How to be an Endurance Rider?

Shantara

Shantara

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Since I saw Hidalgo when it came out, I've wanted to do endurance. None of the horses at the RS I ride at are suitable (I think Ned could do it, but he doesn't go in the trailer and doesn't go out alone...working on that but it'll be slow going, if it ever happens)
As some of you know, I plan to get a foal autumn next year.
How would I go about training this horse and myself for endurance riding? What breed is best? Are there any unexpected breeds who are good at it? etc etc...

Obviously I do know it'd be 3+ years before I could back the horse, but I'd spend that time riding and training Ned and learning about training youngsters, among other things.

Any help/advise/hints/tips would be great :)
 
Learn to canter your horse on roads, switch off to feelings for your animal, be so single minded that the empathy you feel for your animal is negated..... sorry endurance at the high level makes me sick to the stomach !
 
You could start through your local Riding Club as they now do Endurance qualifiers and a championship.

I went along to a training day through my RC, run by an ex-pro Endurance rider. She said that ANY breed of horse would be suitable for Endurance, at the sort of level we'd be doing it at.

For the top end of the sport, the Arab is deemed to be the best as they're tough, sure footed and fast. But she said that as long as your horse was happy to hack on all terrains, alone and in company and you got it fit enough, it would be fine.

I didn't do the RC qualifier in the end because I hadn't realised just how fit I'd have to be.... to be able to trot for mile upon mile. With Rosie's 'bone-shaking' trot, I knew I'd collapse half way round!

Get a horse with smooth gaits, that's my recommendation!!
 
I think there might be a mini-endurance ride near where I live (Milton Keynes)
It's a shame I couldn't have taken Archie, that horse has endurance!! He's an ex trotter and could trot for mile upon mile. I think our record was 5miles and he didn't even break a sweat! (Only stopping to have a tizz at a nude magazine!)
 
Annielusian,

Good qualities for endurance include:
- Easy ground covering stride that doesn't brush or interfere
- Good natural balance
- Decent leg and foot conformation (vital)
- Not too big (think of the gates....)
- Not too heavy in build (heavy muscle mass can slow you down in vetgates if it's hot, but on the other hand it will speed you up in vetgates if it's cold)
- An independent mind and an interest in what is round the next corner

That said, a lot of horses get to where they are because of who they are rather than what they are. You can go a long way with decent legs and feet and the right frame of mind. And not all arabs fit into the above criteria either - you don't need an arab for endurance and not all arabs are good at endurance. Really, you're best of going for a type of horse that you like and then picking one of that type that ticks as many of the endurance boxes as possible. A good friend of ours has had a lot of success with her overheight connemara, in fact we think they may have just clinched the supreme championship for 2011.

We've got two babyponies growing up at the moment with endurance in mind, endurance gods willing. They're out full time in a stable herd of other babyponies, and they spend their time galloping and playing and climbing over each other. Hopefully by the time they've had four years of that, they will be tough little critters. It's a long old road though - it will be unlikely that either of them will be anything like approaching full fitness till they are 8 and anything can happen between now and then.

Gingerwitch - that's a bit harsh :( Of course there is a dark underbelly in some areas, but find me a sport where there isn't. One thing I can say is that endurance is possibly the horse sport with the best veterinary support out there - where else can you be checked by a panel of the best vets in the business numerous times during the day all for the price of an entry fee? It's a very emotional and humbling sport, too - you and the horse go so far together there is nothing to beat the feeling of passing the vet at the end, knowing that your horse still has plenty left in the tank. And the best horses and riders don't get to where they are without absolutely knowing each other inside out. At the recent European Championships two of the British team pulled their horses themselves, even though they had passed the vet, because they felt the horses weren't absolutely 110% and they weren't prepared to risk their equine partners that they had spent so long training with. The welfare of the horse is paramount.
 
I have had the misforutne to come accross one of these "vets" in real life - I have never ever met such a vile cruel woman in my life - she should be banned from working with anything living. Her attitude to leisure horses was appalling and the way she treated her own made my stomach churn.

How can anyone honesty justify cantering on tarmac roads? -

I am sure not all riders are like this, but she was part of one of the "teams" and even had the audacity to give a talk at the vets clinic evening that left the vast majority of the room both shocked and appalled that the treatment dished out to these animals.

Can you honestly tell me the animal is not pushed too far - when it has to be dowsed in iced cold water to try and gets its temp down before going through the gates - would love this to have to happen to the rider at the same time - maybe then they would have a little bit more thought - have you ever tried jumping in a pool of freezing cold water on a 90 degree day after you have just run a marathon?
 
It depends on the level you want to compete at, as with everything you have to start at the grassroots and any sound horse would do, but the top competitors buy arabs, the sort that are described as "forward going" by vendors and "nutters" by us happy hackers. I would try to avoid buying a foal for a particular discipline, as it might turn out to be better suited to another discipline., and you might well be too attached to it to sell it.
If you are up to riding in competition you should be able to pick up a good sound horse which is "too much" for its owner, or one which will suit you in the early years, has experience but is just not fast enough for the Golden Horseshoe.
Endurance riders do things like riding out at 5.00 am all year round, and jump off every so often to run for a few miles to increase thei own fitness. What stopped me in my tracks was the need for a team of helpers, you need two ground workers to look after the horse at the vet gates.
 
would love this to have to happen to the rider at the same time
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A lot of the time, it does. And yes, I've sloshed myself down after running on a hot day - beautiful and refreshing. The great north run has run-through ice cold showers en route, which is the same principle as crewing an endurance horse and rider.

You've never put a hose on a hot horse? Eventers and racehorses are also now carrying out endurance style crewing after their competitions. Buckets and buckets of iced water were being tipped over the cross country finishers at Bramham this year, for example - far more than you'd see tipped on a horse at a vetgate but then these horses had done more galloping. Endurance work is mostly below the anaerobic threshold so the recovery rates are quicker.

Re cantering on roads - there is a bit of a debate that this is less concussive than trotting. Me personally, I don't. But then since we've been using easyboots I think a bit of me may be heading over to the dark side as Spud is so much more confident on hard surfaces ;) Shod horses feel very concussive to me now period, even in walk. I'm sure I'll get over myself.

MrsD - it's a bit of a myth that the nutters end up in endurance. You need a horse that can pace itself and look after itself. A nutter isn't going to be able to do that, and will burn itself out quickly. Our friend's connie, for example, is so laid back he's horizontal, and at home she struggles to get him out of walk sometimes if he's that way out. Things are done in 'Flurrie time'. He's a bit of a character and there's no way you'd ever force him to do something he didn't want to do. Forward going nutter he certainly ain't.
 
The most inportant part of endurance from my experience is to have a good crew. Without a good crew you can forget long distances.

My friend competed at a very high level of endurance and I crewed for her it was great but hard work. She had a TBxWelsh D 16.2hh quite heavy but excelled at endurance always passed the vet.
My other friend has competed at FEI level for GB with a heinz 57 15hh. I think so long as they have the right attitude they will go far no matter what breed or size they are.
 
This thread has really interested me as I am pondering dabbling in low level endurance. The problem is that OH is very much against it (he calls it "exploitation of horses").

However, my horse (half arab) can hack for hours without being phased (ie after a hard 2 hr hack he certainly has the energy to put in a rodeo display at the end on sight of a bin bag :o) and seems to really enjoy hacking out in company. He can manage an XC course and hardly break a sweat (albeit 80cm :D).

I had a big conversation with his Father's owners (the arab side) who are pretty high level competitors. I learnt a lot from them about this discipline and personally don't agree with OH - particularly for the lower levels.

They told me that horses doing the 120/160km races were only expected to do a maximum of one per year. The rest of the year they are in training and after the race they have months off stuffing their faces in the field. I know these particular folks are very horse orientated and would not "exploit" their horses.

They also told me that they train their horses by basically hacking out for hours and that the bulk of the training is done at walk/trot to encourage the right musculation (I'm sure that somebody more knowledgable than me can elaborate here). Also, lots of slow work on steep gradients (which is what we do for ours anyway for XC).

It was really interesting talking to them and it really opened my eyes. I think that all disciplines can learn a lot from each other and as somebody else has stated, the techniques used in endurance are crossing over and probably vice versa.

Obviously there are unscrupulous people out there but I certainly wouldn't tar everyone with this brush. These folks love their horses and sometimes come out to see my chap compete just because he's one of their foals and they're really proud of him. They are very much into promoting the arab breed for sport (in all disciplines) as they feel that a well bred arab has so much more to offer other than prancing around a show ring.

So, just got to open OH's eyes now as he's the horse chauffeur :D Pesronally, I think my horse would benefit from a good blast from time to time - in the company of others to improve his confidence much like hunting. I wouldn't want to do it at any decent level but the smaller ones would probably be good fun!

Good luck, I am sure you will find people who can give you some great experienced advice. :)
 
From my very very limited experience of endurance the horses are the most chilled out, happiest horses I have seen in any discipline. Certainly a lot more chilled out than some lorry parks at show jumping/dressage shows etc.
I wouldn't exactly call it "exploitation" of horses, the amount of care and monitoring that goes into them in phenomenal.
 
I like the sound of your boy's breeders, Saucisson :) I hope you can pursuade your OH.

If you think about it, covering distances across country in groups at relatively moderate speeds is what horses are designed to do. Endurance and hunting are probably the closest 'sports' to a horse's natural instincts as you can get.
 
Our local endurance club hold open ride- like Fun rides without the jumps I guess. So have a look at your local club.

I know someone who has 2 advanced horses (doing 100km races) and she would NEVER dream of cantering her horse on the road or even a hard track, her horses are far more pampered than my WB allrounder will ever be.

She has a straight arab and an arab xSec D but there is also a cob that goes on the shorter rides at that same yard too.
 
EstherYoung said:
If you think about it, covering distances across country in groups at relatively moderate speeds is what horses are designed to do. Endurance and hunting are probably the closest 'sports' to a horse's natural instincts as you can get.
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I also think that if endurance people are keeping their horses sound and healthy after such tough competitions, surely everyone can learn something from that?
 
Hi, please don't be put off by not having a 'crew'. I've been doing endurance rides for the last 3seasons and have not had the benefit of a crew. I've only competed at distances up to 43km, and as you do not have mid way vettings at distances under 60km, you can manage perfectly well without crew. I've enjoyed every minute of endurance, and everyone involved is so friendly and happy to help. My grumpy mare is at her absolute happiest at an endurance competition, and we've previously competed at all riding club activities, and this is definately her favourite! I've also learnt more about her and general horse management since becoming involved in this sport, and have never felt so 'bonded' with a horse.
As has been said, which other sport has pre ride and post ride vettings to pass before you are allowed to compete. All the vets i've experienced at competitions have very definatley hade the horses welfare as the priority, and would without doubt fail horses not capable of competing. Its a real shame one respondant came across a 'bad apple' in the sport, but please don't tar us all with the same brush. I'm the biggest softy as far as my horses are concerned, and if i had ever seen anything that i felt uncomfortable with, would have nothing to do with this great sport.
 
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