/mature until age 4. I know that most of us on this list don't think of 25 miles as difficult for our horses but when I think of the number of training miles that I might ride before entering a 25 it does seem like it might not be in the best interest of the animal to start so young. Also, since we are talking about the vertebral column not being mature until 5.5 years minimum, I wonder if the amount of weight an endurance must carry (whether it is 90lbs or 200 lbs) and again the number of miles an endurance horse is trained is in the best interest of my horse. I am not factoring in any speed considerations just that a horse is carrying weight in the area of his body that is not fully mature at 4 & 5 years old. Think about the number of 5 & 6 year olds that are regularly competing in 50 miles distances and some that are even competing in 100s. Some six year olds have been in AERC competitions since age 4. That is three seasons of competition.
Think about the trend at the levels of international endurance competition that larger horses (taller) and younger horses are top competitors in 100s mile races at speed. If Deb Bennett's theory is correct some of these horse's competing at the "Olympic" level of the sport may not be fully mature if the vertebrae on a tall horse is not fully fused at 8 yrs old.
I am just putting this out there as food for thought. In the past, I have successfully taken a 5 year old through the Tevis and have ridden 5 year olds in 50 mile rides. But when I did that I was not aware of this information. I was going on the theory that if two year olds and three year olds can race and be in futurities then 4 and 5 year olds are surely mature enough for this sport. You know the "closed knee" theory. I am now reconsidering if I want to start my young horses in this sport as early. I wonder if by starting my horses early I may be lowering the highest potential they can reach and upping the odds that their careers may not be as long or as successful then if I had waited. This is not to say that horses that began their endurance careers early as 4 & 5 year olds cannot have successful careers. I know from personal experience that they can and I am sure that I will hear from several on the list that also have had success with horses started at 4 & 5. I AM NOT DISPUTING THIS FACT. I only wonder if it is in the best interest of our horses to compete when their structural system is not fully mature. It seems that this would even be more important for our horses if they are not conformationally perfect or correct.
I don't want to start something to change the age for AERC competition. I only put this out there because I wonder how many riders were aware of this information and how it might effect their horse now and in the future. I have always held the greatest respect for Deb Bennett. She states that no horse is fully mature until age 6. She doesn't believe that you should be riding a horse until age 4. From what I understood, she meant "riding" not competing. Very interesting numbers as this is so contrary to the horse industry which of course factors in the economics and "amount of invested time" element. Endurance riding traditionally had not been as influenced by typical industry trends, but in the past few years young, successful endurance horses have been sold for record prices. I don't think serious buyers will consider any horse over 10 and the younger the better. Although I would hate to have a rule change, it would be nice to see the trend in endurance swing in the direction of starting horses later in competition and taking them to the highest levels of the sport at an older age. Even though I know some individual horses can be very successful when started young, I think it may be in the horse's best interest to be given enough time to be fully mature before we ask them to carry us not only in hundreds of miles of competition but double or triple that number in training and conditioning miles.
