Important Updates for the 2018 Distance Horse National Championships

Arabianhorses.org

The AHA National Distance Commission has made an important schedule change for the Distance Horse National Championships held this year at the Spook Run Site in Henryville, Ind., from October 26-28. We have decided, due to discussion at the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) Convention, to hold the 50 Mile Championships on Friday, October 26 and the 100 Mile Championships on Saturday, October 27 and the AHA CTR Championship will run on Sunday, October 28.

This decision was made due some timing issues we realized would be a factor in riders being able to ride in both Championships. The format of the CTR Championship has also been changed back to a one-day format to allow riders planning to attend the ability to participate in all three Championships rides. All forms can be found on the Distance Nationals web page. The banner at the top of the web page will direct you to the Event Facebook page.

We have also added the LD Challenge to the 2018 Distance Horse National Championships. This event will be open to any horse/rider combination that plans to ride all three days (25 miles a day) in the Open LD Rides. The rider must pay the $20 entry fee for the LD Challenge indicated on the Entry Form before the start of the first day's ride. This is in addition to the entry fee for each individual open ride.

Because we encourage the very best care of our horses, all the LD riders must reach a 56 for pulse down criteria and will have a CRI in the final Vet Check for each day. On the third day, the entries in the LD Challenge will have a final Vet Check score. The placings and CRI heart rates for each of the three days and the Vet Check at the end of the third day will be converted into a points score. This score will determine the awards for the 1st-5th winners and all completion riders. All rules and point schedule are available on the AHA Distance Nationals web page under Exhibitor Information.

The Distance Horse National Championships offer several Open Rides throughout the three days of the event. There are three Open LD Rides, three Open 50 Mile Rides and one Open 100 Mile Ride. All Rides are already sanctioned by the Arabian Horse Association (AHA); however, we have additionally sanctioned the rides with AERC, the Southeast Endurance Ride Association (SERA) and the Ohio Arabian All Breed Trail Riding Society (OAATS). The Open CTR Ride is recognized by the Arabian Horse Association.