# Endurance riding, with mom?



## 2SCHorses (Jun 18, 2011)

HarleyWood said:


> Im looking at a saddlebreed and believe he could do it. he would need conditioning and a few more miles put on him. i was wondering how to start endurance riding, what i would need for one? (i would only be doing one or two a year.) and my mom wants to bring her little horse in it as well. hes a good little boy and needs more miles but he can go for long rides.
> 
> what tack is needed? what to bring along? would a barrel saddle be fine for a 16.3hh horse to carry plus me? any other advice?


I am of the mind that the horse you have in your pasture and your current tack are perfectly adequate to start endurance, and that is what you should start with. You can do long, slow distance rides to condition, and prepare yourself for a slow/moderate LD in 2-3 months, depending on your horse's level of fitness. Once you get in and 'learn the ropes' so to speak, you can then decide to change your tack, or your horse, or whatever as you develop goals - maybe you will want to be a 100 rider, or maybe you will want to do only LD. But go to a few rides, check it out, make friends, have FUN, and you will learn a lot. I would not make a huge investment until you get in and decide how you want to ride. I wouldn't put the proverbial 'cart before the horse' and spend a lot of money on new tack until you find out.

And heck, yeah! Bring your mom!! That would be awesome! I wish my mom liked horses.

A good place to get information is the AERC website at www.aerc.org or if you are on Facebook there are a few groups to join, like AERC and also Green Bean Endurance, which is for new endurance riders to ask questions and find mentors. AERC is coming out with a video series on common questions such as Vet Check procedures and such, and I think they will link it to the website (they have been talking about it a bit on the FB group page). Also, there are regional conferences that have a lot of information, like in the Southeast we have SERA, and they have a website with all sorts of information.

There are also books out there, like Endurance 101, that you can get on Kindle.


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

well my own horses aren't really up for it but i'm looking at a saddlebreed that i would like to try a lot on as he seems to be up for anything. he was someones trail horse a few years ago and would leave everyone behind! i've been trying to get my mom to do more things with me other than trails like shows but she doesn't want too. so i suggested this and she was up for it until i told her, that her almost 4 year old is too young.


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## 2scicrazed (Apr 7, 2014)

2SChorses has some good advice. 

Here's my advice - having primarily used gaited breeds for endurance. 

#1 - schedule some weekend camping/trail rides at state/federal parks near you. This will not only help condition your two mounts in picketing, strange stalls, strange water, strange trails - but also help to condition the human's hind ends and see what equipment/clothing adjustments you might make. 

#2 - start your long weekend trail rides in slow gait. It takes longer for a saddle horse to get into shape to gait at 6-9 mph over rough terrain for 3-5 hours - than it does in conditioning a trotting horse to do so. Your horses also must develop the gait that suites them best for both speed and distance. Each gaited horse even within its own breed is different. 

#3 - after 4-6 weeks of developing medium to fast gait and maintaining it for extensive periods over rough terrain (I generally train on a nice hilly 8 mile loop trail at a city park) - start adding short canters. Gaited breeds can have difficulty in developing strong leads in canters since many will cross canter depending on which gait they go from (rack/run walk/Largo/fox trot/pace/etc)

#4 - I've generally found that it takes me six months to get a gaited horse truly ready for their first LD ride. In many ways you are developing a new speed distance gait as you train. Once they have this basic training - it is much faster to bring them back in condition later on. 

As for tack, almost anything that's already comfortable for rider and horse can be used for an LD ride. Although since gaited riders do not post - I have found wearing padded cycling shorts under my riding tights is the most comfortable and eliminates chafe. You might also consider a gel seat pad as well. Jeffers sells several styles.


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## 2scicrazed (Apr 7, 2014)

BTW - once a horse is 4 years old he/she can do AERC limited distance rides.


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## aureliusandoinky (Nov 28, 2013)

I wish my mom would ride. She says she's too scared of falling. :/


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

well he will be 4 after the ride happens... and she wont get on my other two horses they are too tall and or to energetic.... but hers is my barrel horse and he can get pretty hyper at times. for me at least hes really calm for her.


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