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well said!  I owned a horse who really only had one speed - fast.  He 
was a blast to ride as long as we were going fast.  But I mostly do 
multi-days and felt he wasted too much of both our energies.  I sold him 
to a woman who loves LDs - a match made in heaven so all 3 of us were happy.
Laney

FXLivestock@xxxxxxx wrote:
>       JMHO, but part of his behavior just sounds like green horse who
>       hasn't figured out that it's better not to misbehave at rides
>       because it wastes too much energy. It also seems to me that the
>       head tossing may be in part a habit. If so, in a hackamore where
>       there's nothing hurting inside his mouth, he can be taught to quit
>       doing it.
>       Good luck,
>       Laney
>
>  
> I agree with what Laney writes and will add only one comment.  I believe 
> that some horses never figure it out.  I have been riding a horse that I 
> have owned for 7 years and he still wants to just flat out run at 
> rides. Over the years, I have tried many suggestions with him (other 
> then to let him flat out run) and he really is not all that much 
> different from when I first started riding him.  But, I like the horse, 
> feel he is very talented, so I have found ways to manage him so it is 
> safe for both me and the horse.  Two years ago, I decided that I would 
> only enter him in 100 mile rides and perhaps he would "learn" not to 
> waste so much energy.  Most of the rides I take him in I start on foot 
> because I don't want him to be a danger to me or other riders. Over the 
> past couple years with this kind of management, I see a little 
> improvement here and there.  But overall he has just gotten more fit so 
> he can pull on me longer then when he was just fit for 25s or 50s :) I 
> have come to the conclusion he is who he is. The last 100 I took him in 
> I rode by myself for almost 65 miles and saw very few horses on the 
> trail. even alone, I had to ride him on a very tight rein because he 
> just wanted to gallop.  This went on for most of that 65 miles and he 
> even broke his martingale at around 50 miles.  I know he wasted a ton of 
> energy.  The way I felt at about that point is I would have paid someone 
> to take him off my hands.  But, for the last 35 miles of the ride 
> he  settled in and I had a great ride on a forward moving horse that 
> wasn't the least bit tired or stressed. So in the end, for me, it is all 
> worth it. Although, I now realize after all these years he probably will 
> never become the horse I know he could be if he didn't waste so much 
> energy and have a race brain, I like him. I like the challenge of trying 
> to find the best ways to manage him in endurance. 
>  
>    So my advice is to keep trying to eliminate all the physical problems 
> that the horse might be experiencing like teeth and back problems.  Once 
> those are eliminated, try all/many of the suggestions riders give you to 
> teach the horse that it is not in his best interest to waste so much 
> energy.  Those techniques work for 95% of the horses out there.  Just 
> realize, there is the possibility that this is who your horse is and 
> instead of eliminating those behaviors you may have to find ways to 
> manage them. Endurance riding is suppose to be fun and the "fun factor" 
> has to come close to equaling the effort, conditioning, money, etc. that 
> you put into this sport.  Some horses are just not suited for this sport 
> and it does you and the horse no good trying to make something work if 
> you are not enjoying the process.
>  
> Kim Fuess
> AERC #6648
>
>
>
>
>
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