![Photo Courtesy Louise Burton (Am I Blue +/ and Louise Burton)](/images/articles/593/5408.jpg)
Photo Courtesy Louise Burton (Am I Blue +/ and Louise Burton)
Each time a horse is named the Distance Horse of the Year, its name is added to a perpetual bronze sculpture trophy designed by Joe Staheli that is displayed at the AHA office in Aurora, CO.
Plagued by injury and lameness for almost three years after Burton bought the mare, Ducky’s partnership with Burton began bumpy. After a few adjustments were made to Ducky’s pace and gait, Burton and Ducky began to thrive, and the pair earned the championship spot at the Region 9 Endurance Championship in 2008 and then again in 2009.
“Mike Beasley told me I needed to canter more and trot less,” said Burton. As Ducky’s pace quickened, she often awarded the Best Conditioned with a 15 pulse, which made Burton realize the mare could handle a 100-mile ride and produce winning times.
According to Burton, the 1998 16-hand Half-Arabian mare, out of a straight Russian dam and a Saddlebred sire, experienced her best moment on a race to the finish line this year. “A guy decided to race us the last ¼ mile to beat us at a ride in Texas last spring. I didn’t want to race in, but Duck would have none of it. She would not let that horse pass! That was the first time she discovered she could really run! I never could get her to run flat out before that,” said Burton. “She is a dream to ride. Duck loves nothing better than to go down the trail.”
For more information on AHA distance programs, visit www.ArabianHorses.org/Distance or contact AHA at (303) 696-4500.