Endurance Season Picking Up!

It's finally that time of year, I am starting to organize and pack up for several overnight camping trips for the next several weekends in a row. Camping is a great way to gain more exposure for your horse not only with traveling, but settling in into new locations with new smells, sounds and sights.

This weekend I will be going to the Coyote Ridge Endurance ride, to volunteer on ride day. Endurance events rely heavily on their volunteers to make ride day fun and smooth. So since I an not ready to compete yet, I will go and lend a hand. This is only a couple hours away from me, Coulee City area, and it is supposed to be in the 80's! (I CANNOT forget sunscreen!) I will bring Prevost, and eventually later in the season, I will be bringing along a few training horses as well!

**(CHECK OUT THE WEB LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE)**

I encourage you to check out endurance! If you like to trail ride, they offer an "intro to endurance" ride, usually about a 10 to 15 mile loop, that is well marked for you to follow and enjoy the views. There is no time limit on the intro ride, so you can school your horse, take your time or ride it like a conditioning ride. Really its up to you! You will also get to practice a "vet check" at the end of your ride, where one of the ride vets will watch your horse trot out, listen to heart rate and gut sounds, check hydration and overall condition of your horse. It will all get marked down on your vet card that you can take home with you too (example of ride card below). What a great deal! It's probably the cheapest visit with a vet around. And the vets at rides are fantastic. They also volunteer their weekends to come to these events, and are there because they love the sport.

Stay tuned for more updates as we start rolling through the weekends. And come say hi, with or without your horse and check out what and endurance ride is about!

Website for Coyote Ridge: https://coyoteridgeride.weebly.com/

Equine Distance Riding Association website: https://www.equinedistanceriding.com/

American Endurance Ride Conference Education Page with videos! https://www.aerc.org/static/Preparing_for_Your_First_Ride.aspx