For most horse sports, winter is definitely the off-season. In the sport of endurance, there are a few short distance local rides, but for most it’s a time when horses are turned out and have a rest before training begins for next season.
Endurance riding is all about the health of the horse and it’s a sport that’s as much about reaching personal goals as it is about competing for the win. The saying that: ‘To qualify is to win’ is still the case in endurance riding. It’s all very nice and very rewarding to finish in the top placings, but if you finish the distance and pass the vet checks to qualify, then you are a winner as well.
It’s all about individual goals
Endurance riders compete over a marked course of a set distance. Horses must pass a pre-ride vet check before they are allowed to start, and also at various points during the ride, depending on the distance. The winner is the first past the finish line, as long as they pass the vet checks. If they cross the line first but fail the vet check then they are eliminated. It is part of the skill of the rider to manage the speed and performance of their horse to still have a happy horse at the end.
Having said that, there are many individual goals that can be achieved on an endurance track. You might aim for a faster time than you’ve done before, or a lower heart rate, or a faster recovery time. You may have a young horse to bring up through the ranks, in which case the goal is to qualify and let the horse mature and ‘harden up’. It can (and should) take several years to bring a horse up to the level of being seriously competitive. Young muscles are more prone to injury and overwork issues, and need to be developed through regular fitness training. In just the same way that it is not recommended that young children push weights, young horses fare better in endurance if they are brought on slowly to let them develop.
Starting out in competition
Endurance in New Zealand operates a Novice qualifying system. Any horse or rider must successfully complete 200km of competitive rides (40-90km) as a Novice before they become Open competitors and are allowed to compete for placings. By the time horse and/or rider have successfully qualified through to Open status, they should have more of an idea of what is an appropriate pace.
Anyone can have a go at distances up to 60km at Novice level, so long as they pass the vet checks and pay the entry fee. However, if you want to qualify as an Open competitor or step up and ride longer distances, you will need to be registered.
The major goal of anyone riding endurance is to pass all vet checks. The vet on duty will take the horse’s heart rate (which must be below 64 beats per minute) and look at various other vital signs, and then you will be asked to trot your horse out to a mark and back on a loose lead. The vet will be looking to make sure your horse is sound and moving freely. If this all looks good you’ll be given the all-clear.
Presentation and grooming is more a matter of personal pride than a requirement. You don’t need to plait up or use matching tack, although many riders see it as their duty to their horses to have them looking nice. No whips or spurs are allowed, and there are a few types of bridle that are disallowed.
Helmets are a must. They are a safety requirement, and the same goes for appropriate footwear. A lot of people ride in trainers, which is fine so long as they have appropriate safety stirrups. The dress code (yes, there is one) is fairly casual but must also be smart. It’s a discipline that anyone can have a go at. All you need is a fit horse and to be able to ride.
When it comes to gear, what you pay for your saddle isn’t as important as how well it fits your horse, and you. As a beginner, start with what you have, and purchase new gear as it is warranted, as you can afford it. But make certain that all of your equipment is in good repair. Remember, fit and comfort for you and your horse are of the most importance.
Slowly does it
At this point in the year, waterlogged paddocks and all, horses are gradually being brought back into work.
A very experienced endurance rider once told me to walk until my horse was bored with walking and then let him trot until he’s bored with trotting before I let him canter. This immediately starts to establish your position as the leader in the partnership and sets the standard for staying calm. Keeping your horse calm and under control is vitally important, and establishing the pecking order at a walk before allowing the horse to speed up is good advice for any discipline.
Another very experienced endurance rider always reminds me that a controlled horse is a happy horse, and a happy horse is less stressed and not wasting valuable energy. Make time immediately to sort out every single issue that arises, rather than finding a way around it.
Starting out slow like this also allows feet to harden up again and muscles to remember what they were doing the previous season. It doesn’t take long to recover a basic level of fitness, but the build-up should be slow. Your training will also vary depending on the training areas you have available. Even at a walk there is a lot happening in building fitness. Muscles are being trained to ‘fire’ in the correct sequence and relearning how to negotiate uneven terrain.
An introduction to endurance training posted online by the Southeast Endurance Riders’ Association states that: “The backbone of any conditioning programme is long, slow distance work (LSD). It is jogging for horses, involving a steady rate of energy expenditure over increasing distances… As training progresses, the maximum rate at which the heart can perform aerobically moves upwards (from around 120 to 150 or so beats per minute). In other words, the fitter the horse becomes, the faster he can go without becoming fatigued.”
I would add to this that the fitter your horse becomes, the faster his heart rate will recover to its resting rate. The time taken for the heart rate to drop from its working speed to resting (in endurance riding it must drop to 64 beats per minute or less) is called the Cardiac Recovery Index, or CRI. The less time this takes the better.
The Smith family from Mangaweka are strong advocates of a long slow build-up in preparation for the endurance season. With several very competitive riders in the family, each with more than one horse on the go, training is a team effort.
Andrea Smith says that their horses are turned out for at least three months. Early season work involves 6km of road walking, hardening up feet and muscles. At this point, feeding hard feed and hay will gradually start again so that digestive systems have time to adjust before training starts in earnest.
The family lives on a sheep farm, so access to hill country is fairly easy, although they keep up the road work for quite some time, especially when the paddocks are wet. Andrea stresses that they also do a lot of flat work early in their early season training. “It’s nice to start them off working balanced and also makes us aware early on of preferences of canter leads or diagonals of each horse that may require more work. It’s also good to get them working in a frame using their back properly and keeping them supple”.
The Smiths use the early season rides as training as well, starting off with a 40km ride down the beach. After this, it’s just a matter of keeping any increases in speed and distance very gradual.
The importance of balance in muscle development brings us back to dressage and arena work. Just because you don’t have to dress up like a dressage rider or make your horse look like an Isabell Werth champion, doesn’t mean you can slack off on the schooling. For any discipline, whether it be dressage, show jumping, endurance, or anything else performed at more than a walk, schooling and balance are vitally important.
A riding instructor I once consulted told me to work on transitions between gaits to make my horse engage and build up his hindquarters. As soon as this was pointed out to me it made perfect sense. Effectively what she was saying was that he needed stronger muscles so he needed to push weights. He needed the horse equivalent of doing squats.
Keep his head in the game
The next point to be made is about keeping your horse’s mind in the right place. To stop your horse from getting sour, it’s a good idea to add variety to your training. Varying the types of training you do can help to isolate muscle imbalances as well.
Vary the places you go to ride and change your routine as much as you can. If you have limited amounts of training track, try riding it in the opposite direction. Beach work is great if you are lucky enough to have access to it, and road work definitely has its place. Arena work is very beneficial. Pay attention to making smooth transitions, and balance on the circle in either direction.
The most energy-efficient way to cover distance is by keeping a steady pace from start to finish. It is useful to teach your horse to go for extended periods on a loose rein at a trot because this is primarily what you will be doing at rides. For conditioning purposes if you want to make your horse work harder, you can alternate between gaits.
Finally, be aware of your horse. If you feel that something is ‘off’ somehow, make sure you find out what and why. Pay attention so that any health issues are dealt with before they become a problem.
At the end of the day, it’s all about making your horse as fit and healthy as he can be.
Six top pre-season tips
- Start slow
- Vary terrain
- There’s no getting away from dressage and flatwork schooling
- Use the same principles as human fitness training
- Keep balanced
- Build up speed and distance gradually
This article was first published in the September 2011 issue of NZ Horse & Pony
