My first Ayrab.... maybe

["Sarah McIntosh" <smcintos@rapidnet.net>]

Hiya campers:
I am a beginner to endurance, did 3 24 mile
LD's successfully last year, with my old Appy
Tiki.  Tiki has a cataract and is getting
more blind as time goes on, so I must find a
replacement.  I put the word out with my
friends that I was looking for and Arab or
Arab cross, as I would like to move up to
50's.

I have looked at a few horses, but nothing
was clicking.  I got a call from a friend
yesterday, a friend of hers has a purebred
Arab 9 yr old mare (Polish breeding) and they
are looking to give her to a good home where
she will be used.  I looked at her last
night, but am looking for some input from
people who know about Arabs, as I haven't
worked with one before.

Story goes like this:  they bought her when
she was 3 1/2, had her broke to ride, paid
for lessons and whatnot so the 13 year old
daughter could ride her.  Said daughter rode
her one season, english in local shows, did
quite well and then lost interest.    Nothing
much has been done with the mare since then,
a little bit of road hacking.  Right now, she
hasn't had a saddle on her since last
September.  Her ground manners need a lot of
work.  I am willing to put in the time, but I
am concerned about her ATTITUDE!  She seems
very eager, comes galloping up the the fence
when she is called, easy to catch and handle
while standing.  I tried leading her to see
how she would react and she was VERY strong.
She wanted to take off and because i was
holding on to her, she kept spinning across
the front  of me.  Do you guys think that
this kind of strong willed, bad ground
manners behaviour is something that can be
overcome with retraining?  The mare bosses
the kids around, but the mother said she
behaves for the mother as she knows she won't
get away with it.

I can't remember, but weren't you all talking
one time about a certain amount of attitude
being a good thing for an endurance horse?

Physically, mare is about 15 hands, decent
conformation, good weight, legs seemed nice
and firm.  Only found one soft spot on back
of one rear pastern.  Could be due to deep
mud conditions.  Her feet looked in good
shape for living in a mud hole, not soft,
just needed a trim.

I know it's hard to say, just reading my
description, but does anybody have any ideas
for me?  Pros , cons of a pasture potato
horse?  I'm going on the weekend to ride her.
Supposedly she is much better behaved under
saddle.  We'll see... I'll be wearing my
helmut just like always.

Thanks for listening.

Happy trails,

Sarah McIntosh
Abbotsford, BC



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