Going the distance with endurance riding

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SFGate.com - Full Article

Stephanie M. Lee
Published 06:19 p.m., Tuesday, July 31, 2012

As the saying goes, Nick Warhol knows how to ride a horse into the sunset - for 50 or 100 miles at a time. An endurance horseback rider, Warhol has raced 10,400 miles over two decades' worth of competitions. He couldn't do it, of course, without his trusty steed Donnie, who has 4,300 miles under his metaphorical belt. (Vets check the animals' health periodically during races.) For more information, check out the American Endurance Ride Conference at www.aerc.org.

Name: Nick Warhol

Age: 55

Residence: Hayward

Occupation: Vice president of operations at Vigilent Corp. in El Cerrito

Obsession: Endurance riding

How you got started: I was never a horse person and did not ride a horse until I was 33 years old. I got my wife a horse for a college graduation present in 1990, thinking it would give her a real hobby of her own, since I had so many. I had no idea what a horse really was, or that they were individuals. My plan backfired, and I got sucked in. I got my first horse in 1991, and the rest is history.

Essential equipment: You need a horse (preferably an Arabian), a saddle, a truck, trailer, camper and more horse tack and supplies than you could ever imagine. Having a 10-acre ranch also really helps...

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http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Going-the-distance-with-endurance-riding-3751775.php