RideCamp@endurance.net
Fwd: RC: Pony Power
In a message dated 5/27/99 10:14:19 AM EST, fasterhorses@gilanet.com writes:
>
> Question # 1 is, since it is pretty much in agreement that it takes 3
> years to fully condition a horse (this includes bone and tendons, not
> just cardiovascular system and muscles) are ponies different from this?
> Because if their bones and ligaments can take a shorter conditioning
> time, then 4 1/2 years old might not be too young for a pony to be top
> tenning, no matter what the speed or distance of the ride.
>
Thanks to all that defended me with this pony, I have answered privately to
the post, I think she will understand more fully what has been put into this
pony and the type of ride it was. To the question above, I beleive that
ponies do mature faster than horses. I raised arabs for years way back in
the '70s and now raise welsh ponies. Most ponies are really ready,
physically, to be trained and ridden between two and two and one half years
old. They tend to have heavier bone and are fully grown by this age. My
stallion has 7 3/4 inch cannons at 13.0 H. He has been ridden regularly
since 2 1/2 years old. With a trainer since October '98, ridden 6 days per
week for 45 min. The trainer added a 5 mile gallop at the end of his
training session during the last month prior to the Leatherwood ride. He WAS
ready. The ride took him barely over 4 hours to complete, there were about
25 LD riders competing. The ride was technically difficult, tricky and
steep. Not fast. The agile, sure footed pony simply had an advantage. He
was not over ridden. The original post was meant to say this: Ponies can do
endurance and Ponies are penalized during BC judging.
Leigh Preddy
<A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/wwponies/page2/index.htm">Wildwynn Ponies
</A>
If you would like to see this "rock" of a pony, check him out at this link
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WOAH! Before anyone else uses the term "abuse" let's get answers. To
get those, we have to ask questions, not jump to conclusions.
Question # 1 is, since it is pretty much in agreement that it takes 3
years to fully condition a horse (this includes bone and tendons, not
just cardiovascular system and muscles) are ponies different from this?
Because if their bones and ligaments can take a shorter conditioning
time, then 4 1/2 years old might not be too young for a pony to be top
tenning, no matter what the speed or distance of the ride.
However, if pony physiology is the same as horses, then more questions
might be in order about how much conditioning ponies need compared to
horses.
Remember, top tenning one (first) ride doesn't prove anything yet. Who
knows what is going on in the bones or tendons, or what would happen if
the pony keeps going? Maybe we all should be riding ponies - the
Mongols were pretty successful at distance riding, after all!
So next question is: Who knows the answer to question # 1?
--
____________
Lif & Paul Strand STRAND ENTERPRISES http://www.fasterhorses.com
Internet Research * WebArt * Fine Art
Quemado, NM USA
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