Quarter Horses in endurance

["Tracey Zellmann" <Tracey_Zellmann@notes.teradyne.com>]

I ride a Quarter Horse, Topsails Paddwak, an 11 year old gelding. You can see
his sire, Topsail Cody,  on this month's cover of Horse and Rider. He is a lean,
long-legged horse with a "radiator build", which helps him cool off efficiently.
I have ridden him for two years. Still doing 25 mile rides in ECTRA, not quite
endurance yet. We have had 10 good rides and completions in that time. I think
he is a wonderful horse. Plenty of implusion when I need it. Level headed and he
has never done anything to get us in trouble. I bought him and gave him the job
to teach me how to ride and how to be a good horseman. He has done that very
well. The first major ride we were at, he got attacked by a swarm of bees at the
top of a steep hill. Once I realized what was happening, I was worried that the
standard maneuver of running away from the swarm as fast as possible was going
to get us in trouble on that steep descent. However, my horse moved away at a
reasonable speed and everything was OK. At another time, we were attacked by a
pair of dogs, running up behind us. I could see him flick his ears back, so I
stopped him, turned around to face the dogs, and he proceeded to head them and
cut them. They chose to run away.

He does have small size 1 rear feet, underslung in those heels, and his hoof
material is soft. He is crooked to the right. I had an endurance vet look at
him, and her assessment was that he is not a 100 mile horse.

I probably am not a 100 mile rider. With a family and a job, I don't have the
time to condition, let alone travel to the few 100 mile rides around Concord,
MA, where I live.

All considered, I trust my Quarter Horse. He trusts me. We have a great time
riding the trails together.



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