ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: Endurance Bloodlines(long)

Re: Endurance Bloodlines(long)

Trishmare@aol.com
Fri, 16 May 1997 08:56:48 -0400 (EDT)

In a message dated 97-05-15 14:05:22 EDT, you write:

<< Put me down as a non-believer in the worth of Arab bloodlines for
endurance
:-)) I think any Arab with 4 legs, 2 eyes, 2 ears, etc and good basic
conformation (which most have I think - Arabians are a pretty uniform breed
compared to QH and TB, for example) is an endurance "prospect" (whatever the
heck that vague word means <g>) - whether his daddy was Bask or the little
Arab stud down the road.

The path from prospect to actual proven endurance horse is a long one
determined by conditioning/training and lots of luck.

All arabians in my mind have "endurance bloodlines" - heck, this is what the
whole breed was basically designed to do - travel long distances at a
moderate rate of speed. >>

Dear Tina, I agree to a point--I spent 7 months looking for David, and saw
many an Arab who, at least judgeing from their conformation---had come a
long, long way from the horses which came out of the desert! Could they have
done endurance, with the right handling? Who knows? Maybe. All I know is
that when I DID finally find a horse who was built like all the books said he
should be built---he came from horses with names that command respect in
Arabian circles, and from lines which have had to prove themselves atheletes
in Poland and Russia before being allowed to reproduce themselves--
the evidence is admittedly anectodal, might be a coincidence, though I for
one doubt it. I do not disagree that any Arab "with good basic conformation"
can be an endurance star. But one better know how to look for good, basic
conformation, before looking in Michigan--I saw alot of nags with Arab papers
when I went looking--! Also, I just feel one is hedgeing one's bet a little
by buying a horse who came from a long line of horses of proven preformance.
(My Tash's daddy was a "nobody" arab stallion, his dam a "nobody" quarter
horse mare---and he's as fine an animal as they come. Not flashy, but he'll
go all day at any pace you ask, and go over, through, under or around any
obsticle asked--he's carried me all over SE and Northern Michigan for 20
years, and I wouldn't part with him for any horse standing---)

Trish & "pretty David" who says "I've got an idea--lets let Tash do the 100
milers--he told me he wants too, really he did!"

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