# Hopefully I'm putting this...



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Endurance is long trecks, often over mountainous terrain, where the horses have to pace themselves and be able to travel at a good pace for a long time. 
In Trail, its just trails with obstacles for different lengths. I think the main differences are length and terrain.

I haven't competed in either, so this is just what I've picked up here and there; take it with a grain of salt.


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## LoveGus (Oct 4, 2016)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> Endurance is long trecks, often over mountainous terrain, where the horses have to pace themselves and be able to travel at a good pace for a long time.
> In Trail, its just trails with obstacles for different lengths. I think the main differences are length and terrain.
> 
> I haven't competed in either, so this is just what I've picked up here and there; take it with a grain of salt.


What do you mean by obstacles?

Like certain phases you have to pass in order to go forward?


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Obstacles like: bridges (including wobbly hanging bridges), gates, balloons to walk over/through, tarps to walk over/under/through, tires filled with dirt that might look like this:







, might have some logs fallen over the trail; water, including small creeks and bigger ones as well, and scary horse-eating balls or other such things pushed onto the trail to represent deer and hare. That's the general idea!  Pretty much it's a test of the horse's calmness and trust in the rider, while Endurance is just horses with endurance! I think.

JMO


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## LoveGus (Oct 4, 2016)

Wow competitive trail sounds complicated...


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

LoveGus said:


> Wow competitive trail sounds complicated...


...and fun!  I think it would be pretty cool; especially the training part!


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## LoveGus (Oct 4, 2016)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> LoveGus said:
> 
> 
> > Wow competitive trail sounds complicated...
> ...


Neither is common in my area. It's mainly dressage or show jumping/ hunter barns  . I love watching a good pair in dressage or going over fences but it's not me. I don't even know how I'd go about possibly seeing an event or even a clinic.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

At least in my area, what you are calling competitive trail is what we call obstacle trail challenge. This is my experience: (It may be different in different locations)

Endurance riding is how fast you can go with a healthy horse. You ride, say 25 miles or 50 miles with vet checks and rest stops. The first person at the finish line wins. Of course, the vet checks make sure only sound horses continue.

Competitive trail is usually a shorter distance, often 25 miles. There is an optimum time. All the competitive trail rides that I did were 25 miles with the optimum time of 4 hours. Any minutes over 4 hours or under 4 hours were docked points. That meant you needed to ride approximately 6 miles per hour to do well. Along the ride are regular type trail obstacles like a railroad bed, water crossings, logs where you are judged. There were no man made obstacles like the tires in the picture that @JoBlueQuarter posted. There are vet checks along the way. Points are deducted at the vet checks if your horse doesn't check out 100%. Lame or unwell horses are pulled.

Trail Obstacle Courses are about 6 miles and consist of 20 or more obstacles where you are judged at each obstacle. There are all kinds of weird and man made obstacles that a normal trail horse would never encounter, but an obedient trail horse will do. No vet checks.

Then there are Judged Pleasure Trail Rides that are shorter, like 12 miles, and the horse is judged while being ridden.

There are more, too, like Extreme Cowboy Challenge and rides I have not done, so I am not familiar with them.
@PhantomHorse, correct me where I am wrong!


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

No matter which type of "challenge", there is a LOT of stringent pre-conditioning that goes into even qualifying. 

Not only for the horse but the rider had also better be in condition.

The vets that I knew who did the vet checks, took their job very serious as far as making sure the health of each horse was prime during the entire event.


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## LoveGus (Oct 4, 2016)

I want to try my hand at finding a disipline that suits me. Someone on here suggested I try a displine and see if I actually like it. Since I hate being strictly confined to an arena I found these two displines . I knew about endurance for a while


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Competitive trail riding, versus endurance:

'Competitive trail riding (CTR) is an equestrian sport where riders cover a marked trail for a distance that is usually between 15 and 40 miles per day. Some rides are only one day long, others may run as long as three days. One-day six-mile events have also become popular. The goal of the competition is to demonstrate partnership between horse and rider. Unlike in endurance riding, factors other than speed are considered. If the ride is timed, it is a form of pace race; otherwise it is a judged trail ride. In a timed ride, horses may not come in under or over a certain time, and veterinary checks, rider behavior and other elements play a role in the placings. The horse is evaluated on performance, manners, and related criteria. "Pulse and respiration" stops check the horse's recovery ability and conditioning.

There are many different organizations which sanction competitive trail rides. Horsemanship may be considered at some competitions, depending on the sanctioning organization. Riders are evaluated on how they handle the trail, manage the horse, and present to the judges and veterinarians throughout the ride. Obstacles are also set up along the trail with the horse and rider graded on how well they perform as a team.

Rides are often held on public lands, such as Forest Service or BLM lands in the United States, but are also held on private property. The terrain varies depending on the part of the country in which a competition is held, and lands available for the event. Unlike trail riding at a guest ranch, where inexperienced riders walk their horses most of the time and cover simple trails, riders who compete in competitive trail rides are asked to have their animals navigate a variety of terrain and use all gaits, especially the trot.

Similar events exist around the world, though often with wide variations in rules and distances. In all cases, the most obvious difference between an endurance ride and a competitive trail ride is that the winner of an endurance ride is the first horse and rider team to cross the finish line and pass a vet check that deems the horse "fit to continue," whereas competitive trail rides usually consider additional factors and penalize a horse and rider that finish in too little or too long of a time.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

My favorite riding discipline is trail riding. Not competitive with anyone. Just have a good time. I keep up with my mileage, so in a way, I compete with myself -- like did I ride more than I did last year.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

^^^^^^^ I'm with Celeste! Many years ago I competed. Now I just enjoy the trails. Getting out and riding offers enough challenges provided by Nature for me.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

LoveGus said:


> I always new about endurance riding but a friend today brought up competitive trail riding. What's the difference between endurance and competitive trail?


Where in the country (or the world) are you? That can help us narrow down which organizations are in your area.

I tell horsey people that endurance is to CTR as jumpers is to hunters.. similar concepts (one is covering distance, the other jumping over obstacles), but very different sports.

Endurance, as others have said, is fairly straightforward with the goal being to get from start to finish as fast as possible while still having a horse pass all the vet exams (rather likes jumpers want to get around their course as fast as possible but without knocking down jumps, etc). CTR is normally a set-pace event which is judged partly on time but mostly on other things: pulse, respiration, any physical changes in the horse from start to end (much like hunters not only have to jump, they also have to look "right" doing it). Some CTRs involve obstacles, some don't depending on the organization.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

In California at least, there are multiple kinds of "competitive trail". Endurance is off by itself -- it is a straightforward race over distance, up to 100 miles in a day. Endurance requires an extremely fit horse, moderately specialized equipment, and of course a rider capable of trotting and cantering all day long. To be among the first finishers it is almost a requirement to have an Arabian or part-Arab, this breed completely dominates the sport. 

Then there are judged trail riding competitions. The more strenuous ones like NATRC, which include covering distance over a specific time as well as obstacles, have vet checks, others may not. NATRC is a nation-wide organization. There are many kinds of trail trialing groups, however. For example, California State Horsemen's Association has a program of short-distance trials (5 to 12 miles or so) with the emphasis on completing obstacles correctly. Almost everything is at a walk. There are trail riding clubs which simply record your mileage completed on sponsored trail rides and prizes are awarded at the end of the year. At these levels, whatever breed you have and tack you use is a-ok, and any sound, well-trained horse is competition material.

I haven't yet competed in a trail trial, but my instructor really encourages her students in any discipline to do so, because training for it makes you and your horse a better team. Can your horse drag a bag of cans? Carefully and safely cross a tippy bridge? Open and close different kinds of gates? Sidepass over a log? Carry a tarp? Working your horse up to being competent at this kind of thing makes him a better riding horse, and you a better rider and trainer.

I personally dislike all competition, from card games to pro football, but I do enjoy the challenge of training for trail trials. I like camping with my horse, and seeing new country from between my horse's ears, and trail trials may be part of that in my future, who knows. 

I know I won't be trotting fifty miles in a day though .... I just rode 35 miles in 3 days and that was plenty!


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## mmshiro (May 3, 2017)

Celeste said:


> so in a way, I compete with myself


Every time I get off the horse, I'm a better and more experienced rider than when I got on, and I further built my partnership with my horse. I asked my horse whether she wanted to earn a few ribbons for her stall to make it look prettier, but she opted for either apples or carrots. That's good enough for me.


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