This is about horses, what they use to do and how their use is dwindling. Dobermans are working dogs and if we don't support them actually working at something (doesn't have to be bite sports) just anything that gives them purpose with their owner/family then we will lose forever what made the Doberman the dog we wanted. Breeders breed for what buyers want.
Most horse sports are changing, and most of them are changing to reflect limitations imposed by human population growth and all that comes along with that, loss of open land, loss of a sense of wide open spaces and the sense of adventure which goes along with that, loss of freedom from litigation, loss, loss, loss.
Eventing has shrunk itself out of recognition. Thoroughbred racing has few races left that are one and a half miles long. Morgans, once the ATVs of US horses, are seen in show rings more than out in the woods and fields. Fox hunts are hemmed in by growing suburbs. Kids who 40-50 years ago might head out Saturday mornings on ponies and horses, not to be seen until supper time, are stuck on 10 acre farmettes wedged between highways and shopping malls.
And because of all that shrinkage, the breeding of horses with stamina, endurance, true grit, innate toughness is also fading, because if humans don’t test for it, don’t need it, don’t want it, are not willing to pay to obtain it, why should breeders breed for it?
There are still some glimmers of hope. The Tevis Cup is still 100 miles of mountains. The GMHA 100 mile trail ride still climbs endless hills. The Maryland Hunt Cup is still four miles over massive timber. The Morgan stallion Westwind Otto is out there being an athlete in cow work. There are still ranches with working horses, still plenty of horses that retain the right stuff, sound, game, durable.
So there are still breeders who care about the old fashioned qualities, but unless modern horse people buy the horses they produce, that supply will dwindle. The market always wins. Breeders will only breed, in any sort of numbers, horses that other humans will buy for enough money to justify their production.
It all starts with humans who still want difficult challenge. Brave, adventurous riders and drivers will always need brave, sound, tough, game horses that can go out there and get it done. There is great optimism in that, I think---.
Tamarack Hill Farm
·Most horse sports are changing, and most of them are changing to reflect limitations imposed by human population growth and all that comes along with that, loss of open land, loss of a sense of wide open spaces and the sense of adventure which goes along with that, loss of freedom from litigation, loss, loss, loss.
Eventing has shrunk itself out of recognition. Thoroughbred racing has few races left that are one and a half miles long. Morgans, once the ATVs of US horses, are seen in show rings more than out in the woods and fields. Fox hunts are hemmed in by growing suburbs. Kids who 40-50 years ago might head out Saturday mornings on ponies and horses, not to be seen until supper time, are stuck on 10 acre farmettes wedged between highways and shopping malls.
And because of all that shrinkage, the breeding of horses with stamina, endurance, true grit, innate toughness is also fading, because if humans don’t test for it, don’t need it, don’t want it, are not willing to pay to obtain it, why should breeders breed for it?
There are still some glimmers of hope. The Tevis Cup is still 100 miles of mountains. The GMHA 100 mile trail ride still climbs endless hills. The Maryland Hunt Cup is still four miles over massive timber. The Morgan stallion Westwind Otto is out there being an athlete in cow work. There are still ranches with working horses, still plenty of horses that retain the right stuff, sound, game, durable.
So there are still breeders who care about the old fashioned qualities, but unless modern horse people buy the horses they produce, that supply will dwindle. The market always wins. Breeders will only breed, in any sort of numbers, horses that other humans will buy for enough money to justify their production.
It all starts with humans who still want difficult challenge. Brave, adventurous riders and drivers will always need brave, sound, tough, game horses that can go out there and get it done. There is great optimism in that, I think---.
