RE: Endurance Prospect(s) - "Decisions Based Upon Goals?"

[Bernita & Jerry Barfield <barfield@primenet.com>]

Thank you Heidi, as fellow breeders of endurance horses we couldn't 
express this better.  I hate to hear show people  say " that horses is too 
pretty to be an endurnace horse."  When we take SA Dust Devil +/ to local 
shows people can't believe he is an endurance horse. He is very handsome, snow white, perfectly balanced, 14.2, with excellent conformation and fit as only a endurance horse can be.  He has 8 crosses to Raffles and if you saw a video of the two it would be difficult to tell them apart. In the show ring his fitness, balance and conformation easily stand out, even though he is not show trained to win his class, he's a show stopper. 

When I can ever find the time, I want to show him in a halter class just to show off what an endurance horse really looks like, though I know we won't win due to the halter type pinned, he will turn soime heads.

Bernita Barfield
Southwind Arabians
Breeding Endurance Horses by Design



In a message dated 98-10-29 08:48:21 EST, wind@visionsofthewind.com writes:

<< Don't give up on getting a pretty 'doer' - they ARE out there! >>

Actually, although this has limited application to heads, "doing" horses tend
to be VERY pretty, simply because they are balanced, symmetrical, and have all
their parts in the right places.  Their necks are usually well-matched to
their bodies, etc.  They rarely have truly coarse heads, just because it is
unusual for one part to be so mismatched to the rest.  As a breeder, I strive
to breed the prettiest, most athletic horses that I can, and I find that the
two goals are quite compatable.  (You should see the GORGEOUS-headed baby I
just had born on Monday--her sire is straight Kellogg, and she is his last
foal, as he died in April.  His name was Lawmoss--he was by Lawseyn, who was a
worthy endurance sire.  She has three lines to Abu Farwa, four to Farana, all
close-up.  Her mother is closely related to RT Muffin--two lines to Muffy's
grandsire Muhuli, and her granddam is a full sister to Muffy's dad.  She is
already running laps and doing caprioles in the pasture, and she is just as
pretty as a picture.)  NOTHING used to irk me more than going to the show
barns years ago, and having them take me out back to see the ugly culls as
soon as they learned that I was an endurance rider.  Obviously they just
didn't get it.

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)