Which Horse?

[[old] Canoeist]

My rowing is like flogging a <b>dead horse </b>. It just won't go any faster!<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Paul Flack

[[old] Canoeist]

We straddle the old <b>iron horse </b>and go for a ride to nowhere every day. But many of us haven't given the mechanical horse a name. So by the end of the workout, we tend to be high on a <b>horse with no name</b>.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Paul Flack

[[old] JimR]

So Mike ... is this the thoughtful consideration you were expecting your post to get??? It seems like the whole damn forum has gotten Ruppified!<br /><br />JimR<br /><br />P.S. ... anybody got a fan, I need a fan, I don't know nuttin' about a fan ...

[[old] PaulS]

Well, okay then (Serious face on).<br /><br />JimR has "spanked" us all for our juvenile attempts at levity, so now we can hunker down and get to the serious businness of considering this Equine analogy.<br /><br />The summary appears quite relevant to me, that a combination of Workhorses and Thoroughbreds would make for a good program, just make sure that the Workhorses don't get too discouraged by the apparent "natural gifts" of the Thoroughbreds and continue to participate, pushing the "gifted" to the greatest heights possible.<br /><br />OTOH, the Thoroughbred may simply look at the workhorse as a sort of plaything, and though there seems to be a considerable amount of drive to achieve, probably takes more pleasure in providing an ever higher bar as the workhorse toils away toward the current mark. A symbiotic relationship of sorts, but it takes a good balance of stubborness and optimism for the Workhorse to continue. Much like sparring partners for Mike Tyson, you just gotta wonder, "what can they be thinking?" (Today, Mike isn't going to clock me out.).<br /><br />That better?

[[old] andyArvid]

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!<br />-- Richard III

[[old] sharp_rower]

No but seriously, hold your horses.

[[old] neilb]

Thoroughbreds tend to be highly strung and very tempremental and so a common or garden workhorse (and often a pony or even a donkey) is often used as a companion to provide some stability. <br /><br />I cannot imagine that the "highly strung and tempremental" label applies to any of the thoroughbreds on this site but it is an interesting analogy.<br /><br />Workhorse type support probably does benefit the thoroughbred but not necessarily in as direct a way as training? (Worhorse may gain most bnefit from this.). The workhorses that help run the boathouse where the elite train clearly have a key supportive role, the coaches who put the unpaid work in during formative years, the supporters, etc. <br /><br />We can debate the direct relevance workhorse to potential training gains of the thoroughbreds but there is a clear and beneficial relationship bewteen the two.<br /><br />Anyway enough of the humour I am off to watch a serious film by that past master of cinema, Orson Welles, with my good friend Orson Cart.<br /><br />Neil

[[old] joanvb]

Great fun, Mike! Thanks for the starter! <br /><br />Joan