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Step 1
Get the right horse. While any horse can generally be entered into endurance riding competitions, you need to make sure you have a mentally sound, injury-free and mature horse. Arabian or Half Arabian horses are the best breed for endurance riding, but any other horse that meets the basic eligibility and health requirements will work fine. Generally, horses need to be four to six years old to enter into endurance riding events.
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Step 2
Ramp up slowly. You should set out with a limited distance endurance event in mind. A shorter, 25-mile event is a good place to start. To begin training your horse try spreading the 25 miles over three training sessions each week. Ride at a slightly faster pace than you would if you were doing the mileage all at once.
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Step 3
Train yourself. It's crucial that you stay in good physical shape as you train for endurance riding. Not only is riding long distance a physically strenuous activity, but the chance of your horse getting injured or you having to dismount means that you might have to do some serious walking to get to the next way point of the endurance riding event.
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Step 4
Consider entering a program. An endurance riding program trains you and your horse while providing seminars and tutorials related to all things that have to do with endurance riding. Check out endurance riding schools and programs such as Proride, which offers three, five and 10-day endurance riding training sessions. Global Endurance Training Center is a Utah-based training facility that will help get you and your horse into endurance riding shape.
