Endurance aims - experience needed

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Olliepoppy

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I am aiming to start endurance pleasure rides next season with my 7 year old cob but he has no experience of being out and about with other horses. I am concerned about how he will react if I just turn up and throw him in at the deep end. I don't know anyone in my local area to go out with so we hack / school alone. Can anyone recommend how I can go about desensitising him? Thanks in advance
 
Whereabouts are you? Most of the little informal pleasure rides that the local EGB/SERC groups run are very laid back and are excellent confidence building experience for novice horses. My youngster has done a few this year and you can feel him grow in confidence on the way round. They're really not scary. It's a question of picking your ride and finding a quiet start time.

Your local group will be the best place to start, they will be able to recommend which rides might be good for you and they may be able to find you a ride buddy, too.
 
Thank you. I am in Tayside and have approached the local group, I wasn't sure if you could take a totally novice horse along or not so was hoping to gain him some confidence/experience over the winter before our first taster.
 
Hello there! I'm one branch up from you (Grampian). Many SERC rides have "Taster" distances (under 15km), which don't count for mileage, and are intended for newbies to have a stress-free go or for people to take out youngsters for the first time. The Tayside entries secretary is really nice, and can help you find a ride buddy, too. If you have transport, their FB page might also be a good place to post to find someone to meet up with for a hack or two.
 
Thank you spookypony :) I'm just outside Brechin and do have transport. That sounds like a good idea, especially as he also needs experience with travelling! Can you enter rides in different areas or do you have to stick to your branch? Sorry if that's a daft question but I know diddly squat about endurance, just that it sounds really good fun!
 
From Brechin, you'll find that quite a few rides in Grampian are reasonably close, as well (for example, Spyhill and Mearns)! You can do rides in any branch.
 
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