Thursday, July 21, 2011

To finish is to win for these horseback riders


Nancy Haughian of Grande Prairie gives her 13-year-old horse named Buckaroo a cooling bath after completing their 50-mile endurance race on July 16 at Horse Creek Ranch.
Barrheadleader.com - Full Article

Horse Creek Ranch hosts endurance race that covers 25, 50, 75 and 100 miles
Jul 19, 2011 06:00 am | Chris Ribau

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...

Read more here:
http://www.barrheadleader.com/article/20110719/BAR1101/307199992/0/bar

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