What do you think of when you think of 'Endurance' riding?

[Steerpike]

what would the time limit be for a starter type ride I.e.30km

Minimum speed is 8kph for national pleasure rides and novice graded rides, a small handful of rides do drop the speed limit a bit lower if it is a more technical/difficult ride, group training rides vary depending on the group organising.

 

[outinthefens88]

what would the time limit be for a starter type ride I.e.30km

I had to check the handbook but for a 'Novice' 32KM competitive ride you would be classed as 'completed' if you finished at an average speed of 8kmph - so four hours maximum at 5 miles an hour in old measurements. On a reasonably fit horse, steady trot periods with some walk breaks and you'd be round in 3 hours or so. Obviously Pleasure rides don't have a time limit (within reason) .

 

[Hackback]

Honestly, I think of Endurance as being the 'hippy' sport in the equestrian world. Unplaited horses, colourful and 'alternative' tack, rider clothing etc. I hope I don't offend anyone, I don't mean this as a bad thing

 

[Time for Tea]

After having done one….

Rude organisers and competitors

Poor attitude towards safety

I haven’t found this at all, done a number of pleasure rides on all sorts of horses and ponies. I found it the most friendly and relaxed of all the disciplines . Used to do a few after the hunt season finished , so the horses were very fit. The best one was my Belgian trotter. She could shift at speed for hours in a huge trot. It took 3 rides before the vet could check her heart rate afterwards though! Stethoscope near me? Forget it!
I think of it as distance riding, rather than endurance.

 

[paddy555]

Honestly, I think of Endurance as being the 'hippy' sport in the equestrian world. Unplaited horses, colourful and 'alternative' tack, rider clothing etc. I hope I don't offend anyone, I don't mean this as a bad thing

absolutely. Why do you need to plait a mane? only reason is to keep horse cool and more comfortable. Alternative tack? tack that works not what convention has dictated. Less tack, less weight for the horse on his head. Tack as to work and has to work for many hours or the horse is sore and eliminated. Rider clothing? what is comfortable and works, shoes/boots you can run in.

I don't see it as hippy but as what works and is practical
not what is poncy and pretty for the show ring/dressage etc.


I've now offended lots of people
.

 

[fidleyspromise]

I joined SERC (Scottish Endurance Riding Club) last year as a member but sadly haven't got out to anything this year.

I stopped going to our local pleasure rides organised by the hunts because they had too many inconsiderate riders and the ground was often shocking - ploughed fields, crossing streams on planks and near vertical descents. I know endurance has better standards for riding etiquette but there's still not enough info to decide whether I'd want to ride my horses around the course.

I would basically want to see info that suggests it's suitable for barefoot horses who do light hacking at best, if it is.

I also expect to be hideously slow and would hate to be holding the organisers up by possibly an hour or more.

I like Endurance rides as the organisers often ride it and know it plus ride it a few days prior to mark it.
I did a ride 2 years ago and they made sure we looked at the map and understood where they had changed a small part due to deeming it unsafe. These are my regular woods and I knew the bit they spoke of and I knew it was no issue for my horse but appreciate they need to ensure it's safe for everyone. They also had an alternative so you could go route A over a bridge or go route B to avoid the bridge. My companion asked we go route B as her horse might not go over and we'd have to double back.

(My horse is 22, barefoot and I ride up to 3 times a week).
You may be slow but the organisers will often be there waiting for the longer competitive rides to come in. I was too slow on my first ride but there was no pushing or anything. I found it all really friendly.

"100k, but maybe 30K ☺"

In reference to the title of this post, I find it interesting that this is considered a distance to aim for, 30km/15miles should be a distance any fit horse can do comfortably in a couple of hours. And talking to my mum and others of her generation they would have done those sorts of distances without blinking.

Dsoes this mean that the definition of a "fit" horse or what we expect of our horses is changing?

I've done endurances up to 80km and have always hacked miles, and been lucky enough to live placed I can. Any of my horses when fit, for anything I was doing, I'd expect to be able to cruise round 30km steadily.

I think a large part of this is roads becoming dangerous and struggling to find places to go.

I love my local woods but unless I really plan it and do lots of zigzagging 8 miles is the norm.
I also have health issues so where I used to ride 5 to 6 times a week going out up to 4 hours now I can do 2 hours a couple of times a week.

After having done one….

Rude organisers and competitors

Poor attitude towards safety

I'm sorry to hear that. Was it fairly recent or a while ago?

I think it’s a bit of a mis-named sport at the lower levels. Any fit sound horse and rider combination should be able to do 30km and to be honest, I don’t see the point of joining an organisation to do that when you can saddle up and hack out (easier said than done depending on where you live, I know).

I would consider the multi day rides in rough terrain like Red Dragon and the old Golden Horseshoe actual endurance, and the 50k upwards. Definitely would want an Arab or a stock horse breed for the highest levels; I’ve heard of wild born mustangs doing the Tevis Cup successfully.

The fast day races with the Middle East influence I think are pretty barbaric and tarnish the whole thing.

So the lower levels are too low to be interesting and some of the top is wildly harmful to the horses; it leaves a nice chunk in the middle where I think it’s probably a fascinating sport and I’d love to have a go.

That's an interesting take.
I have to say I'm happy to be at the low end but I'd love to see what my Arab boy could do.

Honestly, I think of Endurance as being the 'hippy' sport in the equestrian world. Unplaited horses, colourful and 'alternative' tack, rider clothing etc. I hope I don't offend anyone, I don't mean this as a bad thing

Hahaha.
I'm getting older and probably am more hippy dippy .


I am hoping to get transport so I can get out to some rides. For me the attraction is how friendly the Endurance lot are, how any horse can do it and the different terrain you can go on that someone else has already mapped out.

My Hifgland is 22 and done several pleasure or taster rides. The first one my friend invited me along so a 3 mile hack to it and then same back home. It was I think a 12 mile ride but we nattered the whole way resulting in us being too slow and my mares heart rate only just within the accepted rate - she was super excited and didn't want to stand still.

The next one was at the same place so hacked there/back again and I asked to go with someone. That was a hoot - I went with 2 other ladies. 3 women all on natives and none of us within control. It was raining, I forgot my gloves and my mare threw her head to the floor and then took off. It didn't matter which of us was in front, that riders pony just wanted to go. We cantered around most of it. When we had to walk we did.
at one point we started questioning if it looked familiar and we had made a right instead of a left resulting in us nearly going around again. We turned back, got back to the venue and sorted the horses. Within time, vetted sound, heart rates good and then a hack home alone in the rain.

My third one was a year after I did a mock hunt. Why I don't know but a lady asked me to accompany her and her young horse. I got on and we heard the clip clip of others starting. My Highland pony jigged along thinking this was a gallopy day. She was most put out we were walking or supposed to be. I jogged the majority of it and when we trotted, she cantered. The young New Forest behaved impeccably.

The last one I went to I didn't know if they'd vet her as sound or her heart rate as she had been ill and while she was healthy with the work this was my test of how healthy is she. If at any point she struggled, I'd get off and walk her home.
To get to the venue I walked my pony inhand as it was only 45 mins up the road. I had a backpack with 10 litres of water for Til to drink and be washed down. I followed trailers up the narrow track. Got to the end to find them turning. Wrong area. 5 minutes back to the main road, turn left and a mile or 2 down I see all the trailers. My feet hurt and my back is sore with the weight.
She vetted sound and all well. (At least one horse didn't make the vetting).
We set off for our ride and would you believe where I turned around walking, if I had walked for 5 minutes I would have been at the venue! I nearly cried.
We went round. She was on form. I apologised for the slow trot and my companion looked at me like I was mad. It was only slow to me then.
A few canters and some walking. We met up with others and walked with them for a bit chatting before trotting off again.
Vetted sound, heart rate really good (same as starting, 53 I think) and my companion drove us home.

I have a 3 yr old Arab and while I aim to do RC I'd love to do Endurance with him. I found Fit to Start with SERC an excellent resource this Feb/Mar. It was 8 weeks where you chose inhand, ridden or a mix of both and you had aims per week for getting fit.
Inhand was specific polework exercises and ridden was x amount of rides at a specific distance between 2 speeds so you weren't too slow but didn't race around it.

I did both so 4 weeks of polework exercises and then 4 weeks of both. This meant I planned a route of a specific distance and then had to ride it at a speed of 5kph. The first time I did it I was too slow. I pushed on and we did it in 6kph. Then as you went through the weeks you kept the distance the same but pushed the speed up.
With an older horse with health issues I found this simple and made me focus on hacks I do. After it finished I played with distance and speed more confidently.

I have found some great friends within the Endurance community and one of them is now my dog trainer.

For me Endurance is different for everyone as we all have different strengths so a 30km is nothing to one but a mountain to another so it's about choosing a length within you or your horses capabilities but still a challenge to one or both of you without it having to be extreme.
(I'm not sure if I would have seen it this way before I became ill and thought if Endurance as the longer 2 or 3 days rides that at that time seemed inspiring and not within the aims of the everyday rider although I had heard of natives completing it).

 

[Ruftys mum]

I crewed in the early 90s for a non-Arab (TBx probably but breeding unknown). We went to the Golden Horseshoe twice. That's what I (try to) think about when I think about endurance (agree the name of the discipline is a bit blergh, it used to be called long-distance riding and that seemed like a perfectly good descriptive name for it, without the connotations of suffering). Last time I went to Exmoor to spectate (I think it was the 50th anniversary) the only gold award went to a connie. So while arabs are everywhere now and I don't think you could even contemplate the modern top end of the sport without one (poor things), in the style of sport I was familiar with many breeds are perfectly capable at the longer distances. They just have to be sound and well prepared.

Do you remember Showgirl aka Kali who was ridden by Liz Finney? We went to the Golden Horseshoe in the 90s . A great experience. Kali got a gold in the 100 miler several times. Happy days

 

[P.forpony]

I think of something I'd love to try but not really sure how one would go about it.
The biggest concern and hesitation has always been not knowing what I'm doing and risking my horses welfare through ignorance.
But posts above are rather reassuring. I have an ottb and I have no issue getting him fit enough for a 20 Mile day out hunting, and his walking speed out hacking is 4mph so I may have to have a look into it
(the lack of plaiting is very tempting! )

 

[I'm Dun]

"100k, but maybe 30K ☺"

In reference to the title of this post, I find it interesting that this is considered a distance to aim for, 30km/15miles should be a distance any fit horse can do comfortably in a couple of hours. And talking to my mum and others of her generation they would have done those sorts of distances without blinking.

Dsoes this mean that the definition of a "fit" horse or what we expect of our horses is changing?

I've done endurances up to 80km and have always hacked miles, and been lucky enough to live placed I can. Any of my horses when fit, for anything I was doing, I'd expect to be able to cruise round 30km steadily.

I think it means most people struggle to find places to go where they can hack for 30kms.

 

[HorseMaid]

I've got a boingy 12yo Arab X cob mare who I'm sure would absolutely love to do endurance, but I'm not even sure where to begin and wouldn't have anyone to go with!! I'm aware of how it is in the middle east but I think it sounds like a great thing to be part of in the UK!

 

[fidleyspromise]

I've got a boingy 12yo Arab X cob mare who I'm sure would absolutely love to do endurance, but I'm not even sure where to begin and wouldn't have anyone to go with!! I'm aware of how it is in the middle east but I think it sounds like a great thing to be part of in the UK!

I found a ride I wanted to do and then asked the organiser if they could pair me up.
You can also write a post on FB (if you have) and ask if anyone is willing to ride with you. I've seen a few do this. Great way to make new friends.

 

[Time for Tea]

absolutely. Why do you need to plait a mane? only reason is to keep horse cool and more comfortable. Alternative tack? tack that works not what convention has dictated. Less tack, less weight for the horse on his head. Tack as to work and has to work for many hours or the horse is sore and eliminated. Rider clothing? what is comfortable and works, shoes/boots you can run in.

I don't see it as hippy but as what works and is practical
not what is poncy and pretty for the show ring/dressage etc.


I've now offended lots of people
.

Not me, I agree with you

 

[rara007]

Driving trials roads and tracks compulsory walk section (when it used to exist) is 7km/hr for a horse to give reference to the 8km/hr ‘speed’!

 

[Jenko109]

I always assume that at top level, it's going to be mostly Arabs.

Of course I know that any horse can give it a whirl at lower levels. I'm just not sure how interested many people really are.

We did a fun endurance thing once. It was 11 miles which we completed in an hour and forty minutes. It was hard going actually. I was tired.

 

[Gloi]

I used to ride all day as a youngster and think nothing of it. I did join one of the associations in the 80s and did some vetted 50 to 60km rides on my Fell pony which were fun and he didn't find hard provided I let him trot on rather than canter long distances.
Since then I've done a couple on my Icies, my mare was fabulous, so comfy and never seemed to tire , but that was in the 90s. Since then all I've really done is the Mary Towneley Loop that I'd recommend to anyone, but these days I rarely ride much over a dozen miles as my knees don't cope well.

 

[outinthefens88]

I think of something I'd love to try but not really sure how one would go about it.
The biggest concern and hesitation has always been not knowing what I'm doing and risking my horses welfare through ignorance.
But posts above are rather reassuring. I have an ottb and I have no issue getting him fit enough for a 20 Mile day out hunting, and his walking speed out hacking is 4mph so I may have to have a look into it
(the lack of plaiting is very tempting! )

I've got a boingy 12yo Arab X cob mare who I'm sure would absolutely love to do endurance, but I'm not even sure where to begin and wouldn't have anyone to go with!! I'm aware of how it is in the middle east but I think it sounds like a great thing to be part of in the UK!

To both of you - and anyone else interested but not knowing where to start, feel free to drop me a PM and I can help steer you in the direction of your regional 'group co-ordinator(s)' who can give you a good idea of whats going on both in your and neighboring areas. Its pretty much the end of season now but more than happy to discuss how to get into the sport for 2025 and what to expect in terms of training requirements etc.

Pretty much every group operates a 'buddy system' for first timers who can join up with a more experienced horse/rider combo to get a feel for how it all works, especially in the slightly quieter early part of the season before the competitive rides start.

I originally planned to ride my first season with an experienced combination, unfortunately through injury to their horse this ended up not happening but several other individuals stepped up and joined me on various rides till both me and the horse had a better idea of what we were doing!

 

[xTrooperx]

I have done lower lever egb rides in the past on a cob, and I see it as hacking with a twist. Ppl used to believe we galloped around full speed when I used to say we trotted most the ride they were rather surprised, she was quite successfully at it too.

 

[HorseMaid]

Thank you - I'll send you a pm as would definitely be interested in having a go next year!

 

[Taliesan]

Endurance really appeals to me as an activity to do with my horse as they seem more open minded towards horse welfare and tack than other disciplines. It is definitely something I'd be keen to learn more about and get involved with.

I haven't really got a clue where to start in terms of fitness or where events run, but my goal is to try and do something endurance with Alfie (OTTB) next year as I think he'll really enjoy it.

 

[paddy555]

Endurance really appeals to me as an activity to do with my horse as they seem more open minded towards horse welfare and tack than other disciplines. It is definitely something I'd be keen to learn more about and get involved with.

I haven't really got a clue where to start in terms of fitness or where events run, but my goal is to try and do something endurance with Alfie (OTTB) next year as I think he'll really enjoy it.

I love the bridle on your horse. I used to do a lot of training rides on my arab with that sort of bridle. I got some strange looks.

 

[Taliesan]

I love the bridle on your horse. I used to do a lot of training rides on my arab with that sort of bridle. I got some strange looks.

You mean the total lack of one?

At that show, as I was doing my test, I became astutely aware that everyone else has stopped what they were doing and they were all watching me. I was eternally grateful that my horse remained on his best behaviour!

This is also part of the reason I want to do endurance. I asked about riding bridleless at an event stand once and they said that as long as my horse had a bridle on, with reins attached, what I actually used for communication was my choice. I thought that was a very open minded way to approach it. (Whilst being conscious of safety for all involved.)

That said, my view is that if someone is asking about riding without a bridle, the chances are that they are fairly confident that their horse will listen to them in all circumstances anyway!

 

[paddy555]

You mean the total lack of one?

At that show, as I was doing my test, I became astutely aware that everyone else has stopped what they were doing and they were all watching me. I was eternally grateful that my horse remained on his best behaviour!

This is also part of the reason I want to do endurance. I asked about riding bridleless at an event stand once and they said that as long as my horse had a bridle on, with reins attached, what I actually used for communication was my choice. I thought that was a very open minded way to approach it. (Whilst being conscious of safety for all involved.)

That said, my view is that if someone is asking about riding without a bridle, the chances are that they are fairly confident that their horse will listen to them in all circumstances anyway!

I thought you had just forgotten to put it on!!!

It is a lovely pic and so nice to see your horse going so kindly. A real credit to you

 

[gunnergundog]

My experience of endurance was back in the 80s.....it was a 20km ride called a Bronze Buckle? I did a couple as a by product of getting my then eventer fit for three and four star (although never actually competed at the latter). I was in Warwickshire at the time and I remember getting talked into doing one starting from Monks Kirby - there was a lady in the village who was 'big' in endurance at the time who press ganged me into it. I also remember Liz Finney.....was the horse mentioned a grey??

 

[Julia0803]

I found a ride I wanted to do and then asked the organiser if they could pair me up.
You can also write a post on FB (if you have) and ask if anyone is willing to ride with you. I've seen a few do this. Great way to make new friends.

I did this! And made a lovely friend that I still keep in touch with on Facebook.

I started at the end of the season in '22. Did several rides in '23 and one this year... then an injury meant he's had some time out.

We started because he'd done a ligament injury in '20. His rehab was 12 weeks walking, up to 45 min twice per day, then introducing trot, increasing to 15 min every day. The vet had said to avoid the school/soft/lots of turns as much as possible and increase the walking as you increase the trotting. I found out very quickly you actually cover A LOT of ground in 15 min of trotting so to be able to do our trot work on good ground (I didn't want to endlessly trot on the roads), I had to go on longer and longer hacks further out, because of the amount of road walking required to get to the places where I was happy to do our trot work (in shorter bursts). That continued as I added the canter work. By which point he was actually one of the fittest horses on the yard in terms of being able to keep chugging along at a steady pace, without tiring (different kettle of fish to shorter bursts of higher intensity stuff).

I competed on a 14.2 middle aged cob and he loved it. He was never going to be speedy... but we got to the point where we could chug along in a steady trot for hours. Our average speed was around he 9/9.5kmph mark (well usually a little higher but I often got lost so had to double back!).

I did a few rides with other people (as above, I posted on one of the FB pages and several kind people offered to ride with me), but once I had done a few I decided to ride on my own (if I didn't know anyone else going), because it was easier than trying to match pace with others- eg a few times you'd end up riding alongside someone and having a nice chat BUT often I found that Arabs in particular had a much bigger natural trot. If he tried to keep up with them it wasn't his natural pace, he'd end up rushing and on the forehand. So it was better for us to let others peel off and continue alone. His natural trot wasn't as big as theirs so I found for him, he was comfortable doing more in trot (only walking where necessary for the conditions) at a slower pace, than mixing up more walk with faster trot/lots and lots of canter.

I got a real sense of achievement and connection with my pony from it- when we started he had barely done any hacking alone (he was initially my child's first pony so always went outing company, and then we were on a busy yard so always went out as a group). He went from just about being able to hack alone somewhere local, to being able to go out for 32km having horses overtake/or overtake himself, have other horses being 'spicy' around him and keeping his head, on one ride we even came across and caught a loose horse after a fall. It really improved both our confidences. The plan had been to get up to 50km this year... as expected plans and horses don't always pan out.

For those interested, I would definitely recommend joining the Facebook pages, and perhaps also contacting either Maggie Patterson or Esther Groen (depending on your location). I have done several training sessions in person with Maggie and some of Esther's online training sessions.

 

[EstherYoung]

To pick up on a few points:
- There were all shapes and sizes of horse at Dragon. Endurance in the UK is very much horses for courses, and a good dose of native blood will help with hills and bad weather It's no accident that the further north you go, the more natives you see.
- Do not underestimate natives. Ok they may not be your mount of choice of your aim is ridiculous speeds, but if you want a sound workhorse who will come out time after time after time over tough terrain for years, then they are built for the job, and it's good for them as it keeps them in shape. Last time I looked I think about 40% of the top 20 highest lifetime mileage horses in the UK were either native or native X. Welsh and Connemara do particularly well. An overheight Connemara was UK supreme champion twice.
- I do love my Arabs, but not all Arabs are created equal, and not all of them are any good at endurance. One of ours liked endurance very much on his own terms, and if he didn't like the ride or the weather he'd call t'union. He quite liked multi days - coming out day after day for shorter rides rather than doing it all in one go. Anything more than that was far too efforty in his eyes.

 

[Cloball]

I've a friend that does a fair bit with her tank of an ID cross up to 64km I think.

I've volunteered at my local ride and it was very friendly and welcoming. Lots of coloured cobs, standies, Welsh as well as Arabs. I see it as a way of riding nice places there's so many rides I fancy but no transport. I'd definitely have to work on the fitness though as D never says no so there's a risk of overdoing it.

 

[Flame_]

I don't really understand why endurance isn't more popular. As a teenager I used to cadge lifts off anyone going out doing something other than dressage or showing. Later, when I was struggling with my back jumping, and tiring of sports horse dramas, ailments and disappointments, I needed somewhere to go that still wasn't dressage or showing and I remembered how much I'd enjoyed the pleasure rides I'd gone on when a lady from my yard had been kind enough to take me as side-kick. I also wished I could ride a Flame again. She was a really whizzy arab x welsh. So I decided to head in the direction of endurance. A wrong sports horse and 2 arabs later, I'd say I about qualify as a mid-level rider, mainly doing 40something km graded rides and managed my first 2 day this summer.

It is something more people ought to have a go at. I think people assume that there's going to be loads more technical stuff to it than just "riding a horse pretty/ really far", but that is absolutely all there is to it at the start and you learn the rest as you go along. It's fine to ride on your own too, I usually ride on my own.

 

[Haniki]

I used to ride for someone who had several endurance horses, none of whom were Arabs. Her main horse, part thoroughbred, was one of the best of her era, having been part of the team which won at the World Equestrian games. She also completed several 100 mile rides.
This was before the Arab nations became involved. I never saw any cruelty and the horses were treated very well. Because of this they were able to complete for many years. They were not treated as disposable
Some of you , the oldies may remember this horse, Showgirl 2. who was ridden mainly by Liz Finney

A local dairy farmer’s wife was in the team that won in Stockholm in 1990 - Lilla Wall, was her name she rode a horse called Alfie. She gave a talk to my riding club, I think Alfie was part Welsh.
I did a few Bronze Buckle qualifiers and some pleasure rides on a small TB back in the 1990s. In those days there were two governing bodies, with slightly different rules.

 

[Ruftys mum]

My experience of endurance was back in the 80s.....it was a 20km ride called a Bronze Buckle? I did a couple as a by product of getting my then eventer fit for three and four star (although never actually competed at the latter). I was in Warwickshire at the time and I remember getting talked into doing one starting from Monks Kirby - there was a lady in the village who was 'big' in endurance at the time who press ganged me into it. I also remember Liz Finney.....was the horse mentioned a grey??

Kali was a 16 h bay. I did the bronze buckle and the silver stirrup on her. I used to crew for her in the bigger events and ride her a couple of times a week .
Kali's owner also had a grey called Tosca

 

[silv]

Where I used to live had a great Trail riding and Endurance Club with monthly rides, the 25km rides were mostly non competitive and riders used to turn up on all sorts of horses. The aim really was to enjoy riding in different countryside/terrain plus it was pretty social. Just a lovely day out. I took whichever horse I had at the time including my dressage/show warmbloods. On the 80k rides it would be competitive with serious endurance riders on mostly Arabs. Standardbreds were also very popular as they tend to have great heart rates, good feet and stay sound. The vetting pre, during and at the end of the ride was very strict and I never saw any distressed horses.