Sorry,another question on horse choice!!

[bikina]

'when the going gets tough and you feel like crying, you’re only pony trekking!'
taken from The Royal Geographical Society Expedition Handbook. Quote from James Greenwood (who travelled around the World by horse)
And why shouldn't a happy hacker wander about on a long ride? There will be rest days, and the speed would be mostly at a walk. This is not an endurance ride as you know it. When you go on a horse holiday, you can be in the saddle 4-5 hours, over varied terrain and at all paces. What differs from those horses workload to what I am going to ask a horse to do?

 

[AmyMay]

Gosh, I think you've totally confused us all now on what you're after.

You do sound a bit niaive in what you are expecting etc. But hey ho, you certainly sound as if you know best.

 

[emma69]

Riding holidays are based in one place, or at least on one climate. Going from a relatively cold UK to a very hot middle east is one heck of a change for a horse, they are not accustomed to such changes. They also don't have to contend with new health issues - things like new strains of horsey viruses they have no immunity to, or biting insects they won't have built up immunity against. Riding holdiay horses don't work every day, nor do they work all year round (or if they do, the off season is greatly reduced)

I would look to buy an experienced, proven endurance horse - it's onyl when you get to that level of fitness you know if the horse has what it takes - there is no way I would be looking to buy a horse that was a happy hacker - the vast majority of horses in the UK are decent enough, but only a tiny percentage are exceptional (by which I mean have amazing conformation, are free from degenarative conditions, have excellent feet (because it can take more than a year to correct even minor problems caused by bad shoeing or diet) have no prior injuries that could reoccur, are well muscled (the better the proportion of muscles when you buy the less work you will need to do) and have a fantastic temprement that can cope with very hard solitary work (they are herd animals after all) and that you can develop a very strong bond with.) There aren't all that many out there, and you need to expect to pay top dollar for it. With the levels of work the horse will be doing, the body fat will be at a minimum, and the horse will need to be clipped - the horse must be rugged overnight, especially in countries where the temperature drops so rapidly overnight - you will likely need a few sets of rugs too - lighterweight for europe, heavier for n africa middle east, in addition to sweat rugs to dry the horse before his pajamas are put on for the night.

I assume you will have back up in the form of a wheeled vehicle? Some areas are so remote you will have to carry all the water for you and the horse, this is not something you can do alone - the weight of the water is just too much (not to mention carry the rugs, spare tack, feed (you cannot chop and change feed, you must be consistent as it take time for horses to develop the ability to process new foods - not something you can do if expecting the horse to work hard each day), your own supplies like a tent etc, . I would also recommend you take a vet course, as there won't be anyone 'on call' in most of the areas to stitch a leg, give antibiotics, remove foreign bodies, etc. Horrid as it may be I also wouldn't contemplate doing this journey without the know how and necessary equipment to euthanise a horse if necessary - if a horse breaks his leg in the middle of no where, I would need to be able to put him out of his misery - it's bad enough in the UK waiting 20 mins for the vet to hare out in his landrover, when this isn't even an option you have to be prepared to do best by the horse (and yes, I am aware that in the UK this is not legal, but I am imagining that the same such laws don't exist elsewhere, and, to be honest, even if they did, I could not watch a horse suffer for hours or days while someone was sent out)

Whilst many explorers have made arduous journies in remote parts of the world, the vast vast majority had back up in the form of sherpas - I know several people who have journeyed to very remote parts, albeit not horse based expeditions (tho they have used horses and muels) and I know that the best planning in the world does not prevent accidents.