# Endurance rides for 2012 info gathering :)



## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

ok ladies and gents 

for those who particapate in endurance/ ctr / ctd/ or limited distance thought maybe we could make a spot to gather all the rides for the coming year. 
yes i know to check certain websites just thought making it in one section in here would help everyone find all the events. 

doesn't matter where the ride is just make sure you post the link or designate time and place (country and state/province)


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

FIRST LINK

Endurance Riding Online - North America NorthEast Region Ride Calendar<br>for the 2012 ride season


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

I see you found the AERC calender. One thing I am seeing in AERC, it seems the organizers expect everyone to already know all about it. Like we are just supposed to know where the heck Scioto Trails State Forest is. Organizers dont even list what state they are in. The ride I went to in Patrick SC, getting info was like pulling teeth. local slang terms for locations, directions without cardinal directions, You have to get really direct to find out anything.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

HAHA i know lol ... i am figuring if we post all the links some people will know where things are and help people in the right direction 

all the other sites i looked at it didn't have the calenders up-to date yet


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

I started this ride in the 90's , laid out the trails and managed the ride for 6 years. So I'm a little bias. But it is one of the most beautiful places to ride a horse. The folks who have been running it for the past 10 years, Have done a great job and got the management of the ride down to a science.

I realize it's a long way from the OP who asked about rides. But every year we riders show up from that far away. I've seen license plate on trucks from Georgia, NC, NJ as I walk thru the camp.

Anyway, Their website has lots of photos of the area. Anybody needing a horsey fix during the winter can probably find it by scrolling thru the pictures.

Strawberry Fields Endurance Ride, June 17, 18, 19, 2011

The very first year I put this ride, The winner of the ride took 7.5 hours to complete the 50. Many folks were hard pressed to beat the 12 hour max time. The vet judge cdame to me and asked, " How many miles is this trail?" I replied that I had been very careful to make sure it was exactly 50 miles long. I continued that I had read the rules and that a Sanctioned ride needed to be 50 miles right? 
The vet replied " This country is too rough, the trails have too much elevation change, you are riding at 10,000 foot elevation, You need to make this ride 40 miles long and tell folks it is 50" It turns out the original trails I had laid out had over 16,000 foot of verticle elevation change in the 50 miles. In subsequent years we modified the trails so there is not so much climbing and the riders can complete the ride in more normal time for an endurance race..

To me I just figured endurance riders could handle it. This was where I rode all the time and the trails were just what I considered a good days ride.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks painted horse looks like a great ride. i might just have to start traveling more


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

we talked about this before, Lying is never a good policy. If the ride is rough tell people it is rough, or tell people it is only 40 miles and rough. Lots of people have GPS's and if your 50 mile ride turns out to be only 40 then your credibility in everything else you do is shot. I would also find another Vet. Guess I dont have much tolerance for dishonesty. Looks like you did the right thing changed the course but kept the distance.
One of the things that attracted me to endurance is that everyone cant do it. It is to be expected some will fail. Everyone will fail occasionally. Thats part of the challenge.
I think if I could find a partner I would take some farther trips. I would love to travel the US more. In my carrer I have been to 46 countries but only 15 states. Time to see more of the U.S.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

BAck in the 90's most folks didn't have personal GPS devices. So most folks were at the mercy of what you told them. In todays world, You are correct that almost everybody would know the actual distance.

I don't know enough about endurance rules to know whether its even acceptable to have 50 milers that are shorter because of the terrain. It's an absolutely stunning area. And for local horses used to the elevation, Not a big deal. But when you have many folks coming from lower elevation parts of the country, It was a very challenging ride when you couple the high elevation thin air with the excessive amount of climbing and descents. Most of the endurance rides I have rode, the winners were finishing the 50 in 4.5 to 5 hours. So to push those same proficient riders out to 7.5 - 8.5 hours proved just how challenging the ride was.

Over the years, participants have just come to know and understand, they won't finish this ride as fast as a flat terrain ride. It was just all part of learning to put on a new ride.

And the VET was a VERY VERY highly respected endurance vet.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Painted Horse said:


> Strawberry Fields Endurance Ride, June 17, 18, 19, 2011


Someday, when I win the lottery, I will get to travel across the country riding all the great rides offered in other places. This one would def be on that list!


My ride season for next year, if all goes according to plan, will be:

Rabbit Run 50 w/Dreams (march - nj)
No Frills 55 w/Dreams (april - va)
Foxcatcher 50 w/George (april - md)
Old Dominion 100 w/Dreams (june - va)
Vermont 100 w/Dreams (july - vt)
Ride Between the Rivers 50 w/George (aug - wv)
Virginia Highlands 50 w/Dreams (aug - va)
Canter Over the Mountain 50 w/Dreams (sept - wv)
Fort Valley 50/50 w/Dreams both days (oct - va)
Mustang Memorial 50 w/George (nov - nj)

Big goal for the 2012 season is to finally get my Old Dominion Triple Crown with Dreams--we have done 2 of the 3 rides three diff seasons now.. really want to get all 3 in a season!! I would love to do it with the maximum mileage (255 miles), too.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

I did get info on the Md foxcatcher ride. They seem to be very well organized: Here is the info:
 I did not see your name in the 2011 rider list so I assume you have never ridden with us. However, your questions are all good ones and I will try to address them for you. Most are probably answered on our website even though it has not been updated for 2012. www.fairhillinternational.com and then click on “Foxcatcher”.
Base Camp is in a primitive field in the corner of Big Elk Chapel Road and Gallaher Road in Elkton, Maryland. There are no electrical hookups and no water hook ups. Water is provided in a huge tanker truck located in Base Camp. There is a Competitor Tent where the Secretary is located and where the Rider Briefing and Dinner are held. Next to the tent is the Hold Area. All vettings are held in this area. All Trails leave Base Camp and return to Base Camp for vetting. We do have a Treatment Vet on duty. I know there is sufficient water on trail but I cannot tell you the distance between water spots. As in all rides, there always seems to be at least one person who misses a trail marking but 150 riders/horses find their way back to camp and some are first timers, so if you focus and watch for markers you should not have a problem. The schedule is posted on our website prior to your arrival.
Thanks for asking and Happy Holidays!
_Diane_


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

phantomhorse good luck maybe i will see you at the nj ride  
joe that was a ngreat link thanks for sharing


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

My riding buddy and I are going to do the Airport Express Ride in Humble, TX (Bush International Airport) Endurance Riding Online - AERC Ride Detail 

I do know Darolyn who is putting on the ride and I now see that Jamie is the assistant and we know and ride with her. 

We are looking at doing the Shanghai Trails ride if we do ok at the Airport Express. It is a little further away but still close enough. Endurance Riding Online - AERC Ride Detail

Possibly this ride in Bandera, TX Endurance Riding Online - AERC Ride Detail

I have checked my calender and those are about the only ones I can go on. I have weddings booked on the other dates - except on in October - it is a possible wedding (I do wedding cakes to support the horses!) but I am thinking I am going to pass on it if I can! Sounds to me like riding is way more fun!


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

hummm texas in feb, I have never seen the mississippi river, and have only been to airports in TX. Probably warm there too, looks to be a 22 hour drive,,,,,, gears turning, gears turning.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Joe4d said:


> I did get info on the Md foxcatcher ride. They seem to be very well organized: Here is the info:
> ..150 riders/horses..


And there is the catch!! 150 horses is a LOT to share trail with.

Foxcatcher is extremely well organized, but they get a huge entry and the course is mostly open fields.. so every year the start can be rather.. exciting (and sometimes miles after the start are exciting too!). No idea how your horse does in a milling group of excited horses, but if the answer is 'not well' then I would suggest giving this ride a by for your first year! However, the location is gorgeous, with manicured fields and excellent footing (unless its really been monsooning). The campsite is more than spacious enough for everyone and the ride food is excellent. The terrain varies a bit, but its a nice ride to have at the start of the season as it doesn't have the steep climbs of some of the mountain rides in this region.

I have had the please of riding it for the past 5 years! If you are interested in seeing some of the trail from a rider's POV, check out:

Foxcatcher 2010

Foxcatcher 2009

Foxcatcher 2008


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

kait18 said:


> phantomhorse good luck maybe i will see you at the nj ride


Would love to meet up with you! Please let me know if you go!


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

come on down Joe. Sometimes in the winter we are wearing shirt sleeves....sometimes not!!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

oh boy i am getting excited everyone seems ready for this year


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

Of course now I take the "suggestion" that I cant handle it as a challenge to attend anyway. What one person can do another can do. Actually I would be more likely to do a different ride due to not wanting to pull the trailer through MD. I take it all the riders start and ride the same trail ? The last ride I was on had a bit over 100 riders but there were three different trails and each group did them at different times. So I only really saw a handful of riders the whole time. 22 hours is one heck of a drive for texas, Id have to find a couple places to stop and unload the horse. Thats a long long ways.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

It is a LONG way from there but it is a great place to be in the winter!!! We rarely (as in once every 15-20 years!) have ice on the roads, it is sometimes cold and wet (burrrrrr....wet cold is a nasty bone chilling cold!) but lots of times it is a light jacket kinda day. Bring that horse down here and we can ride somewhere!!


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

I really do wish AERC would get their act together and require specific address locations on the ride info page of their calendar. Kinda pointless to have a "ride info" page and you still have to email the organizer multiple times to get something as basic as where to go out of them.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

i know joe. i have been emailing them to and have recieved nothing back.  

such difficulty trying to plan next years rides... are the rides usually based off of previous years. like where,when, time stays the same just a different year??


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

I emailed AERC and told them I was finding this wasnt an islolated issue. The "RideInfo" link on their calender should at a bare minumum require ride organizers to list an exact specific address/ road intersection/ gps coordinate, or something of where the check in and camping spot is. There are rides on that calender that dont even list what state they are in. 
The Foxcatcher people promptly responded with road address and good info and a link to their webpage, but really that should have been on the "ride info" link already. Other rides I have swapped multiple emails and still dont have extremely basic information.

Seems like the organizers really seem to expect you to already know all about it. While not rude, and will answer any question you ask They sure arnt to willing to volunteer anything.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thats what i am figuring out as well. it makes everything very difficult


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Joe4d said:


> Of course now I take the "suggestion" that I cant handle it as a challenge to attend anyway. What one person can do another can do. Actually I would be more likely to do a different ride due to not wanting to pull the trailer through MD. I take it all the riders start and ride the same trail ?


It wasn't meant as a suggestion that you can't handle it at all--I said I had no idea how your horse behaved in a big group. No need to be so defensive. It is simply an observation, and one I wish someone had mentioned to me my first season, as it was my very first ride and I was quite overwhelmed. Luckily for me, Dreams was not overwhelmed, but sure could have been an ugly situation if she had been.

Every year, I have seen at least a couple riders there who are turned off endurance completely because of the start. I hate the idea of people not continuing with this sport because of a bad experience which might have been preventable with a little warning/preparation.


The riders start at the same time, but each distance starts on its own loop (which are in totally different places). So you are dealing with 80ish horses per ride at the start.




Joe4d said:


> Seems like the organizers really seem to expect you to already know all about it. While not rude, and will answer any question you ask They sure arnt to willing to volunteer anything.


Most rides are repeated from year to year, so I do think people tend to assume that everyone knows where they are already. Hopefully the webmaster at AERC will realize you can't be the only person having those issues and make the site friendlier. I am fairly familiar now (after 5 seasons!) with where rides in the northeast are, but had the same problems looking at rides in the southeast. Apparently geography is overrated. :wink:


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## livestoride (Mar 30, 2011)

www.umecra.com

I have planned to hit one a month as follows:
Run for the Border 25 - May
SE MN 25 - June
Zumbro Bottoms Boogie 30 -July
Louise Reidel Memorial 50 - Aug
Colorama Classic 50 - Sept
Iron Oak 50 - Oct

I am so lucky to be in the midwest where there are too many rides to even make them all and all withina short drive! If one weekend turns out to not work out I have a backup planned for each month. I am really going to miss having so many choices once I move next summer


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Hey Joe, I have this figured out...I looked at your profile...you are a marine engineer - Woot!!!! You need to get on a run to Galveston, Beaumont or Port Arthur, TX. Put the horse in cargo, I will pick you up at the dock....ride in Texas for 2 weeks and repeat. 

I used to work for Hvide Marine as a purchasing agent. They became Sea Bulk. I purchased for 2 chemical and 1 petro ship plus occasionally tugs. Way way too much fun. Loved it. I would quit cake decorating to work in the marine industry again. Sea Bulk moved to Ft. Lauderdale and offered me a job but not enough $$ so I went to work for Uncle Sherwie. (SherwinWilliams) 

My cousin was the top pilot here and my grandfather shipped out and 2 of my great uncles were captains. So just ship yourself down to Texas and it will all be good!!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

oh my we have a marine engineer oh golly my bf is working on tugs in galveston and houston area being a tug engineer and i am a ship/cargo broker and now i am learning QOS was a purchasing agent... wow more ppl then i thought worked in the shipping business


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Small world!!! My family is from The Cayman Islands so they were all sea farin' folks. My family settled there in the late 1600's and early 1700's so salt water runs in my veins. 

My cousin let me go with him to bring a ship from Port Arthur to Beaumont which is only about 20 miles...took 4 hours going up the Neches River. OMG is it DARK on the river at night. He brought this huge ship into the port at Beaumont, turned it around (with a tug's help) and backed that puppy up like it was freaking Chevrolet. It was amazing sitting there while he guided it up the river.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

thats all thats left in the US economy, medical and transportation. I am a Chief Engineer, oceans. but took a harbor tug job becaue I dont wanna leave, and 2 weeks on is long enough. Blue water boats stay gone to long.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Yes they do. Two weeks is long enough to be gone. My paternal grandfather (not my Cayman grandpa!) was a marine engineer and my maternal grandfather was a bo'sun.

2 of my tankers were gone I think 2 weeks running up to New York and Pennsylvania, if I remember right. One ran the west coast. 

When I was a kid, my grandfather worked for Pure Oil. He was gone for two weeks and home a couple of days and then gone again. I used to go with Grandma to pick him up at the docks.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I've always loved the ocean and ships, even joined the USN as a machinist mate. Somehow I ended up in manufacturing maintenance instead of working on ships after my enlistment was up. Everytime I drive by a freighter I want to stop and run down to the engine room to see how it is set up.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

The engine rooms are AMAZING and I loved going on the bridge. I really liked the time that I worked as an expeditor and then purchasing agent. One of the ships was only one year old and the former PA had not purchased or expedited all of the parts she was supposed to sail with. OMG if that ship had had a problem, the engineer would have been up a creek without a paddle. When I hired on as expeditor, there were parts sitting in ports on the east and west coast that had been there for ages. :shock: Woot - what fun! I really did enjoy it and enjoyed working with the engineers and mates. One captain jerked my chain a few times because the former purchasing agent had jerked him around. LOL I told him if he didn't keep the ship in one spot so that I could deliver a washer & dryer to him (some was not his fault over in the Houston port but some was - I had had this company try to deliver 3 times!) that he was going to go through the Panama Canal with his drawer flapping over the port side while I sat at home in using my washer and dryer in dry drawers! He thought that was funny and after that was a doll to work with.

Ok...I am all fired up...I want back into the marine world!!!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

hahha the only thing i like about the marine world is you meet so many people from everywhere... i work in jersey but talk mostly to japanese and south africa its crazy the differences everyone has but yet will find a medium.

the down side is we have crazy work schedules  that no one understands :roll:


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