Calling all endurance riders...

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Sunny08

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Last year I sold my young eventer as I fell pregnant. Now my son has been born I am considering my next move regarding horses and thinking of taking a change in direction. Previously I have been happy SJ-ing, eventing and a bit of all round type activities. I have always been interested in endurance riding but it has never been the right time and I haven't had the right horse. Now I am starting again so to speak I am thinking maybe now is the time to give it a go. I will hopefully be buying a new horse later this year.
Can anyone give me a overview, pro's and con's, of endurance riding? I don't want to be seriously competitive but I do enjoy having a sport I can improve at, work at and set personal goals. Before I think about this further what do I need to consider, are there any good books/ websites etc? And though I know Arabs are very popular breeds for this sport are any other breeds as appropriate?
 
If you don't want to aim at high level competition then you can look past the arab and find a good sound horse that you enjoy riding and that can cover the ground, at peak fitness you will need to spend 90 minutes per day in the saddle so something you like is a big bonus.
 
My horse is an arab cross but I've been to a few Endurance Training rides and Non Competitive rides and there are always a good cross section of all breeds.

My friend rides her 14.2 cob and has a great time, her horse is fit and more than able to do the rides.

Take a look at the following websites for more info:

http://www.endurancegb.co.uk/
http://www.endurancegbsoutheast.co.uk/

You'll see we're quite lucky to have a few rides in the South East.

To see some of the horses that take part have a scan through some of the old photos taken by the professional photographer: http://www.radfoto.co.uk/ the ones starting EGB are the ones to look at.

You've just missed the Primrose ride near Canterbury, it was lovely this year - had a great time :)

Good luck, it certainly is one of the most friendly organised events I have been to and great for setting your own personal goals rather than being 'all out' competitive - if you see what I mean :)
 
Lots of natives do the endurance rides up where I am in Scotland. Mine was one of 3 Haflingers at the last one! If you want to be very competitive the Arabs generally do win but at lower levels theres no need unless you want one anyway.
 
Sunny08 - I too have moved away from BS SJing to doing more funrides / pleasurerides mainly organised by Sport Endurance Group, next year I may do some competetive rides with my warmblood.

As others have said you do need an arab type if you want to win, I still find that I enjoy the odd local show and you may find that what you really want is a true allrounder that gives you the flexibility to do a range of unaffiliated events.
 
I would echo the earlier post about contacting EGB and your local EGB groups. In august I think it's the interregional competition at Barbury castle (ridgeway ride) you'll find it on the EGB website, if you can contact your local team it may be worth a visit, teams are always looking for people to help the team crewing, plus it's great fun! I've only done very short distances (30k CR's) however crew for a friend who does much longer distances - she's never had an Arab, and rides an Andalusian at the moment and previously racerode and successfully competed a Connemara, even doing and completing the golden horseshoe at exmoore! It's great fun!
 
If you do decide to consider an Arab you could contact Anne Brown at Gadebrook Stud. She breeds big strong Arabs that are well suited to endurance or racing. You could join Arabian Lines forum, they have quite a few endurance riders there.
 
First off, it's great fun. And it is absolutely the sort of sport where you can set your own goals and take as much or as little as you want from it.

You absolutely don't need an arab. Much as I love my arabs, not all good endurance horses are arabs and not all arabs are good endurance horses. The best kind of endurance horse is not too big, not too small, quite fast but very tough, calm to handle from the ground, and with the right head for the job as well as good legs and feet. A good arab does fall into that description, but so do many many many other breeds and types. And particularly when you head northwards to the tougher rides, that's when the good old fashioned native comes into its own, riding over the terrain it was bred for.

There are a lot of prejudices towards arabs in endurance, which is ironic seeing as we have to fight the prejudice against them in other sports ;) People assume endurance horses are arabs when they're not, for starters. When horses get really fit, they do start to lighten up and look similar, regardless of breed. I remember timing in on a vetgate one year and a spectator coming up to me and commenting on 'all the arabs coming in', referring to a bunch of horses that were just coming across to the vetgate. I was quite pleased to tell her that actually, in that bunch, there wasn't a purebred amongst them and the lead horse was a Connie.

Also, the way endurance is reported (if and when it is) emphasises the arab. Our mate's very promising pony is a registered British Riding Pony, bred for the show ring. He got his first nag and dog mention last week (I'm a very proud auntie), and he was referred to as a part bred arab. Yes I suppose technically he is, but in the same way as a Trakhener is a part bred arab. Why just comment on the arab bit? Did his TB and welsh ancestors not also contribute to his speed and stamina? Is it not worthy of note for breeders of British Riding Ponies, who have had their own stud book and breed standard for over 100 years, that actually their athletic and well bred ponies also make good endurance horses? If he had been successful in any other discipline, any press reporting would have completely ignored his arab ancestors....

Anyhows, rant over. Welcome, enjoy, and I can thoroughly recommend that you get in touch with your local EGB group as they will be able to tell you what activities they've got going on over the summer.
 
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