Endurance : like the idea, hazy on the detail

[Kathrin]

I have just started riding at the age of 26 and as I get more and more into it find that what I am aiming towards (aside from my own horse bien sur) is a discipline I can ease my ageing butt into without competing against 12 year olds (not showjumping then!).

I am attracted to endurance - pleasure rides mainly. However, I know very little about the practicalities of it. Is it like a sportier version of a hack (I dearly love a long hack) if so I think I should love it. Also does one have to have a specific training routine for the horse if aiming to do say 20 mile rides?

I am very attracted to Arab horses (cannot understand why so many people seem to sneer at them - jumping isn't everything) but will an anglo arab also do well for endurance (just in case I decide to show jump after all)?

[Alwin van Egmond]

Hi Kathryn

I could fill page after page with information about endurance riding but I give you some easy starters.

For some general information about Endurance riding read
http://www.ehps.org.uk/home.html

For a training scheme for novice horses (and riders) read:
http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/nzendurance/guide.htm

I see you are scotland based so check out the Scottish Endurance Riding Club:
http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/~rose/serc.htm

If you have read them all read also:
http://www.endurance.net/
http://www.british-endurance.org.uk/

Arab horses are THE endurance breed, but many breeds can perform quite well when trained properly and you don't need to be a world class rider.
My personal choice would be an Anglo Arab, because I am tall and a little bit of a heavyweight and would like to have some more height and bodyweight in the horse itself than the average arab.

I don't ride endurance myself (yet) but have friends who do and I have attended and groomed several rides of them, and I think it is a wonderful discipline with a great atmosphere among the riders.

I woul suggest you read a book about endurance riding e.g. from Clare Wild (UK) or Nancy Loving (US) to know a little about it. The best thing is to do it yourself and learn from the more experienced riders, they tend to be very helpfull to each other and to novice riders.

It is the marathon of horse riding and it asks quite a lot of horse and rider, and years of training to reach the levels of 50 miles and over, but I love it.

Good luck and enjoy it

Alwin

[Wally]

Most cometative rides will have a pleasure ride along side it. That is exactly what it is, for those folk who don't want to compete but want a bit of a social ride in different parts of the country. So long as the horse is fit enough for a lively 2 hour hack you will be fine on a pleasure ride.

Once you have been on a few peasure rides you will see for yourself the level of fitness required for the more competative rides. A 20 mile ride needs a slightly fitter horse but most breeds will cope well at 20 to 50 mile rides and be in the ribbons.

We used to reckon on training for two hours of fast work a day with the odd 5 hour stamina test when we were seriously training fo 100 mile rides. PLeasure rides are a good way of spying out the land and picking the brains of the competition riders before you go competative.

I wouldn't do rides of more than 50 miles now, I've seen 100 miles done and am now of the opinion they are too much. 50 miles is reasonable, I would not ask a horse I thought anything of to do 100. Just my view having seen how a horse can sometimes finish 100 miles.

Pleasure rides are great and well worth getting involved in and Endurance riders are a great bunch....or they used to be years ago.