Endurance is a long-distance competition against the clocktesting the speed and endurance of a horse and challenging the rider over their effective use of pace, thorough knowledge of their horse’s capabilities and ability to cross all kinds of terrain. Although the rides are timed, the emphasis is on finishing in good condition rather than coming in first.
Endurance started as a sport in the United States, where the US cavalry tested its horses on a five-day, 300-mile (483km) ride, with each horse carrying over 200lbs (91kg). It did not become a competitive sport until the 1950s, when Wendell Robie traced the Pony Express route from Nevada to California in under 24 hours.
Each rider must safely manage the stamina and fitness of their horse and each course is divided into phases – in principle at least every 40km – with a compulsory halt for a veterinary inspection, or ‘vet gate’, after each. Each horse must be presented for inspection within a set time of reaching each ‘vet gate’, which determines whether it is fit to continue.
Arabian horses dominate the Endurance discipline though the most successful rider to date is Spain’s Maria Alvarez Ponton on her French-born gelding Nobby.
The premier Endurance rides are the FEI World Equestrian Games™, staged every four years in the middle of the Olympic cycle; the FEI World Endurance Championships, held in every Olympic year; and the biannual FEI European Endurance Championships.
Please find here the link to the 2016 FEI Veterinary Regulations.
Please find here after a video showing the Endurance discipline in a magnificient scenery of South Chili, in Torres del Paine:
An information booth on athlete anti-doping will be run by the FEI and Chile’s National Anti-Doping Commission on Thursday 22 October at the FEI World Endurance Championship for Young Riders & Juniors in Santo Domingo (CHI). Riders are strongly encouraged to visit the booth, where key information will be available for them in English, Spanish and French. They will have the opportunity to ask questions and to play an interactive quiz to test their knowledge. Coaches and Officials are also welcome. A gift bag will be offered to those who played the quiz. Please contact the organising committee for more detail on the location of the information booth on the venue. | ![]() |
Please review the following article
Please find here the video on the FEI World Championship for Young Riders and Juniors in Chile.
Please follow the FEI World Endurance Championship for Young Horse 2015
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