Life for an endurance horse-questions

[3rottenponies]

I have a young horse in my barn that I am marketing for sale. I recently received an inquiry from an eventer-turned-endurance rider who is in search of her next endurance horse. She really likes the looks of my gelding.

I realize everyone’s situation will not be the same, but am curious as to how everyone keeps their endurance horses. Is it whatever makes them happy? or in a certain amount of time, out a certain amount of time. What about diet? What about eating during a ride, and that sort of thing?

I think this horse could make a nice endurance horse. He is sensible and enjoys being out on the trail. Does not get super stressed in new situations.

He did have ulcer problems a few years ago due to being shown heavily(no down time just to be a horse) and then moving on to another new place, where he was fed 3 flakes of alfalfa a day, turned out between 1-3 hours a day a few days a week, worked as there was time. He did NOT do well in that environment.

He is thriving in my barn, where he is in all night and out all day with a buddy. Has access to a nice coastal all of the time, and peanut hay at night, soaked alfalfa cubes & senior 2x a day with smartdigest ultra. I have had no issues with him in the time he has been with me.

This woman is really hot to trot about him, and does not seem concerned about his past ulcer issues, so I am going to let her come and try him, but I wanted to sort of see what people do with their ‘kids’. I am a dressage/sporthorse person, so endurance is not my thing! Any input is appreciated!

[Quelah]

I’m in Northern California, so YMMV, but most of the endurance people I know (my nearest neighbor and small animal vet won the Tevis Cup years back) keep their horses outside in pasture 24/7 or close to it. Pasture here generally means dry lot with hay to some degree. My vet takes awesome care of her horses, they generally don’t look much different after a ride (well, the 24-48 hours later when I see them back out in pasture) even a long one. I can’t say that about the majority of endurance riders, it’s not a sport I’d want to sell a horse into unless the owner was an exceptional individual and not planning on doing long rides. JMO.

[irish_horse]

Also in Northern California, and I’ll echo some of Quelah’s thoughts: my horse lives out 24/7, free choice hay, not over-training. But I’m not that competitive, 2-4 rides a year, otherwise a good trail and camping horse. I know many riders, easily 95% I would sell a horse to.

I think many horses are kept like this. But there are some highly competitive people who do many more rides, which is harder on a horse, BUT with great care, all the vet checks, can be no problem. Just like any highly competitive discipline, some put horses first, some the people/prestige. I’d check references, ask about any other horses, and maybe check her competition record (if she has one).

[kelo]

There are always individuals with different priorities, but in my experience, the everyday endurance riders I’ve met have a significantly higher level of care than your average everyday rider. I mean, they have to by dint of their sport. The horses have to be sound and happy to go on down the trail, and the riders know their horse like the back of their hand to keep them that way. Plus the horses tend to get to live outside (which most horses prefer), aren’t nitpicked and rollkured when ridden, and are fit and healthy (vs morbidly obese).

FEI endurance is a whole 'nother story.

[tabula_rashah]

[QUOTE=kelo;8511945]
There are always individuals with different priorities, but in my experience, the everyday endurance riders I’ve met have a significantly higher level of care than your average everyday rider. I mean, they have to by dint of their sport. The horses have to be sound and happy to go on down the trail, and the riders know their horse like the back of their hand to keep them that way. Plus the horses tend to get to live outside (which most horses prefer), aren’t nitpicked and rollkured when ridden, and are fit and healthy (vs morbidly obese).

FEI endurance is a whole 'nother story.[/QUOTE]

Definitely!
Obviously there are individual situations but I would choose an endurance home over any other discipline home for any horse I was selling. As a whole, I think endurance riders are much more ready to do what’s right and what works for the horse, rather than just to do something because tradition dictates it. I’ve seen lots of horses pass FEI jogs/ vetting in dressage and eventing that wouldn’t be allowed to start or continue in an endurance ride- it’s the nature of the beast that the majority of endurance riders take excellent care of their horses.

[kasjordan]

[QUOTE=tabula rashah;8512030]
Definitely!
Obviously there are individual situations but I would choose an endurance home over any other discipline home for any horse I was selling. [/QUOTE]
Except when you have a dorky black TWH that wants to live in my backyard and get fat and lazy and be spoiled

[tabula_rashah]

[QUOTE=kasjordan;8512470]
Except when you have a dorky black TWH that wants to live in my backyard and get fat and lazy and be spoiled :-)[/QUOTE]

Very true Could you see him as an endurance horse? LMAO! He got the best home ever with you!!!

[3rottenponies]

Thank you all so much for chiming in!!

Ok, I’m feeling pretty good about this, as long as they mesh of course. I do know several people who know this woman, and she has checked out in those regards.

She DOES apparently have her eye on the FEI stuff, and may have already done some of that. I am not sure about competition records with endurance. Where would one look for those?

I have heard some bad things about FEI endurance, but being that all sports, and especially at that level, have their issues, I haven’t been sure what to think. That said, I am not sure that this horse will be THAT caliber of horse when it comes to endurance. Then again, one never knows, I suppose.

[Lieselotte]

What breed horse do you have, OP? Some things you said about the potential buyer make me think she is actually not that experienced but obviously I have little to go by…
You can look up her record at aerc.org, our governing body, under “Records” and if she is not in there, she has never actually competed in a sanctioned Endurance ride.

If she does have a record, how long has she been competing? Look at her completion rate and how many horses she has ridden. Any of them for more multiple seasons? If not, I would ask her about that. I don’t like seeing riders with a big number of horses on their record and none of them lasted more than a season or two. If her completion rate is spotty, ask about that as well.

You can also look up her FEI record if she has one, that is public as well. If she indeed rides at that level, your horse must be really special. For that level, you want to start with an exceptionally talented athletic horse that is super healthy and has no known issues, metabolic or otherwise. FEI is a whole other world, even within the U.S. endurance community, and these horses need to be especially well taken care off, trained and fed, to keep up with the demands.

My own horse just turned 18 and has been doing Endurance for seven seasons straight. She is an amazing mare but also lives on hilly 80 acres which I think has been crucial to her longevity and overall fitness. If the potential buyer does not have any access to pasture, even small, I would not sell. I would also not sell if you don’t get the feeling that she knows what she is doing. It is very easy to “break” a horse in its first season and unfortunately I have seen it again and again.

[3rottenponies]

18! Wow. That is wonderful.

Well, you must remember too that I don’t know very much about endurance too, so she might sound that much more green!

The horse is a purebred Arab. Coming 7, Al Marah bred, very correct and sporty. The AERC site is much easier to navigate than AHA’s! It is a breath of fresh air in comparison. Ok, so she has a number of horses that she has competed on, but I know that she does not own an endurance horse(she leases from a lady who manages a lot of rides & shows down here and also breeds her own horses). If I click on each of the horses’ names, I see that they are all still competing at this time. Completion rate is good. One ride over time, one rider option and one for lameness. As far as finishing goes, she seems to finish middle of the pack very consistently and then the rest of the time in the top 10. The week before she called me about him, she was overseas riding, but I do not see that here. I do know that she has her own place with barn, pasture, and riding facilities, as she still does some eventing training.

It is definitely the potential breaking of the horse that I would be concerned about. I know it could happen with anyone, and doing anything, but I think I am having more hesitation about this(endurance) than I would about if a dressage or HJ person came to look at him, because at least in those disciplines I know the game and I also have a list of people he will not be sold to. With this gal not having made an endurance horse yet, so to speak, that is slightly intimidating. I suppose I could call up the woman she has leased horses from and see what she thinks about the rider on the whole, too.

[Stushica]

Here is where you can look up her record. http://aerc.org/rpts/RHistory.aspx I would look for pulls… especially metabolic pulls.

I don’t think the same horse shows up on my (short) record twice because I catch ride for rides, but you can also see if she owns the horses of if they’re registered with a different owner for AERC to see if she’s switching up horses all of the time.

All of our endurance horses are out 24/7 and receive careful farrier care and excellent vet care to make sure they aren’t just fit but feel well to do the distance. You can get by with an “eh” fitting saddle for a dressage test but not a 25, 50, or 100 mile ride. Plus if she’s from an eventing background I would feel fairly confident that she’s been taught correct horse keeping. As far as FEI goes for all of the bad press it get’s they have extremely strict vetting procedures, even more-so than AERC, at least in the states so you know the horse is sound and fit to start before being ridden. Additionally, FEI may be more competitive but they do have a rating system like other disciplines that won’t allow the horse to move up in speed/ levels without being certified at a lower distance/ speed, and they have to have so many AERC miles before even being qualifiable to start in an FEI ride.

As far as his ulcers go, they (AERC) are attempting to implement rules regarding the use of drugs like omeprazol so that horses with ulcers are not being competed and given appropriate time to heal. Currently they are allowed 1 or 1.1 mg/kg which would be a preventative dose but not the 4mg/kg needed for treatment… if tested. (correct me if I’m wrong) Plus, as an endurance rider I would rather ride a horse not ulcering because I want them to eat well and be comfortable. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t buy one with a past history because they’re all susceptible, and if I know they’re prone I can take the steps to prevent.

[Stushica]

oops, we posted at the same time!

Checking references is never bad in any discipline, but it sounds like she has a pretty nice set up I’d really want to see her riding (as with any discipline). It’s not totally uncommon to see 16, 17,…, 21 year old horses still doing endurance I’m hoping my mare will still be with me in that many years!