by Stacie Moyle

Created on: August 04, 2011

Endurance riding is one of the fastest growing equestrian sports. A large part of its popularity has to do with the fact that a wide range of horses can be successful. Since the motto of the American Endurance Riding Conference is, “to finish is to win,” riders compete mostly with themselves—pitting their skills against the course.  Several factors are key in training your horse for an endurance ride.

Start With a Good Riding Horse

Before you ever hit the trail to begin conditioning make sure your horse can perform basic riding skills in an arena. You should be able to ride the horse at a walk, a trot, and a canter in both directions in straight lines and on circles. Take care that you as a rider can stay balanced not needing to pull on the reins, press on the neck , or grab saddle or mane for balance.  You must be a balanced rider in order to help rather than hinder your horse.  Additional skills that will be handy are having a horse understand backing and doing a side-pass in each direction. On narrow or technical trails these skills can be life savers.  Finally, be sure your horse stands quietly for mounting and dismounting.  Seek the help of a qualified riding instructor if you need assistance in these areas.

Long Slow Distance

To begin building endurance fitness start with what is known as LSD training, long slow distance.  For horses already doing a 45-60 minute arena session a few days a week, it is reasonable to ride for a couple of hours and a slow pace once to twice a week for the first two weeks.  Generally, increases of no more than 5% of workload are sufficient to stimulate development without risking injury.  Keep in mind that the horse will gain cardiovascular fitness first, then muscle and soft tissue strength and finally bone density. So a horse that may not appear to get winded easily, may still be at risk for a tendon or ligament strain if pushed too far too fast.  Over the course of a few months, build until the horse can go for long walks with periods of easy trotting for a few hours.  At this point, you can begin thinking in terms of miles rather than minutes on the trail.

Gymnasticize The Horse

Before going for mileage begin building long lean power.  Even horses that are very rideable under saddle can use basic dressage work. I teach a number of top endurance riders who finish rides like the infamous Tevis Cup and Virginia City 100. These horses do dressage work

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