My dad’s first partner was a 19 year old Tenn. Walker and they were awesome together until he was 21. Dad now rides a Paso. My dad didn’t start riding until he was in his 60’s and didn’t like posting. My mom has ridden an arab, a wonderful TB mule, a paso and a QH.
Then your mare has a very unique pedigree, as these two lines have rarely been crossed. Please PT me?
Ramzes and Lapis are both in our mare’s pedigree.
Though Ramzes is much closer.
Well, my trail work (finding/clearing/marking/unmarking) has been on: grade/draft cross (Heinz-57’s), appy, araby/appy, and several TWHs. Last spring, I tried “Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch” on my 18yo TWH mare with a dislocated coccyx (mine, not hers) and took Rider Option after the first loop. Chiropractor is still working on it. I’m currently conditioning several Cleveland Bay x Tennessee Walkers. We’ll see what happens. And no, they’re not “gaited” but sure are smooth and really cover the ground!!!
If you want a smooth ride try riding a Paso Fino. Me and my dad raise them for shows but stil take them on the trails the way that they walk you hardly feel anything when you ride them its really a nice ride.
I cant wait, i just recently purchased a nice looking 11month old bay roan quarter horse and cant wait till i can take him out on the trail
I think for CTR you have the option of choosing any horse/pony breed as your partner. Almost any well conditioned, fit equine can compete … and win… in CTR, all things being equal. Of course terrain and weather are a big factor, but I think this type of distance competition really levels out the playing field for all the breeds since it doesn’t stress speed.
For endurance, you need an equine that can cover the ground in the quickest time and have their pulse drop like a rock the second you hit the P&R. Those with a fair amount of Arabian horse blood do the best in this game – be it cold, heat, whatever. Pure Arabian blood often exhibits exceedingly low heart rates (20’s and 30’s) compared to the 40’s and 50’s in other breeds. Those precious seconds for a racing heart to come down to parameter add up and often make the difference between getting back out on the trail quicker to finish in the top ten, or not. However, the mind and attitude has to be there, too, and that’s where I’ve seen (sadly) a lot of pure bred Arabian horses fall short. It takes sometimes a long time – sometimes years – for an Arabian horse to become a full partner with their rider. As a breed they don’t automatically hand you the dinner plate carte blanche – they want you to prove yourself to them before they’ll accept your direction without question. This isn’t to say they’re not biddable, and that there aren’t generous and kind ones in the group who will be the perfect partner from day one – just saying as a breed they are mentally very intelligent, and very different in that they don’t give 100% of their trust until they know you and approve of you. Thus, they can be harder to ride and rate than the other breeds – not fun riding a mindless rocket when you’re doing 25, 40 or 100 miles.
i ride a 8 year old arabian mare just a little over 14 hh
I know I’m getting in on this conversation a bit late, but I just found this list. 
Our family breeds registered Morabs, and some of our babies are now doing endurance with their owners. That got me interested, and now I have a new website going featuring endurance Morabs. Take a look at it and see why we feel that Morabs are one of the best choices for an exceptional endurance horse - including longevity (In fact, Morabs tend to have their very best years in their teens). Morabs hold several records, too, including 5,000 miles in one year (he finished 82 out of 83 rides). And I’m still finding more.
I also just found a novel on an endurance Morab which is apparently inspired by a Morab who won the President’s Cup in NATRC (if I’m getting this right) back in the 60’s. The real horse was registered as a Morgan, but was sired by *Antez so he was really a Morab. One of those registered as a Morgan before the herdbook closed in 1948.
Anyway, I saw your pictures, MissBri, of your Morab mare - please email me privately - I would love to know more about her. Have you been doing endurance with her? libertymtn@yahoo.com
Everybody, please check out the endurance Morab website and see what you think. It’s not finished, yet, but a good deal is up. click on the titles at the top to get to the different pages.
My farm site is http://www.libertymtnranch.com
I’m using my Hungarian now. This is the first horse from our breeding program that is old enough to compete in distance. I’ll have to say after having ridden NC’s Boozer+ to mult awards/wins/BC’s etc. this horse I’m riding now is going to be awesome. Boo is a 1/2 Arab 1/2 Appy, she was willing, fast, pulsed right down etc.and was bred specifically for distance. But Remel is much better already with relatively little training. The Hungarian Army where these horses and the Shagya’s came from was a DISTANCE army. I also don’t have to take Ibuprofen the whole ride when I ride him like a did Boo…bless her heart she was a hard ride. The other big advantage the Hungarian horses have over the PB Arabians is they are so unflappable. I had the judge trying to wait until a horse fly left so Remel’s pulse wouldn’t go up…I said check him he’s fine…much to the vets surprise horse fly or not he was 32.
Leah McGregor
http://www.hungarianhorse.com
I have an Akhal-Teke/Arab cross. She has a fairly sensible but hot nature that lends itself well to covering lots of ground. And her gaits are SOOOO smooth. My husband rides a QH, and she is sweet natured and eager to try, but I think she will not be a speed-over-distance girl. She’s not heavily built but she just can’t keep up. And her gaits are…normal gaits. Even though he’s not quite experienced enough to handle my AT mare, he loves to ride her because she glides over the ground. Unfortunately, she glides right off on her own agenda…
<span class=“ev_code_BLUE”>Anita, our (one and only) Morab is BLT Nikita by Kimtut out of Windmere Erica (Wabash Mr Magic x Windrift Noriah)</span>
<span class=“ev_code_PURPLE”>We are new to Morab’s and have thought about breeding her to Bathesda Carbon Copy (Morgan) or to our Arab-Trakehner for a distance horse.</span> <span class=“ev_code_BLUE”>Am still learning the bloodlines for Morabs.</span>
I haven’t ventured down the endurance path yet, but when I do, Kit, my 5 year old MFT is going to be my partner. She has tons of get up and go and keeps on going…
I don’t mean to highjack this thread, but I have a question. Trakehners2000, I’m curious about your stallion being registered as both a half arab and also a full Trakehner. Was he approved and that’s why he’s registered as a full Trakehner? I have a half Shagya/half Trakehner gelding and I’m waiting for his papers from the Shagya registry - he’ll be registered as a half Shagya. The breeder mentioned that my gelding could be registerd as a Trakehner, but I’m not sure if that’s correct or how to find out. It’s not that important since he IS a gelding, and I plan on keeping him forever, but I’m curious…
And your stallion is GORGEOUS!
Robin
<<Less is not more. More is More!>>
Paula, your Fjord is adorable! I love Fjord ponies, they’re so pleasant and attractive. I’m planning a trip to Norway at the end of May and I’m hoping to get a chance to ride one. Good luck with your handsome fellow!
I normally ride a Canadian Sport Horse/Arabian cross. It’s been slow developing for the past three years, but she’s become a wonderful ride. I condition and ride the mare for her owner, and while she does’t have the most ideal movement – a little too much action for my liking – she is able to really move out and is a wonderful ride.
The owner also has two full Arabs that I ride on occassion, both are wonderful. Last year I started doing some riding for a lady in Florida (on occassion) and have the priviledge of riding three more bay Arabs, all of which have wonderful personalities and are easy to ride. I’ve been very lucky to get rides on such nice horses!
Once I’m through with college and a little more settled in my life (I have no clue where I’ll end up, so why buy a horse now?) I’d like to eventually get a horse of my own and bring it up through CTR and endurance.
Trakehners2000 – your boy is so handsome!
Thanks, that’s good to know. The added bonus of looking for a sporthorse type is that if eventing isn’t totally out of my blood by the time the new guy comes along, maybe he’d enjoy it too.
I have a 23-y-o Arab too and he’s doing WAY better at his age than my younger TB’s. He’s Polish and Raffles and what I’d really like to do is find one just like him but 2 or 3 years old. He did some competitive trail with a previous owner and then evented with me, and now he’s teaching kids.
In general how do the different lines of Arabian do in Endurance? Has anyone noticed if Russian lines are better than Spanish or Egytian or Polish? Or do Shagyas do better?
Currently my mom and I ride a Purebred Arab mare and a 1/2 Arab-1/2 Appaloosa mare.
In the past we have also used NSH (1/2 Arab 1/2 Saddlebreds also registered as National Show Horses), Saddlebreds, Welsh crosses and grades.
The barn we ride out of has had several horses that they trained for the 100 mile race in SW VA around the Homestead for several years. One was an 16+HH TB, who did well. The other horse they regularly raced was a draft cross named, Canada. I believe he retired the lightweight trophy after winning it for 3 years running. Hubby and I got to ride the boys while they were in training to help get them fit.
The last year Canada raced, hubby was riding him and he was being a pain since he was so fit. Hubby got tired of the jigging so he found a natural bowl area in one of the pastures and let him run. It was a big bowl area and they did 5 laps at a full gallop before Canada started coming back to hubby. They did a sixth lap to make sure the beans were gone and we had a very nice ride after that incident. Canada is what we refer to as an “Oh My God” horse. That is when you are going into a jump/bad situation, you take a look at it and say “Oh My God” and the horse takes you safely over/through it.
He is about 15.2 hh probably some hackney in him but no one knew for sure. He was my husband’s favorite ride. He is now up in PA and we miss him.
