Re: [RC] Horse question... (really long) - Marirose Six
Title: Horse question... (really long)
Hi Elly. Here's my honest answer; arabs do spook.
Some more often, some harder (as in easier to be unseated) and some rarely. To
find the rarely, it may take awhile. Personally, if you are wary of spooking
horses, include other breeds in your search. (I'm not saying discount all
arabs.) If you look at the stats for horse breeds competing, you'll find that
just about any breed can do this--including in the 100's. Good luck finding a
GOOD horse, no matter the breed. Your safety and level of fun are the most
important things! Not the breed of horse you are
riding.
Marirose
I've been inspired by all the question-asking today to finally
ask the question I've been DYING to ask for a couple months now.
Some
of you may remember a year or so ago I had a question about doing LD's on my
Belgian mare, Callie. We had a wonderful time training last summer, and
were ready to do a 25 in July when I had the devil farrier come out and he
trimmed her way too aggressively and the ride didn't happen. (I summer
in Idaho and didn't know him very well, but he was recommended). I started
school again in August, and figured we'd try again this summer.
When I
bought Callie last March, they'd done a pre-purchase exam the previous May and
had told me everything was perfect and looked really good. They offered
me a copy and said they'd have it when I paid for her. It mysteriously
dissappeared, but my transport was there so I shrugged it off and paid.
Well, after bothering them for a few months, I finally got a copy of the
prepurchase exam in December. She's got peri-articular ringbone in BOTH
fronts and a bone spavin in a hock. I was...shocked, to say the
least. She's never taken a lame step, but I decided she's being retired
to husband duty with a daily regimen of Cosequin and light riding. I'd
always known I'd eventually get another horse that I could do "real" endurance
on, but now that'll be happening sooner.
I've ridden for 15 years or so
and have had quite a few nasty spills in my days, although I've only been
hospitalized once (knock on wood). When Callie and I head out on the
trail alone, I know that come hell or high water, she'll take care of
me.
So finally, the question:
Can I expect this same attitude
from an arab? I've decided that since we're getting a second horse this
summer, I want a horse that will do well with endurance. But I'm
terrified this will be the end of me. I'm afraid I'll be
trotting/cantering down the trail and a log will jump out and try to eat my
future horse and that'll be it! My Callie is a "think first:react later"
kind of horse, but I guess you've got to be when reacting involves moving your
1600 lb body one way or the other.
I've not had much experience with
arabs, except once when I was 12 and volunteered at an arab show barn.
Their horses were crazy and scared the living bejeezus out of me. One of
them killed the owner's husband while he was cleaning a stall some months
after I left. Luckily, I can attribute my extreme caution around horses
to these early days, so it wasn't all
bad.
