Welcome to Endurance

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.

Latest Department Updates

  • 1 Dec 2015
    Endurance - 2016 Veterinary regulations

    Please find here the link to the 2016 FEI Veterinary Regulations.

  • 18 Nov 2015
    Endurance - 2016 Regulations
    Please be informed that following the FEI General Assembly, the FEI 2016 Endurance Regulations are now published:
     
     
    Please note that the 2016 Notes for Guidance version will be published after the Endurance Technical Committee meeting mid December.
  • 18 Nov 2015
    Endurance - 2016 Schedule
    Please be informed that following the FEI General Assembly, the new 2016 Endurance Schedule are now published online:
     
  • 17 Nov 2015
    Endurance - Video from Chili

    Please find here after a video showing the Endurance discipline in a magnificient scenery of South Chili, in Torres del Paine:

    https://vimeo.com/132982676

  • 11 Nov 2015
    Endurance - Responsabilities of Officials
    Please find here a letter sent to the attention of the FEI Endurance Officials from M.Brian Sheahan, Chair of the FEI Endurance Technical Committee, and M.Manuel Bandeira de Mello FEI Endurance Director. 
     
  • 30 Oct 2015
    Endurance - 2015 FEI World and Continental Championships
    By ending the 2015 season with the Junior/Young Rider World Endurance Championship last week in Santo Domingo (CHI), the FEI Endurance Department congratulates his 2015 Endurance Champions.
     
    Please find here a summary of the 2015 Champions list, and the evolution of last edition’s Championships.
     
  • 20 Oct 2015
    Endurance - Human anti-doping awareness outreach session at the FEI Junior & Young rider Endurance World Championship
    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.

     
  • 19 Oct 2015
    Endurance - Hugely successful FEI Endurance courses in UAE

    Please review the following article

  • 28 Sep 2015
    Endurance - VIDEO FEI World Championship for Young Rider & Juniors in Chile

    Please find here the video on the FEI World Championship for Young Riders and Juniors in Chile.

  • 26 Sep 2015
    Endurance - Live coverage for FEI World Endurance Championship for Young Horses

    Please follow the FEI World Endurance Championship for Young Horse 2015

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