I have used a standardbred for endurance. He had raced and I got him as a 5yo
stallion. He was a crazy horse when he was first broken, so I had him gelded
and I perservered and he turned out to be a great horse. He did a bit of
eventing - could jump anything but the dressage was very hard for him. So
then I looked for something that I thought we would enjoy a little more - and
he began his endurance career. I started endurance riding him when he was
seven and he retired sound at the age of 17 years (after 10 years of
competion). Highlights of his career was 3 Quilty buckles. He was
affectionately known as the 'broken down old trotter' in this state - he just
kept going and going. He had good reliable heartrates - always around 44
recoveries. At one of the Quilties he completed - he was 44 prevet and 44 at
all the vetchecks. He isn't an easy ride and I looked forward to retiring him
- so that I could ride something that was pleasurable.
A bit more onfo for you. He is a pacer, he had the advantage of having that
extra gate - but the only time he would actually pace was if he was upset or
when he was sore somewhere (so I always knew if he had any problems). He is a
very neat packaged standardbred - only 15.1 hands high and very shortly
coupled with good bone - (alhtough he is a little short and upright in the
pasterns) but he had such beautiful feet that he never had any problems with
concussion. I never padded this horse in all his years of competition and we
covered some rocky terrain. The old fella is now 20 years old and enjoying
retirement in the paddock with our arab broodmares - he wasn't the ideal
endurance horse but he was very reliable.
Since retiring him I have been riding pure arabian mares and find that they
have been a lot easier to get on with - they don't seem to get as wound up as
him. I have also competed on Anglos, but find that the purebreds are more
suitable for the job. The standardbred was a good 'reliable' horse and he
scored a few wins in his career but his forte was 'completing' - he never ever
let me down for a completion but he liked to go out hard and he couldn't
maintain it like the arabs can - I guess he was built for the long hard haul
and not the speed.
If you have any more questions feel free to email me.
Regards
Di Kajar
Murrawonda Arab Stud
Mount Pleasant, South Australia
AUSTRALIA
<Murrawonda@msn.com>
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From: Stasia Hurley
Sent: Saturday, November 08, 1997 6:54 AM
To: ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: standardbred
Hi,
Does anyone out there use a standardbred for endurance? I am going to look
at a mare that never raced because she kept breaking from a trot to a
canter. I need a horse that can do a little bit of everything from
endurance to jumping.
Stasia