ENDURANCE HORSE RIDING

By Dave Roberts

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Sport at an elite level always fascinates me. Some sports I've held an interest in for years, and other things I've never got round to watching.

Just recently I was introduced to endurance (horse) riding. I knew nothing about horses and hadn't taken much interest, but I've grown quickly to admire the work that goes into the competition. Something that I like is the absolute commitment to the wellbeing of the horses in this game. It's easy to imagine that the horses on a 160 kilometre event would be ridden into the ground, but the sport has been set up by people who love their steeds and at the end of every stage of an event, the horses are vet checked. If your horse is in stress it doesn't progress to the next stage, so to win you have to train your animal to peak fitness and then look after it all through the day. No point pushing the limits and coming in 5 minutes faster if you're going to "vet out", and in the grand scheme of things, second is lots better than being disqualified. I've also become fascinated that it's one of the sports that can literally be a million dollar pursuit, but you can get the whole family involved for a very low entry fee. Any horse can be entered and subject to fitness anyone can expect to do an endurance ride.

Photo by Chris Ros

The shortest events are 80 km long and so anyone will have to train their horse to finish, but in a sport that holds to the ethos "to complete is to win", the training, horsemanship and animal care are the same in principal and you get to compete with the greats.

With that lot in mind it's exciting to announce that the West Australian Endurance Riders Association (WAERA) is hosting the State Championships in Collie, on 2, 3, and 4 September this year. The venue is the Collie Racecourse, McVee Road, Collie. Entry for spectators is free.

The Racecourse is being used as it provides perfect facilities for the vetting which is most important in this sport, the eventss start and finish there and progress through the very attractive bush around Collie.

Friday 2nd September - Pre-ride vet checking of all horses that wish to compete (90km and 160km). All the horses must present to the veterinarians who thoroughly check that the horse is fit to start in the event. Any horses judged "unsound" are not permitted to start. Horse welfare is the absolute priority in this sport. No horse will be allowed to start or continue if it is not 100% sound. It is interesting to note that in most cases, all horses presented are fit to start - a reflection of their owners/rider's ability in horsemanship.

Pre-ride briefing will be held on Friday evening. The riders must all attend, as the ride officials (course marker, vets, etc) explain exactly what is required and what kind of terrain will be covered during the course of the event.

The 160km ride will commence at midnight on Friday night.

The 160km course will be six legs (loops) that all start and finish at the Collie Racecourse. After each leg, the horses must present to the vets for a thorough examination to ensure that the horses are all coping well and any anomilies are quickly identified. During the 160km, the horses will be checked by the vets eight times. Any horses displaying any lameness or other problems will be disqualified, and will take no further part in the event. Riders are also able to withdraw their horses if they feel that things aren't going according to plan - but they have to pass the vet check first. There will be about six veterinarians in attendance.

The 90km course will be three legs, again, starting and finishing at the Racecourse. Their ride starts at 7am, and it is expected that they should all be finished by around 6pm.

Sunday 4th September - Judging of Best Conditioned Horses commencing at 8am. The top five in each riding division (about 25 horses altogether) will present to the Head Veterinarian who will again check the horse over thoroughly, and use a "score" sheet to grade the horses according to weight division. The one with the highest score wins the coveted title of "Best Conditioned Horse" - a very prestigious title indeed! (160km Divisions are: Heavyweight [91kg plus], FEI Openweight [75kg plus], Lightweight [under 73kg], FEI Youth [14-21 years], and Junior [under 16].)

Presentations will be following the judging of Best Conditioned Horse(s).

This event will be attended by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Terenngganu (Malaysia) who has horses based in Western Australia at Norbert and Jane Radny's training stable in Serpentine.

We will also have several horses from the world famous Toft Endurance stable (Queensland). Peter and Penny Toft recently won a silver medal at the World Endurance Championships in the Teams event held at Dubai earlier this year riding their Australian-bred horse. Peter and Penny Toft also recently successfully completed the gruelling Tevis Cup 160km competition in the USA, achieving a top 20 completion for all three of their Australian horses. There were 250 entries in that event.

Jennifer Gilbertson (Webbs Creek, NSW) will also be attending. She will be riding a local horse which has been loaned to her by Ady McIntosh (Wooroloo). Jennifer was also a part of the team that won the silver medal at the World Endurance Championships earlier this year in Dubai.

The winners of the 160km are expected to finish in a riding time of about 14 hours. All riders in the 160km event must have completed the course by midnight on Saturday night, or they will be disqualified.

Endurance riding is a true test of horsemanship, and the relationship that is built up between horse and rider over many, many hours spent in the saddle. It is a sport that can be enjoyed by the very young and the not so young. One WAERA member, Ken Hobday, at age 82 is still competing successfully on his horse "Blue".

So a trip to the Collie Racecourse in a couple of weeks would get you a chance to see international standard equestrian competition, you'd watch the vets at work, and you might recognise royalty. The elite are always great to watch and I'm pleased to see that there are Aussies at the top level in this one, but it hasn't taken me long to pick someone I really want to shake hands with, so I'm on the lookout to see if I can watch Ken and Blue.

August 2005