Painted Bar Stables Endurance and Distance Riding Programs

To be an endurance racer with our horses you must be a current riding student at our stables.

We are one of the only stables in the country that will allow the use of our barn owned horses for students at endurance races.We have various categories of riders that participate in these races:

Turtle Riders enter endurance races not for the race, but for the opportunity to enter organized events that allow them to take their mounts further distances with the support of well marked trails, watering stations for the horse, and veterinarians on deck for support. These riders tend to ride a bit slower pace (6 mph) and enjoy the trail, the event and the ambiance of the endurance race community, who supports these riders by awarding them with the "turtle award" to the rider who finishes the race last!

Support Racers are students who are looking to compete but are either new to the sport, or stepping up to the next level or distance of racing and require the guidance of a seasoned rider or instructor on the ride. These riders may be riding slower mounts, or may be riding fast mounts, but will be riding with a staff member or advanced level student for support to get them through the new challenges.

Independent Racers are students who are ready to go out and compete at their selected level independently without the support of another rider. They have usually raced at their distance before and are working on perfecting that distance.

Jack Rabbit Racers are the riders in our barn who are looking to place in the top ten and potentially even win best condition for their mount. These are riders who are mounted on competitive horses and capable of riding at a faster pace (9-10 mph) without putting horses at risk of injury or metabolic distress.

These are the additional opportunities that we provide to help them go the distance:

Distance Coaching Sessions

$85 per class

Students usually arrive at 6:30am to have more time to catch their horse, warm up and prepare.

These riding sessions aren't technical lessons, but more supported practices with specific goals and educational topics for riders preparing to do distance events. The sessions usually consist of a 60 minute fast paced 6 mile trail ride as well as vetting education and pacing strategy guidance.

Endurance Riding Bootcamp

Distance Riding Bootcamp
Teens & Adults
Intermediate to Advanced Riders
June 23-25, 2023

$800 per person using Painted Bar Horses
$650 to bring your own horse
Includes Meals!

Bringing Your Own Horse is Encouraged

This endurance camp designed for intermediate and advanced riders looking to discover and understand more about endurance in a full immersion long weekend. This is a jam packed 3-day weekend full of riding and learning. You will spend hours in the saddle every day going through both technical and athletic bootcamp as well as knowledge seminars in order to prepare you for distance sports.

This camp is a perfect intro to understanding the logistics, training, and ways to succeed in distance sports with your horse. 

Friday:
Making camp and then a ½ Day of Practical Knowledge and Lessons starting at 12:00pm
Saturday: 
Full Day of Practical Knowledge, Trail Rides and Lessons
Sunday: 
Introductory Endurance Ride and Debrief Award Ceremony over Late Lunch/Early Supper

The goal of this camp is for riders to:

• Learn the rules for both endurance competition as well as competitive trail competitions and understand how they differentiate.
• Review the logistics, timeline and "flow" of a distance competition.
• Master the vet check!
• Develop the riding skills necessary to ride with minimal impact on their horse over long distances.
• Understand the differences in speed, rhythm, and technique between long trail rides, competitive trail pacing, and endurance riding.
• Practice techniques, drills and workouts that will get you and your horse fit for long distance riding. 
  
• Grasp the veterinary and medical information that will help you prepare your horse as well as keep your horse safe while riding long distances.

The program includes four hours of mounted instruction daily as well as lectures. 

All riders should be able to canter and control their horses while riding on open trails, in groups and solo or in pairs. Teens and adults are welcome. Pre-Teens are welcome by invite or approval only.

Endurance Race Opportunities

All of our Endurance Opportunities: Please see this google document for a completel list of travel opportunities for the year

Endurance and Travel Opportunities

EquiTravel Trips - see more at www.equitravels.com

Because many races are out of state we turn the event into a vacation with a variety of riding destinations along the way. Each trip is customized for the destination and the people coming and can include a mix of camping, horse motels and cabins depending on the goals for the trip.

The Hector Half Hundred is the local endurance race run out of the Finger Lakes National Forest.

The race consists of the entry vet check Friday afternoon, attending a rider meeting and banquet and camping with our horses Friday evening. Races start Saturday.

Youth of all ages welcome to the Hector Half Hundred.
- Adult riders are welcome to ride solo or in groups.
- Riders over the age of 16 are allowed to ride without a sponsor but we require that all minors from our barn ride in approved groups and do not ride solo.
- All riders under age 16 must ride with an adult sponsor, whether another entrant adult or a Painted Bar Stables staff. An adult sponsor can ride with two minors.

We will not be providing human transportation or any rider supervision overnight. Parents of minors are responsible for their children.

Because this is not a travel trip, to keep prices low this race is not all-inclusive nor include memberships
like the EquiTravel adventures.
Discounts to entrants on riding
memberships the month before
the race can be arranged.

 

WHAT IS ENDURANCE RACING?

Endurance racing is the sport of riding a variety of terrain a certain distance at speed (6 to 10mph) and finishing the race with a horse that is:

• Calm - heart rate below 60 beats per minunte
• Sound - not sore, tender or limping
• Healthy - hydrated, cool, with a moving gut and a happy demeanor

The ride will take you a set distance (15, 30, 50, 75 or 100 miles) with a veterinary stop every ~15 miles in order to check the condition of the horse. At these veterinary stops there is a mandatory "hold" of a perscribed time for each rider allowing the horse and rider to eat, cool off and relax before continuing on the next leg of the event.

At the end of the race is a veterinary check. Even if you completed the entire distance, if your horse does not pass this final vet check you are not considered "finished."

For the 50, 75 and 100 mile distances the finish line is an actual line to be passed and the horse has 30 minutes to pass it's veterinary check. For the "Limited Distance" rides of 15 and 30 miles, the finish line is at the vet station with the first horse to complete the distance and bring their horses heart rate down to 60 bpm winning the event.

WHY BECOME A DISTANCE RIDER?

You want to physically challenge yourself at your own level...
Why do people run 5k or marathon races? Endurance is the same idea: you want to push your limits and challenge yourself within your own level of riding. Choose your distance and riding it in a way that you want to challenge yourself!
While you may be able to ride for a short distance, riding a longer distance will be a great way to highlight you and your horse's weaknesses!

You want a cost effective equine sport...
We spend so much money at horse shows only to ride for 10-20 minutes. Why not spend significantly less and ride for 3 hours, 6 hours, etc... and they get a banquet dinner at the end to celebrate?

You love riding on trail....
People often refer to those who love riding the trails as "just trail riders" neglecting to see the extreme skills of trail riding as a sport unto itself. Distance riding is a game of skill, not only testing the endurance of the horse and rider but also their skills of riding the terrain past spooks, through variable terrain, and beyond!

You are looking to crosstrain for other equine sports...
There is no better crosstraining sport for any equestrian or horse than endurance. In the sport of endurance there's no requirements so you can ride it to whatevel level of challenge you want: there's no assigned gait you need to ride, no specific speed you need to go, no specific tack that you need to wear.

You want to ride new trails but are afraid...
Scared you'll get lost? Scared your horse may get hurt and need help? Scared you'll get out there and there won't be water for your horse? Well... this is why you go to an endurance race. Every 30' or so there will be a trail marker with a ribbon for you to follow. Every 5 to 7 miles will be a water crossing or water trough station for your horse to drink. Every 2 to 5 miles is a volunteer checkpoint to make sure nobody gets lost. And there are multiple vets on hand at every race and an emergency trailer you can call to pick up your horse if it is injured. For free!

KELSEY DOES THE DERBY

In 2019 one of our riders, Kelsey Eliot, competed in the Mongol Derby which is known as "the longest and hardest horse race" in the world. The Mongol Derby takes riders 1,000 km across the Mongolian Steppes on semi-wild mongolian horses. Not only did she successfully complete the odyssey, but she placed 12th overall.

CLAIRE TABERSKI

For 2022 we are again sponsoring one of our riders as they take on the Mongol Derby! Claire heads out this summer for the ride of her life.