Story originally posted by: Pamela Burton

An Endurance Ride is a timed ride of a specified length on a specified trail that is, at all times, controlled and monitored by a team of equine veterinarians. Horses must pass vet checks monitoring pulse, respiration, and general condition. Awards are given to the horses which successfully complete the course in the fastest time and pass the final veterinarian exam.


More than 75% of horse owners do some kind of trail or recreational riding. Endurance riding is, essentially, long distance trail riding. It is an opportunity to ride for miles with your horse while seeing some beautiful scenic country, much of which can be over private lands. Endurance riders get to truly learn how the equine body operates, as they are extremely concerned with the condition, health, and overall physiology of their horses, just as distance runners must understand the best fuel, training, and care needed to achieve their running goals.






If your horse is at least 4 years old, you can begin with a 25 mile, Limited Distance (LD) ride. Keep in mind that you are typically given 6 hours to complete a 25-mile ride, and you as well as your horse must be in good condition. The best-conditioned horses will finish the 25-mile ride in 2 1/2-3 hours, depending on terrain. A horse that has achieved 60 months of age is eligible to enter a ride of 50 miles run within a maximum 12-hour period, or a 100-mile race, run in a maximum 24-hour period. An average finish time to win a 50 mile ride might be 4 1/2- 5 hours, or a speed of 9-10 miles per hour. That would be at least a steady trot with some canter, and very little walking.


You and your mount must be "conditioned" to be able to do the ride. The best way to accomplish this is to ride. You don't have to ride 25 or 50 miles every week, but you do have to do some steady work at the trot with some long canters thrown in to build up stamina.


Soft tissue (the heart and the muscles) should increase in fitness with six months to a year of steady work. The tendons and ligaments might take up to two years, and the bone, up to three. If your horse has not been working up to the ride miles that you plan on attending, you can gradually increase his work in what distance riders call long, slow miles. You will need to know how to monitor your horse's fitness. Learn to take a pulse and heart rate. A resting horses pulse rate will generally be between 32-40 beats per minute (BPM). This rate will increase while working to an average 160-170 BPM. After dismounting, your fit horses pulse should be back in the low 60's within 10 minutes. To increase his level of fitness, work him a bit harder so that it takes longer to return to the 60 BPM level. If it takes up to 30 minutes to recover to that criterion, you are working the horse too hard for his level of fitness.


Your first ride: If you don't know anyone who is already competing in endurance riding, get in touch with one of the endurance riding organizations. They will tell you how to begin, and can even direct you to a mentor. One of the easiest and best ways to learn about endurance riding is to go to a ride and watch/and or crew (help) another rider at a ride. You'll learn volumes.


In the United States and Canada, the group that has developed rules and guidelines for the sport and the governing body for long distance riding is the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC), founded in 1972. There are over 700 rides sanctioned by the AERC throughout North America. In addition to the comaraderie of other riders, riders and horses can accumulate points and are eligible for year-end awards at the AERC Convention.


And most importantly, you must enjoy your partnership with the horse you are riding. If you enjoy distance riding, you're going to be on the trail together for a good many miles. Go out there and ride!


Useful Websites on endurance riding:


American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) http://www.aerc.org This is the official sanctioning body for equine endurance rides in the U.S. and Canada. This site has membership information, the ride calendar, ride results, and awards.


http://www.endurance.net This site has excellent information, advice for Newbies, photos of rides, classifieds, how to contact a mentor, and links to other distance riding organizations. From this site, follow the links to Ridecamp, the discussion group for endurance riders.


http://www.foothill.net/tevis Reports on the 100-mileTevis ride from entrants to ride-day race up-date.