The Anatomy of an Endurance Ride

Everything I do to prepare for a ride is geared toward preparing myself and my horse to cope with the environment of an endurance ride.  I expect there are people who will read this blog and wonder, what the heck is an endurance ride, anyway?  How does it work?  In anticipation of the sort of questions that inevitably arise when I talk about my chosen sport, I will now describe the sport of endurance riding.

Most rides are one-day events.  There are also multi-day events, but I won't go into that here.  There are two types of rides recognized by the American Endurance Ride Conference: Endurance, and Limited Distance.  Endurance is a ride of 50 to 100 miles in length.  Limited Distance is a ride of 25 to 35 miles in length.

Rides must be completed within a prescribed time.  For every five miles of distance ridden, there is one hour and fifteen minutes of time.  So, a 25 mile ride must be completed in 6 hours.  A 30 mile ride must be completed in 7 hours, 15 minutes.  50 mile rides get 12 hours.  55 mile rides get 13 hours, 15 minutes.  And so on. 

Horses are presented to a veterinarian judge prior to the ride.  The judge will inspect the horse, checking heart rate, gut sounds, gum color, jugular refill, skin tent, and gait.  Horses must pass this initial inspection in order to participate in the ride.  Vets generally expect the horse to score well on the initial inspection.  It is very rare for a horse to fail the initial inspection, but it happens, usually due to lameness.  Scores are given as A, B, C, and fail.  Anything below a C will result in the horse not being allowed to start, pulled from the ride, or denied completion.

 Hoss tears up the trail in a trot race with three other horses on the first loop of Git-R-Done.  Photo by Merri Melde





During the ride, all horses will be inspected at vet checks.  All rides of 50 miles or less must have at least one vet check.  Some rides will have more.  Many vets like to have vet checks at between 12 and 15 mile intervals.  There is no mention of how many vet checks are required, only that checks are required.

All horses must meet set “pulse criteria” during and after the ride.  This means that, when checked at all vet checks, and at the finish, the horse’s heart rate must come down to a set criteria within one half hour of having entered the vet check or crossed the finish line.

  

 

Hoss is inspected by veterinarian Dr. Mike Tomlinson at the Git-R-Done ride.  Photo by Merri Melde








Once the horse’s heart rate has met criteria, the hold time starts.  This time is generally from 20 to 60 minutes.  Endurance rides often have three holds, the first being 20 minutes, the second being 60 minutes, the last being 20 minutes.  Limited Distance rides typically have 30 minute holds, although I have seen a hold of 60 minutes for one Limited Distance ride.

 Valerie and Hoss leave the final vet check at Git-R-Done.  Photo by Merri Melde








During the hold, the horse must be presented to a vet for inspection.  All the same criteria are checked and judged as at the entry inspection.  The horse must be judged “fit to continue” in order to be allowed to continue on the ride.  Also during the hold time, the horse has a chance to eat, drink, and rest before heading down the trail again.

At the finish, the horse must once more present within pulse criteria within one half hour of crossing the finish line.  Endurance riders have one hour from crossing the finish line to present their horses for final inspection, but may do so at any time after finishing.  Limited Distance riders have a slightly different finish line.  Rather than their finish time being when they cross, their finish time is when the horse’s heart rate has come down to criteria.  At that  point, the clock stops and they have their finish time.  They have one half hour from this point to present their horse for final inspection.

At final inspection, all parameters are again checked, and the horse must be judged fit to continue in order to get a completion.  Since the horse isn’t actually going to be continuing on at this point, the parameters are somewhat relaxed.

That, in as small a nutshell as I can put it in, is how an endurance ride works!