Curly Endurance

Here at the Curly Standard Place we like to do all kinds of things with our horses and this year we are trying our hands and hoofs at the sport of endurance. A couple of years ago we did go on a training endurance ride and liked it quite a bit, but we also recognized that it takes a certain kind of horse to compete in this somewhat extreme sport. The horse needs to be athletic, handy, forward moving, energetic and also be a willing participant. Of course is also goes without saying that the horse (and human!) needs to be well conditioned! We have a link on our website with more information - check it out: http://www.curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=102

So we have now done three rides this year - we have an Arabian mare RJ Light Serenade aka Mirage http://www.curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=79 who we ride, she had a Curly filly with *Sandman last year who we hope will be another prospect for endurance eventually, but the horse that is our main focus is *Spar's Barefoot Contessa http://www.curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=19. *Tessa has now completed 3 endurance rides and she just gets better and better. The first ride she finished 10th out of 37 horse/rider combos, the second she finished 2nd, she pulsed down just ONE minute after the winning horse and the third ride...... well, here is our report!

The week before the ride I took Tessa to Sundre, AB for the ICHO convention and inspection so I really didn't know if she would be recovered enough from that big trip for me to take her to this endurance ride yesterday. I got home Wednesday and she didn't seem overly tired and the endurance ride was only a couple of hours from here so we decided to give it a try, we hauled up there Friday night. We were a bit late getting there for a couple of reasons, I hauled 4 horses to this ride, Tessa, my Arabian Mirage, my friend's TB and her pony for her 11 year old son to ride. We missed the ride meeting the night before, but got the info we needed and were told the ride started at 9 a.m. - that is sort of late in the a.m. and we were all ready to go way before that!

So our horses were very keen and we were in the front from the start - making incredibly good time over good trails, and incredible scenery for the first loop, but about 3/4 of the way in I felt my Arab was a bit off - hard to tell, but she just slowed down a tiny bit, which isn't like her! So I told Anastasia that she would have to think about doing the second loop on her own and sure enough when we got back to camp and I got off my horse she was lame. Tessa pulsed down very well though - she was about 5 minutes ahead of everyone else! So after a 45 minute hold Ana and Tessa hit the trail again. Anastasia said Tessa was a bit hesitant going out on her own, but once she realized that they were going, she picked up the pace and was full of energy. They were about half way or so when they came upon some other riders (other riders were on a different ride route, probably a 50 miler) and the other riders told her that she was going the wrong way! Ana doubted herself at that point and doubled back for about 10 minutes until she ran into the riders who were coming up behind her. So she turned around and rode back the same way (which was the correct way!) and arrived back at camp at the same time as the riders who had been quite a bit behind her before she turned around. Their horse pulsed down a couple of minutes before Tessa so Ana and Tessa got 2nd place - which is VERY good, but disappointing for her as they were WAY ahead of everyone and Tessa was in really excellent shape - this horse LOVES this sport. So their completion time was just a bit under 3 hours for 27 miles, that was about half an hour faster than last years rider/horse combo. The awards breakfast was to be Sunday a.m. - I'm sure they will get a few more things for their efforts, but we came home last night - I was just exhausted and have so much to do at home I just had to get back here.

The good news is that even though the vet at the ride felt that Mirage would be needing bute for her injury for 5 days, she is sound this a.m. - so I am very happy about that, must have just stepped on a rock wrong or something - I was pretty worried about her, she was in quite a bit of pain until the vet gave her a shot of bute. She was feeling sorry for herself all afternoon yesterday - since she got left behind and all!I have a page with some information and links on my website - please have a look if you are at all interested - this is an incredibly fun sport!

It sounds exhausting and in some ways it is, but it is also exhilarating - especially when riding a fit, enthusiastic horse show loves to go. By the way, in between these endurance rides, Tessa has been getting dressage scores in the high 70's, she is an amazing horse.

Here is a picture of *Tessa and Anastasia during one of the rides.

and the morning after LOL