May/June 2024 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN May/June 2024 Page 39 Sanctioned Endurance Competition Coming to Fair Hill, MD in June begin on June 20, with an all-day clinic focusing on Dressage for Endurance Riders. “A trainer I met in Florida is coming up to do the clinic,” Corcoran says. “She literally gives you skills you can use on the trails.” Throughout the day there will be other clinics, and opportunities to learn more about the sport and the horses that com- pete in it. There will be a clinic demonstrating how to present your endurance horse to the vet- erinarians at the vet checkpoints, and others on equine body work and equine nutrition. A panel discussion featuring Alex Sham- poe, Megan Wert and Shelby Payne—all accomplished young endurance competitors—will offer future and current young en- durance riders the opportunity to learn and to ask questions about what it’s like to compete. On June 21 the Dressage for Endurance Riders clinic contin- ues until noon, while additional programs on rider fitness and stretching, preventing horses from tying up, and equine nutri- tion will run from 8 a.m. to noon. Competition begins on the 22nd, when the Northeast Endur- ance Team Challenge (NETC) will offer rides for teams of three to five people, for distances of 25, 50, 65, 75 and 100 miles. Corcoran says that, in their effort to make the event more enjoyable for spectators, they’re setting up the venue so that all ride loops and crews come through the same area. “So much happens out on the trail. The competition happens out on the trail. What you see at the holds really tells the story,” she says. And that’s why they’re setting the venue up so more people can see what happens. “It’s one of the most important components. Taking care of the horse.” She says she’s excited that at Fair Hill, people— especially young people—will have the chance to see this part of the sport. “We’re expecting between 150-200 horses across all the distances. It would be fabulous if we had 30 teams.” Potential riders can sign up on the organi- zation’s website (www.usaneen- duranceinc.org/northeast-endur- ance-team-challenge). Corcoran says that she and her committee are busy nailing down all the final details. “We do have people signing up now and some people looking for team- mates. As teams sign up looking for riders and riders sign up look- ing for teams, we have someone handling that. We’re still working on some sponsorships and hope to get a couple more corporate sponsorships,” she says. A Sport with History in Its Veins As people consider the sport of endurance today, it’s easy to overlook its historical roots. Think of the Pony Express, where riders carrying bags of mail rode for 75 to 100 miles. Pony Express and its riders captured Ameri- cans’ imaginations, despite the service’s rather brief existence. From April 1860 to October 1861, the Pony Express riders de- livered. The enterprise died at the tap of a finger when the telegraph made communication faster and less susceptible to weather and other threats. Even though mail delivery and communication across vast distances were virtually seamless by the dawn of the 20th century, the romance of long-distance riding never died out. In Vermont, the Green Mountain Endurance Ride began in 1936 and over the years more and more venues throughout the United States hosted endurance rides. Some historians place the origin of organized endurance rides in Auburn, CA in 1955. Auburn was the finish for a 100-mile ride that began in Lake Tahoe, NV and crossed the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The disputed history has not affected the growth of the sport through- out the United States and may be a reflection of the years that these long-distance rides occurred without overarching rules for riders, for horses, for differences in course difficulties. In North America, the sport is governed by the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC), which was founded in 1972. Today AERC sanctions competitive endurance rides throughout the United States and Canada. There are more than 100 rides on the AERC calendar for 2024, ranging from the annual Tevis Cup in California to the one Corcoran’s group is hosting in Fair Hill. AERC-sanctioned endurance rides are geared to provide safety for both horses and riders. Rig- orous veterinary controls ensure that horses are fit and healthy from the beginning of the ride until the end. Internationally the Federation Equestre Internatio- nale (FEI) is the governing body for endurance as well as most other equestrian sports. “FEI is actually the rule of thumb outside the US,” Corcoran says. “We’re operating under two different rule books, because of the disparity of what is expected by AERC and what’s required by FEI. Riding FEI and hosting FEI events is much more expensive because we have to have specif- ically trained officials as well as veterinarians. We have to bring a foreign vet delegate. It becomes more expensive.” She says that the goal is to get more trained officials in each region to help contain costs. “It’s kind of like a mixed bag, getting the num- bers up and keeping everyone engaged.” The NETC will offer FEI 50-and-100-mile championships so teams can be mixed with both AERC and FEI riders. “We’re hoping we’re going to continue to build the high performance in the FEI division,” she says. “If we can bring young riders into the sport, there’s a young rider program in FEI.” The Future for NETC Corcoran says they had been scouting for a venue for NETC in 2025. “We don’t want to en- croach negatively on other rides, though. At minimum we want to do it biannually.” She’s looking both long term and short term, as in, July 2024. “I’ll be at Fair Hill the week of the event,” she says, “but three weeks after, I’m leaving for Botswana for a riding safari.” (Continued from page 13)