What kind of horse do you use for CTR/Endurance?

[Barnfairy]

My best buddy trail partner is a 10 year old appy gelding, Sanderson (aka Sandy). He’s 15 hands, short backed, long legged, and has tons of go. He’s on the hot side, and has been known to spook now and then, but he can also be unbelievably bold and brave. Typically his general attitude is “Where are we going today? Awesome, let’s do it!”

How he came to be mine is a kind of unusual (and long, please bear with me) story. He was amongst a bunch of weanlings that were dropped off at a farm next door to my own barn at the time; whoever bred him got into things over her head and couldn’t afford to feed so many mouths. She made arrangements with this farm to donate one older mare to the therapeutic riding program run there, and showed up with a stock trailer full of wild babies + said older mare. She literally unloaded all of them in a pasture & abandoned them.

Anyway, some volunteers at this therapeutic riding program took pity on the poor little things, and decided to adopt one together (once it became officially legal to do so.) They came to my place and asked if they could rough board a baby at my barn, and could I help them decide which foal to take on. Sure!

The farm kept the babies in the pasture. They were a motley little crew of underweight, scab-ridden Arablets & this one puny roan-spotted thing with pink eyes & no tail. The story was, supposedly, that the appy was an orphan. Sure enough, he was the only one who had any interest in people at all. While the others all skittered away, this urchin boldly stared us down…and approached us! Turned out he was quite friendly and didn’t mind being handled at all. “This is your foal, ladies.”

He came to stay at my place shortly thereafter. His benefactors had intended to sell him once he was healthy and had a little more ground work under his belt. These ladies had very little practical experience with babies, and asked me for a lot of help in handling him. Big surprise, I bonded with the little bugger. Before Christmas that year, they told me he was mine if I wanted him.

He’s still with me today, all these years later.

buddies

[Trakehners2000]

Trakehner x Arabian Stallion, he is 15.2 hh at four years old. Awesome, smooth gaits& lota heart. What a buddy.

My buddy~ Karino’s Fire (aka Shadrach)

Moving along…

Luv my Horse

Full body picture~~Shadrach~~

[system]

I have a 21 (almost 22)yo Morab mare. Just 15H, with a ground eating trot that goes on forever. Bought her in-utero and she’s been my compradre through all sorts of turmoils and triumphs.
MissBri >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I am trying to contact the person who wrote the above post about her Morab -

Anita in Arkansas

[MissBri]

Anita in Arkansas - so sorry I’ve been computerless for a few months!!!
We’ve done some competitive trail, dressage, 3 phases, breed shows, but mostly lots of just enjoying each others company. I’ll email you…

[prudence]

We have two Hanoverians, full brothers, who we use for endurance at present. One is 21 and his little brother is 7. The younger one just kept getting fitter and fitter and we hadn’t trained him all that well so he became very very enthused and showed it. We are working now with a PNH trainer to see about making him safe again. If horses are not fit they get tired quicker and slow down which is good and bad. The 21 year old is a joy to me. He has 450 miles and I hope we get to 1000 before I move on to his little sister.

[arabhorse2]

My bestest buddy is my 22 y/o bay Arabian gelding, Conny. I have been blessed with his presence since he was 4 y/o, and he’s an awesome trail horse.

We started out showing, but he HATED it although he was bred for the performance ring. I took him out on a trail ride just to see if his attitude would lighten up a bit, and voila, that is what he was meant to do!

He has a wonderful ground-eating trot, and is always in front of the pack, looking ahead to the next hill or water crossing. Ears up, eyes bright, he’s the very epitome of what you want in a trail horse. He can still do the 25 milers without a problem, and I have a feeling he’s not going to be ready to retire anytime soon.

Sheri is also supposed to be an awesome trail horse, and I can’t wait for the weather to break so I can put her through her paces out in the woods. However, not having been ridden for almost 2 years, and at 21 y/o, I’m not going to push her as far or as hard as the “old man”.

Casper will be ridden on trails too, although I think little man’s forte is going to be the Western Pleasure show ring. Just a hunch.

[MissBri]

WOW nice story BarnFairy!

[Trakehners2000]

LCR,
Yes, our Trakehner mare has Ramzes in her through Condus. So, actually the Shagya, Trakehner are the only true warmblood breeds?
What would you consider the Freisan and the Andalusian? I know the Georgain Grande people consider the Freisan a draft, though most Freisan owners I know consider them a warmblood… hmm. Andalusians/Lusitanos… what column do they come under? So you consider Shagya a warmblood and not Arabian? I thought since it is called a Shagya Arabian it is an Arabian? Are they registerable with Arabian Horse Assn?

[system]

We’ve done some competitive trail, dressage, 3 phases, breed shows, but mostly lots of just enjoying each others company. I’ll email you…>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I look forward to hearing from you! I have a new website for endurance Morabs and a list at Yahoo Groups for those who have used/are using/will shortly be using endurance Morabs (or CTR’s or distance driving). I am the breeder of several endurance Morabs. I think you can say that I’m interested in endurance Morabs.

We had a new foal born last night. Our palomino Morab mare, LM Sky Lady, was bred to our gaited Morgan stallion, Mary Mels Mystery, and shortly after midnight Lady produced a big beautiful palomino filly! If she is gaited, she will be the first in the breed to be a dilute color and gaited. Maybe someday she will also prove to be one terrific endurance horse, too.

Anita in Arkansas

[SpitFireSophie]

I had my standardbred Markee. She had a huge 14mph trot to die for She cooled down FAST. Needless to say we had a lot of relaxing time at the check points!
Her first year she placed in every ride and did okay. The second year we did a 3 ride series and won Grand Champion and Champion Registered Breed She was greatAh, what I wouldn’t give for 1 more on her!
My new horse is the same and is a standardbred also

[system]

Hi Anita, I just aquired a Morab mare and look forward to checking out your site. …The Morab is 15 years old, though I might try her this year in some shorter distances and see if she likes it. >>>>>>>>>>>>

Please contact me privately about your Morab - I’d love to hear more! Have you decided if you are going to use her for endurance?

There has been a lot more done on the endurance Morab website since I last posted on here…

Anita in Arkansas
http://endurancemorab.8k.com

[MissBri]

Hi, thought this would be a good subject.

So, tell us about your partner…

I have a 21 (almost 22)yo Morab mare. Just 15H, with a ground eating trot that goes on forever. Bought her in-utero and she’s been my compradre through all sorts of turmoils and triumphs.

Here’s a shot of her at GMHA fall foliage ride when she was 18.
http://www.equinesitegallery.com/MissBri/LgLunch.jpg

and another of us goofing off last winter…
http://www.equinesitegallery.com/MissBri/Lg000_0039.jpg

[NortheastSHG]

Hi -

On the subject of Shagyas - please take a look at www.shagya.net as they are having a Stallion Auction - including nine stallions - some of whom are sired by *Oman - Fayette de Cameo’s sire

So if you want an Endurance Horse please consider the Shagya as an option for either breeding or one you can ride right now.

www.shagya.net

thanks for your time.

[Piaffe56]

I ride an OTTB. He so did not want to be a race horse that his second ride after bringing him home from the track was on the trail and he went on the buckle. There is something to be said for an ex-racehorse; they have seen it all. He’s got a long sweeping trot and he is easy to condition. He also camps great. My husband rides a barrel shaped foundation QH. He is a genetic freak. He should not be able to excell at CTR, but he does. He always has great P and R. He has an extremely fst trot; he always has to walk the last mile in so as not to get the time penalties for being too fast.

[arabhorse2]

My 23 y/o is *Serafix-*Bask breeding, so you know he was definitely bred for performance.

Conny’s a one-person horse, and although I might trust him in the round ring with a youngster, he’s too unpredictable out on the trail if I’m not riding him. I keep telling him he’s 23 and NOT 5, but he doesn’t believe me!

Casper’s pure Polish, and he’s a much more comfortable ride than the “old man” because his stride at the trot and canter is so much smoother. He’s also a lot wider, whereas Conny’s always been kind of lanky.

Conny’s a fast, fun ride, but it’s like riding a cement mixer when he really gets going. Beautiful to look at, especially at the trot, but whoooeee, what a handful to sit to!

[Trakehners2000]

Do you add Lipizzan in the Shagya? I remembered reading there were different breeds in the Shagya.

[LCR]

…

The AHA does not register the Shagya, it has its own registry, which is governed by the rules of the ISG, the international governing body located in Germany. Probably should not have been named Shagya “Arabian”, but just, SHAGYA. The name is taken from one of the foundation desert Arabian stallions, who was named SHAGYA.

You would also add to your list of horses without other breeds crossed into it! The Hungarian Warmblood began with native Hungarian horses and then they outcrossed to TB and Shagya and still use the Shagya in their breeding.

Actually, BURNUS, the sire of HABICHT, was sired by a Shagya stallion, LAPIS, but his dam was actually a Hungarian mare. But because of his superior performance record, the Trakehner Verband accepted and approved him as an elite stallion. And this performance record carries on in WINDFALL II, a HABICHT son and his half-brother, *SIXUS, who is siring many approved offspring. It is a wonderful sire line!

[LCR]

The world of endurance is perfect for the Shagya Arabian, either as a purebred or the cross of purebred Arabian X purebred Shagya.

The Shagya adds more height, more bone, better legs and feet and the shoulder and hip angles are improved. Plus you have the steady, very adaptable Shagya mind that can fire up and come down just as quickly.

Fayette de Cameo is the premier example of this cross. She was the Tevis winner in '02, year before that “best condition winner” as a five year old.

Fayette took a year off to raise a foal, but is now getting ready to compete in the Emirate races in Dubai.

There are not enough Shagya or the crosses around, but you can be assured that when they compete they do very well!

We have four fully approved stallions, three imported from Europe. They are wonderful crosses on your purebred Arabian mares and also on the Thoroughbred mares to give you the Anglo/Shagya.

Another bonus for breeding Arabian mares, if the offspring is a filly, she may stand for the breed inspection, and if approved will be the beginning of a purebred Shagya program.

Purebred Shagya are limited to no more then nine purebred Arabian ancesters in the fourth generation. This is strictly enforced!

The purebred Shagya is NOT a strain of Arabian, but its own breed, began 200 years ago in the Austro-Hungarian empire. Before WWII there were 3000 a year being foaled and they were considered the ELITE horse! Following the war only about 300 were left and today the total population is about 1800.

Those of you interested in breeding endurance horses might wish to investigate this wonderful, charming, and very athletic breed. New breeders are seriously needed in order to preserve and save this unique rare sport horse!

I have never had anyone visit my farm that has not been competely won over by the excellent characteristics found in these horses.

[Paula]

I have a Norwegian Fjord Pony that I do trail riding and dressage work with. He is fabulous out on the trails - tons of endurance and really brave. I hope to do an organized CTR with him soon.

[CrouchingCheese]

We just bought a 22 year old Arabian gelding who was used in two 75s, a 50, and a 100 mile last year. He’s kind of on the hot side, and he’s about 15.3 hands. He’s a bit strong in the mouth, but we’re working with him