I wanted to share this post from Mike Maul that was posted to the AERC members list. It has to do with longevity in endurance horses. A topic that is near and dear to my heart. When you ride a lot at some point you have the face the reality of what it is exactly you want to do. What do I want out of this? What does it all mean?
For me, it is more about the journey….taking the time to see the scenery and smell the roses. Versus the more immediate satisfaction of going out and winning a ride, or getting best condition. I’ve done it both ways. Nowadays everybody thinks I ride slow, and that is a fair assessment as I am now a pretty conservative rider. I have learned that if I go at a conservative speed well under 10 mph that my horses will stay sound.
It seems so simple. Only it’s not really. It takes a lot of determination to be able to constantly focus on rating a horse. It is so much easier to let them go a little faster than it is to reel them in and keep them steady. Why the 10 mph speed? That’s the magic number, it seems. When I keep my horses at 10 mph or slower while moving out they have few problems. Having fewer problems is important. It means that I have less vet bills because we aren’t trying to find and then fix a problem (most likely caused by riding faster). I also don’t have to sit out many rides because I’ve always or nearly always got a horse to ride. If I don’t go to a ride it’s usually due to other reasons but almost never horse related.
I have won several rides, been first overall at multidays, overall BC, won national BC awards and have also won the West region. One year I believe that I top tenned (most top 5′d or better) 19 rides on Rocky and won overall 1st in my region. I eventually came to the realization that was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. So what. Who cares? Who remembers? I am now of the mindset that once I have become attached to a horse that I enjoy riding that going fast only shortens their career.
Years ago, Dave Rabe once said to me something along the lines of if he had ridden his beloved horse Port more conservatively that he would have been able to have ridden him longer and that no amount of wins made up for the difference. We can all savor our dessert, and for me anyway—the taste of victory has more to do with longevity than with racing or going fast. My horses are still doing the miles, just in a way that minimizes the wear and tear on them. We are fortunate enough to be able to smell the roses, see the view and enjoy every moment. That’s not to take away at all from those that do choose to go fast — I certainly enjoyed every moment of the rides that I rode fast on and completed in the front of the pack.
These numbers really jump as the mileage increases. I think I’ve been very fortunate to have had some nice horses. My first endurance horse, Dream Weaver made nearly 6300 miles. My second horse Rocky made it to 7600 miles. My third horse – Granite Chief has made it to 10,700 miles and is still going. I have learned a lot.
Turns out that Chief is currently the 10th highest mileage horse in AERC, and 5th highest mileage Arabian. 
This is from Mike Maul:
The high mileage equines for various breeds that I’ve been posting for the past few days represent a part of our sport that I consider one of the most important parts – being able to go down the trail sound and healthy for many years. Following is some data on how often that happens.
There are 28,294 equines registered in the AERC mileage program. Of those – 530 have no endurance miles and no limited distance miles – 1 in
53.4 either never entered or completed a ride
9,804 have endurance miles but no limited distance miles – 1 in 2.88 horses
7,270 have LD miles but no endurance miles – 1 in 4 horses 11,220 have both endurance and limited distance miles – 1 in 2.5 horses
If we consider horses that have endurance miles (20,494) – the distribution of horses with
more than the values in the table are listed below.
What the table shows is that if for example you have a horse with 3,000 endurance miles or
more – only 847 horses in AERC’s records have accomplished this.
That’s one horse out of about 25 that achieves this number of miles or 4%.
If you have a 5,000 mile or greater horse – only 213 horses or 1 in over 200 horses
has achieved this or 0.5%.
End.
Miles Number greater than
> 0 20,494
> 500 8,379 1 in 2.4 horses
>1,000 5,005 1 in 4.1 horses
>2,000 1,877 1 in 10.9 horses
>3,000 847 1 in 24.2 horses
>4,000 401 1 in 51.1 horses
>5,000 213 1 in 96.2 horses
>6,000 103 1 in 200 horses
>7,000 58 1 in 353 horses
>8,000 38 1 in 540 horses
>9,000 26 1 in 790 horses
>10,000 16 1 in 1,300 horses
>15,000 4 1 in 5,100 horses
>20,000 1 1 in 20,000 horses
There’s some really striking achievements in these numbers.
Mike
LOVE this article!!! Makes so much sense! When I start endurance riding this is the way I will choose to ride!!!
Thank-you so much.
Karen, you and the other high-mileage endurance riders are the people I aspire to be like.
Do you ever canter on a nice section? Or does Chief have a super-slow < 10 mph canter?
Okay, I am busted I admit that there are times I *do* let the horses go faster. Having ridden most of the rides this year with a GPS I can say that more than once I hit 26 to 30 mph – on both Chief and Bo. But only for a few strides or to stretch them out.
There are also times that I’ll let them trot for short bits in the 12 to 14 mph range. We’re talking a minute or two though – and of course, both horses are pretty experienced/fit. I think I was the most conservative with Chief for his first three or four years because it took a lot to manage his brain.
I’m working on a followup post with more info.
Looking forward to riding with you someday!
Karen, if you speak of 10mph, you mean you usually let them trot at 10mph? Or is this the average speed (what i’d consider quite fast)?
It is the same with the horses in Germany that go for long miles, they are usually not the ones that are ridden fast.
Hi Francis – thank you for asking. I like to keep my horses moving speed at or under 10 mph. Their overall average speed is, of course, much less. I am working on another psot that explains things in more detail.
Karen- Thank you for sharing this post. I am looking forward to reading your next one with more info! I find it so comforting to hear other riders speak of completions and total miles rather than wins. I ride for the sheer joy of riding, training and nature- not winning. So nice to hear others are out there for the same reasons. And based on the numbers- who wouldn’t want to be one of the few- that maintained a partnership with their horse over 5,000 miles!! Amazing.
Congratulations, Karen, on Chief’s magnificent record. And, well, for all your horses’ records. I think they are very lucky horses, actually, to have had you on their side, and on their back. I know Chief and Bo will have many many more years and miles with you.
thanks Carla (and others)! I hope so too.
btw, funder – Chief doesn’t have a very slow canter in fact it took me a long time to get him to canter without trying to go at mach speed. I like to do a little cantering here and there and sometimes have done a lot of cantering. Usually I’ll count canter strides and work them up that way starting with maybe 50 to 75 and then getting up to 700 or 900 which I have done on rides like EMS. I haven’t always ridden slow and have done rides where I cantered more than anything else.
Karen – What an encouraging article – thanks – my horse and I are just getting started – fun rides at this point – he can canter at 10 mph – do you think it is better for him to trot than canter? He wants to canter when we get past 7 mph. We love being outside riding together – and plan to do so for a long time. Greatly appreciate hearing your experience and thoughts on speed. Happy Trails to you always!