We are going to try to do a limited distance ride this Feb. Any tips or hints you can give? We competed in CDE’s years ago, so I have a basic understanding of how things work.
We have well fitted tack, and we have trail ridden a lot for hours on end and in chalenging terrain.
This ride will be in S. GA, so my guess is it will be fairly flat
Call the Ride Manager, who will be listed on the ride flyer. Ask them specifics about footing, vet check locations (in camp - out of camp), parking and camping arrangements (really tight - restrictions on pen size - get here early if you expect to park, etc…) and be sure to let them know you are brand new and it is your first ride. They should do everything possible to ensure you have a great first experience!
At the first ride I ever attended, the Ride Manager met me as I pulled in, she helped me park, and told me where everything was in camp. She checked on me a few times to make sure I was ok. Definitely don’t be afraid to tell them this is your first ride! They will alert other riders, who will look out for you on trail and will help you in camp.
Have you read the articles at www.aerc.org? Click on the EDUCATION tab at the left side and read everything you can there.
My first couple of rides taught me a few things:
Endurance is different from other disciplines, in that you will be on the SAME course at the SAME time with FEI world class riders, on seasoned 100 mile horses. It’s not like dressage where the Training level riders are together, and the Grand Prix riders are together…everybody is out there on the same trail at the same time. Sure, start times are staggered, but especially if you’re riding loops, you might be meeting 50 or 100 milers on the trail, or they might be going out on their next loop while you’re coming back into camp. I have been passed by horses at a dead gallop, racing for a finish. Nobody likes to think of endurance in this context, but it DOES happen and you need to be prepared for it.
There will be stallions at the ride, and my experience is that they are VERY very well behaved. But if you ride a mare, make sure your mare is well trained to listen to your cues if you end up in the vet line next to a stallion.
Be aware ahead of time if there will be CARTS at the ride. Make sure your horse can meet a cart in the trail or be passed by a cart safely. And don’t be afraid to tell the driver your horse is brand new and afraid. The best thing to do is to get your horse behind the cart and let them trot or “chase” after it for a short bit so they feel they have the power and confidence to move the cart. I was dumped and drug when we met a cart head on around a corner. I was NOT prepared. My horse had never seen a horse pulling a cart before, and I entered an LD where there was a Competitive Drive. Dumb. Really really dumb. I learned my lesson the hard way.
I think it’s great to ride with a buddy if you can. Someone who agrees to stick with you the whole ride and help you get through vet checks. Ask the Ride Manager if there might be a mentor who would be willing to take you under their wing. I had 3 different mentors who taught me about pacing, vetting, and camping. Great people.
Just remember to have fun, and relax, and enjoy the whole experience! One ride and you’l be hooked. Sure you have to prepare for some potentially hairy experiences, but you have to do that with ANY discipline! (Will the dressage ring be located next to a cow pasture…will someone fire up a tractor next to the hunter warm up ring…)
Around here, we have a couple of rides that offer ONLY the 25 mile distance because the trail is short. If you can find something like that, that’s a GREAT place to start.
Also, definitely attend a ride or two and volunteer, or just hang out. Just see how everything works first. Take your horse trailer and camp by yourself, or even go ahead and take your horse, but don’t compete. Just practice camping with your horse, and riding him around camp. Let him see all the colorful tack and spandex, and horses trotting past him as they warm up. That way you can ease him, and yourself, into it slowly.
That was a great explanation of what to expect A2. I’m thinking of doing a LD ride next summer/fall also. I appreciated all the info too!
My future endurance horse just got his first backing yesterday at my trainers but he’s so smart and easy, I expect to have him out on the trails in a month or two at most. He’s old enough to do LD rides (4) but just needs miles now and experience. We trail rode and camped this past summer so I’m fortunate to at least be familiar with that part.
I’m looking forward to trying this sport as I’m ready to get out of the arena and have some fun! My husband may also try a competition with his gelding.
I thought your point about having a horse comfortable to folks coming up at them at speed to be a HUGE issue also and a very good point. A good way to get a horse used to that might be going to some fun shows and hanging out in the warm up arena area and then eventually riding in there while others pass you in both directions at all speeds.
I was really worried that people might think I was describing endurance riders as crazy, dangerous racing fools and that most definitely was NOT what I was trying to say 
It is just one of those things that did take me by surprise, and it was something I didn’t plan for or train for. Like I said though, everyone was SUPER incredibly nice, helpful, and kind. The moment they saw my horse leaping and spinning on her back feet, they would come to a halt and ask if they could help, or if I needed anything. Endurance riders would never purposely put someone in a bad or dangerous situation. But it’s just a fact that people are out there racing, and you can come around a bend in the trail and meet one of them traveling at an extended trot, or huge canter.
If I had everything to do all over again, I would have practiced this at home before going to a ride. Work on a curvy trail with a friend and practice trotting at each other and passing left side to left side at a slow jog, then move it up to a faster trot. Practice cantering past each other, and up behind each other in a safe stretch of trail. I could have saved myself a few gray hairs if I’d had the forethought to work on this at home.
There are some top FEI riders in my region, one of them represented the U.S. Endurance team in Malaysia. When you’re on trail with these top riders, they are very respectful and cautious but they are also driven and out for points and wins. The very best scenario would be for the newbie horses to be well trained in being passed at speed so the top riders could cruise on without any incident. They definitely will slow down or stop so you can maintain control of your horse, but obviously it’s better for everyone involved if that’s not necessary in the first place
There is also good information at: http://www.endurance.net/browse/
Here is an article for new riders at AERC: http://www.aerc.org/New%20Rider%20Info.htm
Nancy Lovings’ book Go the Distance is a great resource. You can buy the paperback version at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1570763429/sr=/qid=/ref=olp_pg_new?ie=UTF8&coliid=&startIndex=0&me=&qid=&sr=&seller=&colid=&condition=new
Have a great time! Take your time, have fun, and don’t worry if you are the turtles (last riders in). Some rides have a turtle award, and people compete for that!
Ask the vet lots of questions. They are there all day, and as long as they are not super busy they should be happy to help you and answer vet related questions.
Another thing that people are often not prepared for is hauling their own water from home.Ride manager’s can’t always have troughs full of water in camp well ahead of time. I’ve been to numerous rides where the tanks don’t get filled until Friday evening. Bring plenty of water along from home so you aren’t begging water off the neighbors. Also, your horse may not want to drink the unfamiliar water.
chicamuxen
That’s a great point I forgot about chicamux, thanks! If you don’t have a tank for your truck or trailer, you can buy 5 gallon buckets at most farm stores with screw on lids. I carry about 20 gallons per horse, even if camp is supposed to have running water, just in case. It’s good to have water from home that’s familiar, anyway.
Another thing I forgot is teaching horses to eat wet food. Not a huge issue on a 25 I suppose, but if they will readily eat soaked beet pulp and wet pellets and grain at home, that’s a great way to get more water in their gutt at a ride.
Neat info! I hope to try a LD ride someday, if I can ever arrange a ride to one (closest I can find is a 4 hour haul away 
)
Saw what you’d mentioned about carrying water. One thing a gal I knew would do at horse trials was to use a couple of plastic gasoline type cans for carrying water–gave you a handy carrying spout, handle, and doesn’t splash as much as a bucket
I bought a new muck bucket that I have started taking with me and putting the water into the muck bucket in the paddock. I read a study showing that horses tend to drink more freely and deeply from large, open containers rather than in 5 gallon buckets. And I admit that I have noticed a major increase in water consumption since I went to the muck bucket. So for me, pouring and splashing from the 5 gallon buckets isn’t a big deal, since I’m pouring into the big muck tub. When I need water for beet pulp, I just scoop out of the muck tub.
No I never thought endurance people are wild or anything. I know Pandoraxx personally. She boarded here at my place for a while and is very professional and a great horsewoman. I am now friends with an FEI rider from NC who is going to help me get started and I’ve been very impressed with her also. I come from an eventing background so I’m used to horses running all around but generally you are on course alone or staggered in time so you don’t have to deal with horses running up on you unless you get into trouble or get held up for some reason.
I had not thought of water an at endurance ride but that is a good point. We have water tanks on our trailer but only about 50 gallons and that has to be used for humans also. It’s a LQ trailer. We might well carry some extra water also just in case. When we hauled out to Wyoming we put a 60 gallon tank in the pickup right behind the cab and filled it at some friend’s ranch in S. Dakota. We were uncertain of the water situation where we were going and I’m glad we did it as we would have had to share water out of a tank with dozens of strange horses. Nope…not wanting to do that!
If you do an endurance or LD ride though, you will have to. Out on trail, there will be water tanks, unless you’re lucky enough to have natural water sources. That is going to be rare if you live out West. Even here in the Midwest, where lakes, rivers, and streams are abundant, rides often have no natural water crossings and you’re drinking out of tanks. You would never want to deny your horse a water stop, so that means they have to drink out of the same tank that 60 other horses drank out of. Endurance people are so cautious though about bringing only healthy horses to rides. Yes it does worry me to some extent anyway, but short of just not competing, there isn’t much I can do about it.
Actually - if you had a crew, and the ride had good road crossings, accessible to crews, you could have your crew meet you at key points with your own water. That would be a good way to eliminate drinking from public tanks. On an LD you would be far more likely to be successful at this, but sometimes loops for the longer rides can be 17 miles with no road crossing or crewing access point.
If a person were REALLY twitchy about sharing water with other horses, you could carefully select only rides with good crew access points, and that would be a good solution.
Thanks for clarifying that A2. I’m not fixated about only using my own water versus sharing a tank with strange horses, but I try to do that when I can. I understand that sometimes I might not have a choice and I most definitely want to keep my horse hydrated.
In the case of the Wyoming trip it was a group of people I was not sure of from all over the US and on a ranch where I had even less confidence in their standards.
I definitely agree with you - if I have a choice, I will use my own water. If I’m walking my horse through camp, and she wants to stop at the community water tank, I’ll make her wait and drink her own water back at the trailer.
We do a lot of camping and riding that isn’t endurance, and I definitely don’t want the horses to drink from public water sources at those! They often put up tanks around camp and they have a water truck that drives around keeping them full.
I have no idea what kind of standards these general horse campers have, and they may not be as educated about horse health as people who compete. I know that sounds bad and I don’t mean it to, but you know what I mean. Some of these public trail rides are where you see the 400 lb woman riding the 14 hand pony, and the foundered lame ones toting toddlers around without helmets, and the grazing bit flipped upside down, and every other manner of wackos you can imagine.
Great info. Mine should do OK with horses passing at speed, the pony I ride will get out of the way. Buggies they have seen, not enough to be really comfy with though.
I need to teach them to move faster than a walk on a leadline.
We will be on geldings, and we ride with a lot of stallions so we shouldn’t have issues there. Our tack is well fitted
Currently mine do not get grain, can I give them wet hay cubes instead of beat pulp? No crew. My husband & I, if one gets pulled we are prepared for the other to go on. The camping stuff we have done so that shouldn’t be an issue.
This sounds like fun
You might want to watch video footage of the Haggin Cup competition at Tevis. Those videos show top competitors trotting their horses out. I need to take my own advice, LOL. One thing that works well with my horse: I hold onto the lead rope several feet away from his halter. I do NOT hold onto the rope near the halter. I just take off jogging, and I don’t look at him. I get a much better trot out that way. I’m not yanking on his head, making him look off, and he is moving freely. I don’t turn to look at him, because I will trip or run unevenly, causing him to be uneven. I haven’t competed in a while, but we won a couple of Best Conditions after I changed the way I was trotting him out.
The trot out is something to master. My Paso truly sucks at it. :lol: My Arab is awesome. Using a little dressage whip to reach around your left side and tap them with really helps. Or having a helper to tap them with a longe whip.
Standing still for a vet exam is important also. The vet has to be able to use a stethescope on both sides of the abdomen, check gums and anal tone. A pulse taker will get your heart rate. Vet will check heart rate again after your trot out.
And remember to HAVE FUN! I never remember to smile at the photographer. LOL
Thanks for all the info! I am riding in a 25 mile ride February - the Airport Express - in Humble, TX. I am not so worried about my horse as I am about me making it. I have never rode 25 miles at once but I am working on it.
A friend and I are training together and I think we need to work on that “galloping” or trotting by issue. 
We do have a place where we can train around corners.
We have camped many times with our horses so I am not worried about that. Biscuit is a happy camper - but we did learn to separate them totally for eating - we had a little dust up when we camped the weekend before Christmas to work on our training:uhoh:
I am having a trainer work with my gelding on the trot out. I recently had knee surgery and am not very good at trotting myself at this time so she is working with him. I know that this is very important so I am hoping he gets better at it!
We will be riding Paso’s. I know how to trot out a horse. I used to compete in hunter in hand with some Appy’s. I just haven’t had the need with the Paso’s. I’m much older & slower now too:lol: Kind of hard to get a Paso to trot out, but they can gait in hand if we teach them
We know about hauling water, preparing for camping etc. We have done a lot of that in the past.
I think the best new advice so far is to tell them we are new at this. And buckets.Seems when we were doing CDE’s we never had enough. I’ll find out about the camp and how it is set up. I’m pretty sure it is primitive. We will be in a tent, but a friend attending will have a LQ that we can shower in.
We have done Ranch sorting, so I know the boy I’m riding will NOT chase them. So far he doesn’t know he is superior to a hamburger on the hoof.
I think I have been on some of those rides Adventura. We have experience with people going by balls to the wall. My pony will get out of the way, until he is tied up next to them. Then he will not let them bully him.
I’m taking notes. I’ll try to pick up that book too. By the time I get to teh ride I will know enough to be dangerous:yes:
[QUOTE=pnalley;6044657]
We are going to try to do a limited distance ride this Feb. Any tips or hints you can give? We competed in CDE’s years ago, so I have a basic understanding of how things work.
We have well fitted tack, and we have trail ridden a lot for hours on end and in chalenging terrain.
This ride will be in S. GA, so my guess is it will be fairly flat[/QUOTE]
For all you need to know about endurance and LD - read this. :)
pnally,
That ride is a good one for a first one. It is mostly flat as they use the local clay roads for some of the loops. There is one loop of the 2 for the LD that you’ll likely ride that is in the woods and has some minor ups and downs but really minor. It’s a fun loop because it’s not on the flat clay roads and has lots of twists and turns. There will be a first time riders meeting after the main ride meeting so be sure to take advantage of that and ask questions.
There will be likely be other Paso riders there. Our SE vets are well versed in gaited horse movement thanks to the numbers who compete on gaited horses of various breeds.
Have fun! Wish I could be there but Uncle Sam gets that weekend. Watch the weather as that ride seems to attract very cold or very wet!
Debbie
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
