Degrees of Endurance

 …perhaps if I keep on lowering the bar, it will soon be a mere curb to step over?!?

Ex & I stumbled upon endurance riding as “our” equine sport 33 yrs ago when we picked up a brochure at the feed store: “What Is Endurance Riding?” I might still have a copy of these old recruiting tools tucked away somewhere. The gold standard ride lengths for “endurance” are 50 miles & up (there are precious few 75-mile rides, although I’ve done one with Wynk - of course, that was 20 yrs ago! But the asperational endurance distance is the 100 mi-in-24-hrs event, which there again are growing fewer as our riding population ages. Nowadays Limited Distance (25-30 mi) riders far outnumber everyone else, and most rides now offer an “Intro” distance which is generally one 12-15 mi loop.

All the distances I’ve successfully completed over these past 2 yrs have been Intro rides - it seems I keep on lowering my standards, but between my long Covid symptoms, a bad back, & my bouncy boy Baraq while my smoother options Scarlotta & Moonie remain crippled, leaving me sidelined. This weekend was a different type of endurance event since I went to the trail ride at Shanghai Pierce Ranch. After minor internal debate, I took Bo who was also my mount at this event last year. 

Why would anyone schedule a trail event in August, the hottest month of the year? Fortunately the ranch is on the Colorado River, a lot of it is shaded and there’s usually a good breeze since we’re approximately 100 miles inland from the Texas Gulf Coast. We have an air-conditioned bunkhouse to sleep & socialize in. Cindy has managed her springtime endurance event for about 15 yrs; she calls the trail ride HER chance to relax & enjoy the ranch! I love this ranch too, even though my endurance record has been spotty here - probably batting about 0.400 here… invariably it’s usually too wet & marshy, or dry & hard as concrete.

I didn’t attend the trail ride in its early years because - seriously, a trail ride in August? But here lately I’ve made a habit of it because it is a lot of fun. This year I also convinced my friend Sam to come - my incentive was offering to ride the green mare he bought for his wife. Gayle is recovering from hip replacement surgery, so Annie has been idle for quite a while.

I rode Bo Saturday morning and Annie Saturday evening - she skittered out from under me when there was some unseen booger in the drainage ditch and I landed hard on my rump. No good deed goes unpunished! But I had also loaned Bo to a friend whose mare was crippled up - hell, she was crippled last year (navicular disease); she needs to retire her even though I know she loves her dearly. So I had to cowgirl up Sunday morning: between ibuprofen, some shark cartilage pills another lady gave me, and some of my Eastern-medicine herbs, I heaved myself into the saddle Sunday morning and Annie was a champ. So I guess you could say I replenished my street cred.

                                        Annie paired up nicely with Brandi’s little grey mare

                                                       Deb & Bo (she never spilled her beer!)

                                                               Bo & I Saturday morning

                                                               The mighty Colorado River