Endurance riders have been descending on a secluded ranch just east of Fort Assiniboine for the past four years.
The annual Horse Creek Ranch Endurance Ride brings out riders of all ages to compete in either a 25-, 50-, 75- or 100-mile endurance race.
“Our motto is ‘to finish is to win.’ Your first goal when you do an endurance race is to finish it. You’re taking your horse and you’re spending a lot of time with them, and you’re trying to ensure your horse finishes the race healthy,” said ride organizer Brenda Henrikson.
The fun race is competitive, but the primary focus is horse husbandry and looking after the horse out on the trails.
“Endurance races require a lot of horse conditioning. You just don’t go out and decide I’m going to ride 50 miles today. It takes months and months of conditioning to get them to that point,” said Henrikson.
The allure of endurance races comes in the form of the close contact a rider has with their horse for hours on end, the competition and the speed.
“It’s all about knowing your horse, and what it needs to travel over large distances. You bond with your horse out on the trail,” said Henrikson.
Typically, endurance riders will use an Arabian breed or an Arab cross because of their smaller muscling, which allows them to cool quicker. Furthermore their flared nostrils and increased lung capacity allows the horse to take in more oxygen.
“When you go out and do a loop, you have to come in and meet a pulse criteria, which means your horse has to pulse down to 64 beats per minute within 30 minutes of arriving, and that’s when your time stops. Arabians and Arab crosses are the horse of choice because they pulse down pretty quick, ” said Henrikson.
Horse Creek Ranch has four trail loops, which the riders use to complete their varying distances.
“I have two 13-and 14-mile loops, as well as a 10-mile loop down in the river valley that we couldn’t use this time around,” said Henrikson.
Fewer riders made it out to the event this year compared to 2010, which Henrikson chalks up to the weather.
“People just haven’t been able to get their horse conditioned properly because of the all the rain we’ve been getting,” said Henrikson.
Although numbers are down, the experience was still quite enjoyable for a rider who travelled from Grande Praire to participate in the race.
“The trails were beautiful, and the weather was perfect,” said Nancy Haughian.
Haughian brought her 13-year-old horse named Buckaroo to compete in the 50-mile race.
“This is my sport of choice. I ride Buckaroo miles and miles just to get him conditioned for the long distances,” said Haughian.
The two-day event concluded with a dinner to celebrate the enjoyment that many of the riders take from their ride.
“The Endurance Riders of Alberta is a great group. We talk about it like it was a family. You come out to a ride, you visit with people, you ride with people, you congratulate each other and often you’ll see riders helping each other with different things. It’s competitive, but also they’re your friends,” said Henrikson.
Riders had times in which they were required to finish each race. Riders had seven hours to finish the 25-mile race, 12 hours to finish the 50-mile, 18 hours to finish the 75-mile, and 24 hours to complete the 100-mile race.
