Everything you ever wanted to know about endurance horse riding (& my conditioning schedule!)

An endurance horse ride is a timed test against the clock of a horse/rider's ability to traverse a marked, measured cross-country trail over natural terrain, consisting of a distance of ~50-100 miles in one day. Endurance riding was officially recognised as an international sport in 1978 by the FEI (International Federation for Equestrian Sports), the international governing body for international and Olympic equestrian events.

HRH Princess Mahra

Horses are required to pass a pre-ride vet check for soundness before they are allowed to participate. Endurance rides have mandatory 'holds' during the ride where horses must pulse down to meet a specific heart rate parameter - anywhere from 60-68 beats per minute - before they are then checked by qualified veterinarians to ensure the horses are fit to continue. Horses that do not pulse down within a specified time, or fail to pass the vet check, are pulled from the competition. Because of the nature of this sport, every caution is taken to ensure the safety and health of the horses.

Can my horse do endurance?

Endurance is open to all equine breeds that are 5 years and older. Endurance horses must be thoroughly trained and conditioned to meet the demands of the modern endurance competition. Any fit, sound and healthy horse or pony is more than capable of not only completing a ride, but also top-tenning (i.e. being among the first ten to cross the finish line and pass the final vetting).

HRH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, endurance horse riding in Dubai

Welfare of the horse is paramount in this sport, and all horses entered must pass a pre-ride examination at the ride site by a licensed veterinarian before they are allowed to start the ride. Horses must also pass additional mandatory vet examinations at specific check-points during the ride, and a final exam within 1 hour after the ride. Any horse showing lameness or failure to meet specified metabolic parameters is immediately eliminated.

Some breeds, like the Arabian horse, are genetically designed for distance and tend to dominate in this sport; but you also see many, many other light breeds out on the trail competing - and winning - endurance.

How do I train my horse for endurance riding?

For a pasture fat horse, the minimum time to reach a fitness level to do endurance would be about 3 months if one had hills to work on; otherwise, 4 months would be ideal. It is very important not to overtrain, or to drain the horse's resources so that it is too fatigued even before it is entered in the ride.

The average speed for endurance is ~7 mph, which is about the speed of a medium trot for almost all breeds of horses and ponies. To win, you would need to maintain a speed of around ~10 mph.

Approximate speeds and gaits (for horses):

• Walk - ~3.5 to 4 mph
• Slow trot - ~5mph
• Medium trot - ~6-8mph
• Fast trot - ~9-11mph
• Canter - ~10-15mph
• Gallop - ~15-25mph

In contrast, a human walks at ~3mph, jogs at ~4.5mph and runs at ~5-7mph.

Conditioning Schedule

The best conditioning method is called 'LSD' - long, slow distance - designed to bring a horse along to peak fitness without compromising soundness. There are lots of equestrian training books available out there that detail LSD work - here is a condensed version.

• Month 1

Incorporate flat work and walks/trots cross country 3x a week 5 mph. Increase distance in length, and speed up to 6mph, as the month progresses and as the horse begins showing strength and improved recovery. Be careful not to over stress, and check the horse over carefully before and after each session to make sure there are no soundness issues brewing. This is the most important part of your program - you have to be on the lookout for signs of stress or breakdown before they occur. A horse that is slightly 'off' after a training session may be gravely 'off' if you don't pay attention to the small details, and your schedule may halt if the horse goes more seriously lame. 

Also remember that it is not just the feet and legs that have to bear the brunt of the trail; it is also the saddle and tack. Your saddle must be comfortable for both you and the horse, and must be one up to the job at hand. A dressage or jumping saddle may be able to do the early conditioning rides, but you have to keep a very careful eye on them - they are not designed for this type of sport (long hours at a stretch on trail). They are uniquely designed for ring work only, and in that limited capacity they do very well if flocked and checked religiously. However, the natural trail is not a ring, and chances are they will start hurting your horse's back as time moves on, no matter how carefully you check and recheck them for fit. So be aware that sooner or later you may find yourself - after watching all those endurance riders floating down the trail safe and secure in their endurance saddles - wanting to look at some trail/endurance saddles yourself that can do the job you want, without being limited as are the flat work/ring work saddles.

• Month 2

Begin incorporating hill work - trotting uphill until the pulse reaches ~190-200 beats per minute. Do one hill session a week, and one day of moderate work trotting distances of 6-7 miles at a pace of 7-8 mph - i.e. ~1 hour of medium-paced trotting at a time. 

At the end of the second month, a horse should be able to do an easy 25 mile ride comfortably within the 6 hour limit. When the horse can easily recover to a 60 bpm pulse within 10 minutes of finishing, and can easily handle 12 miles at a trot within 3 hours, it is ready to enter an LD (limited distance rides are 25-35 miles). Frankly, completing a 25 mile ride is well within the framework of all breeds, and should be viewed as fun and enjoyable.

• Month 3

Continue to incorporate one hard mountain or hill session a week, with pulse reaching 200-220 maximum at least twice during that session. Make sure your horse's pulse comes down below 80 after the first set, and before you begin your second set. Do not do more than one day per week of moderate/hard work. The rest of the time (i.e. twice a week), you can do easy workouts, i.e. trotting at a medium 7-9mph pace for about 6-7 miles.

Remember that you are conditioning your muscles and bones for endurance, and part of a conditioning program is a period of rest to allow the body to recover and become stronger. You should never run your horse into the ground thinking that it is training. You don't have to do a 25 mile conditioning session to prove your horse can do an LD. Nor should you do a 50 mile training session to prove your horse can do endurance. Better to do less and have a fresh horse, than too much and own a drained horse. 

When your horse can easily recover to a 60 pulse within 5-10 minutes of finishing work, and can easily handle a 25 mile test ride within 6 hours, it is ready to enter an endurance ride.