Walking On Volume 2, Issue 9, September 2015 | Page 10
Industry Info
From Trail Ride to Endurance:
Not Such a Big Leap
Endurance riders may covet
the discipline’s reputation as an
extreme sport, but the American
Endurance Ride Conference’s “gateway” event, the 25-35 mile limited
distance ride, is well within the
reach of most well-conditioned trail
horses.
As the usual stepping-stone to
endurance riding, limited distance
rides are popular with those new to
the sport, riders with new horses,
and young and older riders. Some
who join AERC move up right
away to the endurance distances of
50, 75 or even 100 mile rides, while
many are content to stay with what
is often called “luxury distance.”
Riders have six hours to complete a 25-mile ride, although
placings are given and the top ten
finishers are able to compete for the
coveted best condition award given
out at each AERC event. Equines
of all types are welcome in AERC
rides, as long as they are 4 years old
for LD, 5 years for 50-75 mile rides,
and 6 years old for 100-mile rides.
AERC’s motto means everything to
participants: “To finish is to win.”
AERC’s Fall Special allows new
riders to join for the remainder of
the 2015 ride season and all of the
2016 season (12/1/15-11/30/16)
for $88.75. “We’re also welcoming
new 2016 memberships, which
are $63.75, a 15% discount off the
renewal price thanks to sponsorship by EasyCare Inc.,” said AERC
Executive Director Kathleen Henkel. “You have to call the office to
take advantage of the Fall Special—866-271-2372—but you can
10 • Walking On
join online for 2016 through our
www.aerc.org website.”
Members of the organization
range from 5 years old to early 90s.
As with many horse sports, membership skews older but, according
to Henkel, “We are seeing an influx
of younger new members in the last
year or two which makes us quite
positive for the future of endurance
riding.”
“I am so happy to have found
a group of people that put their
horse first for once and go out of
their way to help newbies like me,”
said new member Maria Phillips.
A mentoring program, a new rider
handbook, educational materials
and a subscription to the monthly
Endurance News magazine welcome those new to the nonprofit
organization, which has been going
strong since 1972.
“I’ve ridden jumpers and hunters
since the age of 9, and I was converted into a die-hard endurance
enthusiast by a wonderful mentor who invested an entire year
into getting me trained up,” said
20-something rider Parry Kietzman. “Mentoring is what made all
the difference to me and I hope I’ll
be able to pay it forward some day
for some other young kid.”
Jessica Brewer Cobbley, a
new-to-endurance rider, best
summed up the sport:
“It’s a very much individual sport
on the trail. Just you and your horse
and maybe a partner or two, but in
camp it’s relaxing and telling stories
and hanging out. It’s people helping
other people, it’s competing against
yourself, it’s all hands on deck to
provide the best of everything for
the horses.
“It’s groups just for newbies,
where experienced seniors hang out
just to answer questions and help
you come along. It’s people reaching out and taking you under their
wing, answering your questions,
giving advice, talking you down
off the ledge, getting you through,
cheering their guts out when you
succeed, huddling with you when
you fail.
“It’s control judges telling you
your horse looks great. It’s a cold
bottle of water at the end of 10
hours of dusty trail. It’s volunteers
holding your horse so you can pee,
or your hair so you can vomit. It’s
the ride meeting, and the ride sharing, and the completion awards that
aren’t worth $10 but are priceless
and irreplaceable.
“It’s the trails you would have
never seen, the achievement you
would have never guessed you had
in you. The pride in your horse, the
gleam in his eye, the fog, the dawn,
the steam, the sweat, the sunshine,
the rain. Triumph and overcoming
and enduring, and loading up to go
home while you pull up the calendar to find your next ride.
“It’s addictive, indescribable,
painful, exhausting, exhilarating,
freedom and achievement.