Re: RC: Arab or TWH

[Thiessej@aol.com]

Lif

Arabs are great endurance's horses and I do not take that away from them. I 
have just seen people having a lot of trouble trying to keep them sound when 
they are campaigned. I know some that are never lame as well as some that are 
always on the verge of being off. I know 25 Saddlebreds that are in a 7 mile 
radius of where I live and many have done endurance. Some of them stroll 
through a 50 and but will never in the front runners some are very capable of 
being a top endurance mount. I don't think this is any different from a pool 
of Arabs except you would find more legs problems with the Arabs especially 
after a season of campaigning.

My source for my statement is my own observation of endurance horses, how 
they are ridden and how they stand up to the wear and tear. I started 
competing 9 years ago and there are only 2 horses in Saskatchewan that were 
competing when I started and are still competing or able to do so. I have 
seen some Arabs that showed lots of go and they have succumbed to legs 
injuries. One horse retired a Morab. I own both the Saddlebred and Saddlebred 
/Arab cross that still compete and are still very competitive. I also look at 
the amount of bone my horse have in their legs in relation to Arab horses or 
thoroughbreds. The gaited horses do have more bone.

We do also have the which came first the chicken or the egg question. The 
Arabs win most of the time but most of the horses are Arabs. The stats 
therefor are heavy weighted for the results we see. If there were more other 
breeds competing the stats may be different. (They may not be.)

I also would like to know where you read that Traveller was an Arab, because 
my reading has always described him as a Saddlebred. In fact Robert E Lee was 
a Saddlebred fan and upon surrendering refused to give up his horses and 
guns. A Saddlebred was given to the president as a token gift and I believe 
that one has been given to each President ever since. So if I am wrong 
regarding Traveller please let me know where you found your info.

I still think that gaited horses should not be discounted as endurance 
mounts. I did cross 3 of my Saddlebred mares to my Arab stallion hoping for 
another endurance mount in the future. I picked an Egyptian arab who is a 
grandson and greatgrand son of Morafic, with lots of bone. 

Jerald


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=