This message is from: "Tamara Jane Habberley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi
I started of this thread as a Newbie to the list.
I am intereseted in a fjord in the next few years. Im a 'pony person' and
currently compete in the UK on a Welsh Cob , we have completed upto 50 miles
in a day and placed in 2 x 40 mile endurance race rides.
I agree that heat dispersal is the biggest problem with a heavily built
horse, bu tit can be overcome and of course with our current Uk weather its
not such an issue! Having said that my cob came 11th out of 21 horses
(mainly Arabs) and an Icelandic came I think 8th or 9th in the same race on
the hottest day of the year with numerous Arabs out on metabolic or lameness
problems so you never can tell!
my main interest in fjords for rides is
a. they are really attractive and
b. they are said to be kind and not easily flappable.
My welsh cob is lovely and has a home for life but is very fiery and spookey
so I can not hack him out locally on the roads - we box up to parkland for
fittness training. I would dearly love a pony that I can enjoy riding out on
in a few eyears time!
Tamara
- Original Message -
From: Dave McWethy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: FjordList
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 12:17 AM
Subject: Distance
> This message is from: " Dave McWethy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> Nancy made the distinction between competitive rides/drives and endurance.
> I am not aware of any Fjords that have participated in endurance - could
be
> some, but I am unaware.
>
> Nancy wrote: . " I never met more people that really cared about
> the condition and well being of their horses. They were people that put
> A LOT of time in with their horse and would not compromise it's health"
I
> couldn't agree more. It is a great bunch of folks, and great horses too.
>
> A number of people have done the competitives in our area. Mostly their
> horses have not been sufficiently fit to excel at it. In 1991 I borrowed
> Modellen from Judy (Utheim) Wingerter, with the intention of competing
him.
> He had done some rides/drives, but was not fit enough. I started as tho
> from scratch, and competed him two years. We did a lot of events. He was
> the only Fjord to date to do the VT 3-day 100 mile event, and completed
both
> times. He was also the first stallion.
>
> What I found was that he had his limitation, and it was heat. Any heavy
> bodied horse will recover more slowly, no matter how fit, compared to
> something like an Arab, or a slab sided standardbred. Being able to
compete
> meant being careful and making extra efforts in cooling. If I had just
> wanted to win, I would have chosen a different breed. I was there to show
a
> Fjord to his best results, and I feel that was accomplished. We got to
the
> point where we could expect to finish with scores in the 90's (of 100),
but
> it was tough to win on warm days. When we won it was when we had all day
> rain, and in January. That was our kind of weather.
>
> I might mention also the time when Kim Keller borrowed him to do a ride -
> his only one when I had him. She was a superb rider, but pretty heavy -
> comfortably over 200 I am sure. Kim was an experienced hunter, but had
> never done a competitive. She ended up second out of 48 finishers. No
> question that Fjords can do well.
>
> The great side benefit of the fitness work for this sport is that you had
a
> horse you can do anything with.
>
> I would recommend it to all. If you were to do it with a Fjord, my
> suggestion would be to put the work into a lightbodied horse who had had
> good worming always.
>
> Having said that, I saw Lee Alexander and her horses this week. Her mare
> Crystal Mint is a stocky Belgian-Arab cross weighing something like 1100
> pounds, that she's done huge miles with and done well. In addition to
> driving, she has ridden the mare in 100 mile endurance races, including
the
> Race of Champions. There are always a lot of drops in that race, and she
> finished.
>
>
