Re: WHERE WILL ENDURANCE HORSES COME FROM...

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

Several folks have spoken up on this thread, and I would like to address some
of the comments that have been made.

First, what does it mean to be a breeder?  Some people have talked about the
"product," and while that is certainly important at ALL times, being a breeder
is a lot more than producing a product in this generation.  Being a breeder
means studying history so that you can to some degree plan the future.  Being
a breeder means knowing what is behind your horses for MANY generations--not
just the names in the pedigrees, but also what those horses were like, and
what traits of theirs are present in the breeding stock that you have.  Only
when you get some glimmers into that past can you have any clue as to what can
happen when you breed two individuals.  Being a breeder means that you are
just as concerned about where you will be five generations from now as you are
about the foal that will be born next spring from the immediate breeding that
you have just done.

To the people who say, "I don't care about pedigrees--I just want a gelding
with big cannons (etc., etc.) that will be a good endurance horse":  Where do
you think those traits came from?  Do you think they just materialized out of
thin air?  And what about all those traits that you CAN'T measure from the
outside?  Do you realize that everything from the tendency to have more of a
certain type of muscle fibers to the ability to digest and convert calories
efficiently is inherited?  Every liver enzyme, every digestive juice, etc.,
etc. is coded genetically, and the ability to alter those parameters with
conditioning also has genetic limitations.  A horse's innards are just as
individual as his cannon bones, his shoulder angles, his length of hip, and
all those traits that you CAN see on the outside.  I would agree that if you
are buying an 8-year-old gelding with a winning record, pedigree becomes less
important as a predictor, except for longevity, but when you are buying a
4-year-old prospect, it is the only indicator of how those "innards" work that
you have.  It is certainly not a science at this point, but it is a pretty
good indicator when you can see how this horse's close relatives have
performed (or failed to perform).

To those who want to make a living at this--dream on.  This is an amateur
sport, and breeding is also amateur to some degree.  Certainly we hope to pay
a goodly portion of the feed bills, but just as the riders are not making a
living competing, neither are we likely to make a living breeding for that
amateur rider.  We have to understand that if a good portion of our bills are
paid, what we "lose" we are paying to "compete" in the sense of seeing our
horses do well.  The market is far better than it was several years ago, as
top riders are learning more and more that top horses are often related to
other top horses, and start to seek out those of us who create those horses on
purpose.  Certainly we all hope that that market will improve as the sport
becomes more and more popular--all indications are that it will gradually get
better, but I don't see myself retiring in a fancy penthouse with a butler
from the proceeds of my breeding program.  I breed for the same reason that a
poet writes--to create something special.  I am fortunate that others share my
ideals and will pay me enough for what I create that I can continue to do it.

As to the rescue situation:  The VAST majority of rescue prospects are either
from the big foal-mill sorts of farms that spend huge bucks trying to produce
the winning show prospects and can afford to discard the first 99 for the
100th that is a star (I refuse to call these folks breeders--they are merely
producers of foals) or from backyard breeders who happen to have a mare with
an empty uterus and papers, and a gelding masquerading as a stallion who
likewise have papers, and think that that is the only recipe necessary for
success.  It is rare for those foals to be top-notch prospects, but a few will
make it that far.   On the other hand, there are MANY levels to this sport,
and many of these "rescue" or backyard horses are at least serviceably sound
and can accomplish the basics, hence are quite adequate for the entry level
rider.  They are generally not competition at all for those trying to produce
the real top-of-the-line prospect who go about it armed with knowledge of what
they are doing.  The truly knowledgeable breeders of the sorts of horses that
excel in our sport are few and far between, and if the entry level riders get
started on horses from other sources, it is no skin off of the serious
breeder's nose.  Part of that rider's early education may well be learning
what about their entry level horse is not adequate for that horse to make it
to the top, hence making that rider a more informed consumer when he or she
goes out to buy the next prospect.  And don't forget--not all riders care
about making it "to the top"--many are quite content with getting to a few
rides a year and getting through in decent shape, with no big illusions of
grandeur.  For the lucky horse of less than sterling qualifications, these
folks provide great homes and many of these horses do just fine for them.
And, yes, occasionally, a real diamond in the rough appears in rescue or in
someone's backyard.

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)