So you think you would like to give endurance a try?

Here are some pointers on where to start and what’s involved to help you on your journey to become an endurance rider!

There are of course many other ways you can get started or become involved so please use this as a guide only and make sure to ask questions if you are unsure of something. We are all here to help.

STEP 1: Attend a 10km or 20km Introductory Ride, or a 40km Intermediate Ride

To start out you can enter 10km, 20km or 40km rides on day membership. Pick the rides you would like to attend from the Events page or Ride Calendar. You can attend as many Intermediate rides as you like, but to take the next step to 80km you need to be a WAERA member and your horse will need a Logbook.

STEP 2: Step up to an 80km Endurance ride - WAERA Membership & Horse Logbook

To ride an 80km Endurance ride you will need to become a member of WAERA to gain Novice rider status (see WAERA Membership - New Members). To be eligible to enter an 80km Endurance ride you will need to have successfully completed 2x 40km Intermediate rides. You can ride more than 2x 40km Intermediate rides if you wish. Usually Novice riders do the training on the horse they wish to progress on so the horse may gain the physical and mental conditioning needed at the same time.

To ride an 80km ride your horse will need a Logbook (see Horse Logbook page). Once an official Novice Horse Logbook has been issued for that horse, that logbook must be used at every ride – regardless of the distance entered (Rule H 4.2). The horse’s logbook is the official recorded history and it is an essential requirement to accompany the horse to every ride (Quote rule H4.2).

STEP 3: Successfully complete 3 x 80km Endurance Rides

The next step in your journey is to learn how to manage a horse over long distances. This is why you will need to complete 3 x 80km rides with Novice time restrictions applied. The speed you are allowed to ride will be advised in the pre ride talk - it is important that you attend these talks or you may be disqualified from riding. Take this time to learn about your horse - what it feels like when he gets tired, teach him to drink at checkpoints, watch what other riders are doing and how they are riding in the different terrains, learn as much as you can, talk to as many people as you can.

STEP 4: Qualified Horse & Rider

Once you have successfully completed 3 x 80km rides at Novice pace you are deemed experienced enough to manage the horse at any speed. The horse's blue Novice Logbook also needs to be upgraded to a yellow qualified Endurance Horse Log Book (see Horse Logbook page).

STEP 5: Enjoy riding your horse!