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Quality Arabians bred for Endurance

2023 Land of the Sun Ride - Kandace Contreras

WEC: Endurance, the gender and age friendly horse sport

Australia: TQ 2023 up and running

10 Horse Sales Fraud Warning Signs

2023 Hokey Pokey - Maria Phillips

129 Athletes representing 37 Nations gear up for the ultimate prize in Endurance Riding

Canada’s Robert Gielen to Ride in 4th World Championship

2023 Hokey Pokey photos by Maria Phillips

On winning an endurance ride (Road to Tevis # 83) - Jessica Black

2023 Broxton Bridge photos by Becky Pearman

Winter Drinking Water Temperature

The Wildest Kind of Trail Running You’ve Never Heard Of

Australia: There’s nothing standard about these versatile ex-racehorses

Race Report: An Endurance Rider on the Run at Wilson Creek Frozen

Fire Mountain 3 day ride, January 13/15, 2023 - Nick Warhol

The world’s toughest pony? Film tells inspiring story of history-making duo

MORE NEWS...

2023 Land of the Sun Ride - Kandace Contreras

February 6 2023 by Kandace French Contreras

One of my favorite Endurance Rides and I love Boyd Ranch. It’s such a great venue. I was excited to ride back-to-back 30 mile rides Saturday and Sunday.

Catherine Peterson and I arrived Friday and checked in Yankee, Frosty and Scarlett for Sabrina Liska, who was arriving later. All the horses looked fab and Yankee was his normal rocket. Yankee is barefoot and wears boots on the front but abhors ANYTHING on his back legs for any period of time so he’s bare in the back. (I have a past dislocated hip and helicopter ride to show for it) But he’s worn his rear hooves down to nothing so it was boot the backs or don’t play. I told him he had to deal with it. I applied plenty of Mueller tape, boots and duct tape and felt good about our ride.

Saturday was perfect. All three ponies loved and acted fantastic. Scarlett led the way all day. Yankee was more manageable being behind Scarlett and Frosty was, well, just Frosty. Always perfect. The terrain was challenging. Lots of rocks and miles of deep sand. The ponies trotted, gaited and cantered along beautifully. Strong and powerful. Yankee wasn’t drinking like I knew he needed but was otherwise a powerhouse. And he was tolerable of the rear boots.

About 4 miles from the finish of the 1st loop, Frosty pulled off one of his front composite shoes. 😬 Bad news since has has very thin soles. But Cathy nurses him through the rocky trail and we got through the 1st loop. All three horses vetted right in and went to the trailer where the ate like monsters! Catherine fit Frosty with a spare boot and off we went for our last loop!

Frosty held his own but Cathy could tell he was tender in the rocks even with a boot. We had the opportunity to canter in the sand but had to ease through the rocks and took our time, averaging about 5.4 mph. We knew it would be close to cut off but we should make it in time. Better a sound horse late than a lame horse on time, we were doing great and still having a great ride on Crocket’s Crested Loop, enjoying our horses, each other and the spectacular scenery.

Read the rest at:
https://thehorse.com/18928/10-horse-sales-fraud-warning-signs/

2023 Hokey Pokey - Maria Phillips

January 30 2023
by Maria Phillips
photo by Harrison Phillips

Now that I have posted the ride photos from the Hokey Pokey, I can finally share my own ride pics and give a run down on my return to distance riding after a 4 year hiatus.

I haven't done a 50 in 6 years and I haven't done a 25 in 4 years. (Primarily due to retiring my 50 mile paso mare and spending years finding two young replacements and then growing afore mentioned replacements.) This past weekend was my very much anticipated return to the sport. It would be my first ride in 4 years, my first ride since my mastectomy and my debilitating Meniere's diagnosis (a balance destroying inner ear disorder that damages hearing and the vestibular system...permanently).

This was also the debut ride for my 7yr old buckskin paso mare Zorra. She was saddle broke at 5 and was lightly ridden up until last summer. She started her long slow distance conditioning in earnest during the worst of the summer heat. We walked and walked and walked. 15 to 30 miles a week walking...All summer. In the fall I was happy with her base level of LSD and started slowly working on her cardio fitness. She was still doing 15-30 miles a week but I carefully started increasing her avg speed. By January we were doing 18-20 mile rides at an avg speed of 5.5 to 6mph. Not setting any speed records but enough to finish within time cut offs. It was then time to start winding down on conditioning and letting her rest before her first 25 on the 28th.

Her rest period also coincide with when I was having my peak Meniere's flare up and spent many days very dizzy or having a complete vestibular melt down and puking in buckets for hours until my heavy hitting medication sedated me enough to sleep through it. I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to race this season at all…

Read the rest at:
http://stories.endurance.net/2023/02/2023-hokey-pokey-maria-phillips.html

129 Athletes representing 37 Nations gear up for the ultimate prize in Endurance Riding

FEI.org

31 January 2023
Author: FEI Communications

With less than a month to go before the world’s best equine and human athletes gather in Butheeb (UAE) for the FEI Endurance World Championship 2022, the line-up has been confirmed with 129 combinations representing 37 nations ready to challenge for the 2022 individual and team world titles on Saturday 25 February 2023.

The 18th edition of the FEI Endurance World Championship, first held in 1986, boasts a remarkably gender balanced field of participants, with 63 female and 66 male athletes entered, and an equally impressive diversity in age range of the participants with 55 years separating youngest and first time World Championship competitor, 18-year-old Constanza Pacheco Diaz (ARG) from Canada’s 73-year old Robert Gielen, who will be taking part in his fourth World Championship!

With numbers reminiscent of pre-covid times, the Championship will see 24 teams compete for the team title, which the Spanish have held firmly within their grip since the World Championship in Caen (FRA) in 2014.

For Spain, a fourth consecutive title would set a new record in the sport, but they will face plenty of opposition from other teams vying the top spot, such as Brazil and France – silver and bronze medallists at the World Championship in Pisa (ITA) in 2021 - as well as other former medallists including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bahrain, Qatar and host nation UAE, the only other country to boast three consecutive world titles, which they achieved from 2008 to 2012...

Read the rest here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/UAE/2022WorldEnduranceChampionship/

Canada’s Robert Gielen to Ride in 4th World Championship

Salem Hamad Saeed Al Kitbi (UAE), with his horse Haleh in Pisa during the Longines FEI Endurance World Championship in May 2021. (Christophe Tanière/FEI)

HorseSport.com - Full Article

At 73 years old ‒ the oldest competitor in the event ‒ Gielen will ride the 160km endurance track aboard More Bang For Your Buck.

By: FEI Communications | January 31, 2023

With less than a month to go before the world’s best equine and human athletes gather in Butheeb (UAE) for the FEI Endurance World Championship 2022, the line-up has been confirmed with 129 combinations representing 37 nations ready to challenge for the 2022 individual and team world titles on Saturday 25 February 2023.

The 18th edition of the FEI Endurance World Championship, first held in 1986, boasts a remarkably gender balanced field of participants, with 63 female and 66 male athletes entered, and an equally impressive diversity in age range of the participants with 55 years separating youngest and first-time World Championship competitor 18-year-old Constanza Pacheco Diaz (ARG) from Canada’s 73-year old Robert Gielen, who will be taking part in his fourth World Championship!...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/canadas-robert-gielen-to-ride-in-4th-world-championship/

2023 Hokey Pokey photos by Maria Phillips

2023 Hokey Pokey Endurance ride photos in Florida by Maria Phillips:
https://mariaphillips.smugmug.com/Endurance-2023/Hokey-Pokey-2023

On winning an endurance ride (Road to Tevis # 83) - Jessica Black

JessicaEBlack.org - Full story

by Jessica Black
January 25, 2023

When I found myself wanting to delve into the doubts and second-guessing that happen when I’m riding in front at the end of my last blog post, I realized I needed to write a separate post on winning an endurance ride. What makes it possible to win? What kinds of things determine whether your horse comes in first, fifth, fifteenth, or twenty-fifth?

When you know your horse can win, if all goes well

Before the second day of the Fire Mountain Pioneer ride, I texted someone who had asked about the ride:

“I do 55 miles with Jazz tomorrow, all out in the desert. If he doesn’t kill me, he could win. He put on quite a spectacle today when we vetted in. Whistling, snorting, rearing, prancing.”

The next day I texted that we had indeed won. The reply?

“Congratulations! When you said you could win yesterday, I figured you probably would.”

My response?

“I knew I had enough horse to win. I had to ride for it though...”

Read more here:
https://jessicaeblack.org/on-winning-an-endurance-ride/

2023 Broxton Bridge photos by Becky Pearman

2023 Broxton Bridge Endurance ride photos in South Carolina by Becky Pearman:
https://beckypearman.smugmug.com/Other/Endurance-2023/Broxton-Bridge-January

Winter Drinking Water Temperature

Thehorse.com - Full Article

Horses’ overall water consumption decreases as its temperature drops.

Posted by Clair Thunes, PhD | Jan 23, 2023

Q: Should I give my horses warm drinking water in the cold weather? What are the pros and cons of warm drinking water versus cold during the winter?

A: Drinking water is one of the most important aspects of horse care in any season, but during the winter, providing fresh water can be particularly challenging due to freezing temperatures. Horses do not seem to mind drinking cold water: however, research shows that overall consumption decreases as water temperature drops. Researchers have also noted that if given the choice of cold and warm water, horses will preferentially drink the cold water. This becomes a problem if, through their choice, they are drinking less than they would have if only warm water been available. The ideal temperature for drinking water is 45-65 degrees Fahrenheit, but it can be made warmer if consumption remains low...

Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/1119829/winter-drinking-water-temperature/

The Wildest Kind of Trail Running You’ve Never Heard Of

Trailrunnermag.com - Full Article

Ride ‘n’ Tie racing was the precursor to the Western States 100, but its cowboy roots persist in a niche sport that’s thriving today.

January 26, 2023
Martha Nelson

The morning sun blazed over “Fair Hill,” a 5,000-acre fox-hunting estate built by Delaware’s famous du Pont family. The estate’s pristine wooded trails, open meadows, bubbling creeks, and 17 horse barns offered an ideal venue for last fall’s Chesapeake Endurance Ride.

On the morning of September 17, 2022, the barn was abuzz with riders and horses dodging between rows of chrome horse trailers in search of curry combs, electrolytes, and the rest of the pre-race checklist. Anxious horses whinnied across the meadow.

I arrived the night before with neither a horse nor a trailer, just a belly of nerves and a pup tent I pitched between beefy pickup trucks. I was a trail runner who, earlier that summer, barely survived my first “Ride ‘n’ Tie,” a topsy-turvy trail race where two runners share one horse and switch back and forth between riding and running. But like a moth to a flame, I kept coming back. When Chris lost his partner to COVID-19 and asked me to fill in at the last minute, I couldn’t say no...

Read more here:
https://www.trailrunnermag.com/people/the-wildest-kind-of-trail-running-youve-never-heard-of/

Australia: There’s nothing standard about these versatile ex-racehorses

Donna Crebbin photo

ARR.news - full article

By Fran Cleland, The Regional
27 January 2023

The honest Standardbred was once the poor relation of the racehorse world.

While the Thoroughbreds had a chance of finding a life after racing, the Standardbred was far less likely to get that opportunity.

In the past 20 years – and especially since 2015 when Harness Racing Victoria set up its “HERO” rehoming program – things have really changed and they can be found in any number of occupations, without a sulky in sight. They are cherished by pony club kids and can be found every weekend at a club, playing games and doing their lessons. Those who work with them are quick to praise the generous animals.

Professional trainer Mitch Fox, who is currently campaigning the Hero champion Kasbah Kid says they are “trainable, sensible, willing and well-exposed”.

“Some trainers canter their horses as part of their race training regimes, this is something Kasbah Kid did and it’s meant that his transition to saddle has been easy,” he said.

“He’s the most reliable horse we have on our show team. We can always count on him to put his best hoof forward and not be overwhelmed by atmosphere...”

Read more here:
https://arr.news/2023/01/27/theres-nothing-standard-about-these-versatile-ex-racehorses/

Race Report: An Endurance Rider on the Run at Wilson Creek Frozen

TheSweatyEquestrian.com - Full Article

January 23, 2023
by Tamara Baysinger

I signed up for the 2023 Wilson Creek Frozen Trail Runs on a whim. It was November, well within the discounted entry fee window, and January 21 was a long time away. I mean, sure, it would be cold on race day, but who doesn’t like a bit of challenge?

To be clear, I signed up for the shortest race. Wilson Creek Frozen offers a 10 miler, a 20 miler, and a 50K that combines the two loops. Not being an experienced winter trail runner, I reckoned the 10 was good for starters.

The course is in the Owyhees near Melba, Idaho. It traverses a mix of rocky gullies and high-desert hills, with the long loop climbing to spectacular views at around 5,000 feet of elevation.

The weather could be anything. Wind is common. It might come with a side of rain, ice, sun, snow, mud, or any combination thereof. I’m told that, one year, the race began in temps around -4 degrees Fahrenheit.

What wasn’t to love?...

Read more here:
https://thesweatyequestrian.com/race-report-an-endurance-rider-on-the-run-at-wilson-creek-frozen/

Fire Mountain 3 day ride, January 13/15, 2023 - Nick Warhol

Fire Mountain 3 day ride

January 13/15, 2023 by Nick Warhol

The annual Fire Mountain ride in Ridgecrest, Ca, was a different animal this year. For those of you who know (and love) the desert, you know it can be fickle. Sometimes very fickle. Sometimes REALLY fickle! In the summer, it’s pretty straightforward: it’s just hot. The winter, however, can give you any weather there is. It can range from 70 degrees and sunny in the dead of winter, to, well, like it was for part of the ride week.

California has been blessed/suffering with crazy rain this winter, which is a good thing, and really sucks at the same time. we have had about a foot of rain so far at home this year. I got a break in the rain to drive my dirt bike, Sorsha, and Ines’s horse Rayos down to Ridgecrest on Sunday a week before the ride. It was a beautiful, pleasant, calm drive down. Monday morning did not help as the rain started. It was light to mild, and no wind, so Brian and I spent the day in the side by side marking the trail. We got about 35 miles done, which was good, but we were very wet and very cold for a long time. Tuesday hit with a vengeance! Big wind, pouring rain, and a thunder clap that was so close it shook the big metal cover at the arena enough to scare me. This was not weather to go out and mark trail, so we switched to the truck and tried to do water troughs. That mostly worked until we were driving up a wash/road that had water coming down it. This is not safe! We got most of the water troughs out, but the intense rain and wind pretty much killed the day. It was serious rain: flash-flood caliber rain. The weather broke Tuesday night and the rain slowed down, so we got started again on Wednesday. The first thing we noticed was the rain had of course wiped out the chalk arrows on the ground. 35 miles of arrows gone! Great! We had 70 more miles to mark. We got about 60 done, but the sun was setting as we finished in the freezing cold. Lucky for me “Sandwash” Ali Woodward and her husband Dan came with the dirt bikes to help. They spent Thursday riding and re-chalking the 35 miles we had done before the big rain. I went back out on the bike and finished up the remaining 15 miles or so and checked part of the trail we did on Wednesday. I also had to go put up all the road crossing signs as well as some key trail split signs. I was not able to switch to horse rider until Thursday afternoon when Ines and I went for our pre-ride ride on the horses.

On Friday morning, for day one, the desert was our friend. Perfect weather- low in the low 40s, highs in the high 50s. Bright sun, zero breeze, perfect, wet desert. It was just glorious! The riders who got to ride Friday had a real treat. I rode Sorsha along with Ines on the fifty to sixth place. The conditions were stunning! The Tuesday rain floods had wiped the desert clean, and all the slop had soaked in. The roads with the huge bumps and ruts were as flat as a freeway with perfect footing. You can’t buy footing this good. There was so much water out there that we did not really need a single trough. It was a perfect day with one exception- my lower left leg hurt. It’s one of my same old injuries that I just deal with, but this was different. It hurt a lot while riding, and I could barely get off the horse without collapsing to the ground. When this happens, I usually get off and walk it off, which usually helps, but I could not really walk. I could not trot the horse in the vet checks either. At the end of the fifty I could barely walk. Okay, Okay, my body was telling me something. I limped around that evening and knew I was not riding Saturday to the Pinnacles. I opted to sit it out and help with the ride. Which turned out to be a good thing, sort of. Saturday morning was pretty nice. The forecast called for some light rain in the afternoon, but nothing serious like on Tuesday. The ride was special- it was going to the Trona Pinnacles which has never been done in a ride before. The 25 ended right there and the riders were trailed back, while it was the lunch stop for the 55-mile riders. I went out to the away vet check to help out. All the LD and 55’s came through on their way out, in nice weather and all in good spirits. It was a little breezy, and overcast, and a little cold, but not too bad, and certainly good riding weather. I left around 2 pm to get back to camp so I could go out on the trail backwards in the side by side to hang glow bars on the last 13 miles or so of the trail for the 55s. It was on the way back in the car that it started. The wind picked up, the sky got dark, the temperature dropped, and the rain started. Lightly at first, but then it started coming down. The hard stuff, with about 40 degrees and 30 plus MPH of wind. It was MISERABLE in the side by side as I went backwards on the trail. I was soaked, cold, freezing, but kept thinking about those riders out there. Yeah. I came across the leader, Jessica Black, at about 4pm and it was almost dark. She said she was so ready for this to be over. I could not agree more. Lori Olsen came by in second on Fargo- she said it was hell. They were slogging through water in the desert! Rachael Muira came by next and said it was ugly! The next group was Carolyn Hock and her group of three. All were walking through the slop in the howling, 30 MPH wind with the rain coming down sideways, in 40 degrees, with wind chill factor, by the way, is 18 degrees Fahrenheit! I said hi, how are you, etc, etc, and there was silence. Carolyn said, and I quote, “this is endurance!” You got that right, Carolyn. ..

Read the rest at:
http://stories.endurance.net/2023/01/fire-mountain-3-day-ride-january-1315.html

The world’s toughest pony? Film tells inspiring story of history-making duo

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

January 24, 2023
Horsetalk.co.nz

Just days after its premiere, more than half a million people have watched a documentary about a young girl and her pony who became the smallest horse ever to finish the world-famous Tevis Cup.

Based on the book Race Against Time by Claire Eckard, the documentary Two Enduring Spirits; The Inspiring Journey of Kyla Law and Her Pony Flash is part of the 2023 Equus Film and Art Festival.

Two Enduring Spirits tells the story of how Kyla Law and Piece of Perfection (aka Flash), her “wild” 11.2hh part Hackney pony, overcame insurmountable personal odds and together entered the history books of the world-famous Tevis Cup endurance ride. The Tevis Cup is one of the most challenging rides on the planet, covering 100 miles of brutal terrain in the Sierra Nevada mountains that must be crossed in no more than 24 hours...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2023/01/24/tough-pony-film-history-making-duo/

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