What is endurance in driving?
There are many sports that allow riders and horses to develop skills, grow and work on different aspects of their performance. Among them is endurance. However, endurance driving is not a sport like any other. What is endurance driving? Find out everything you need to know in this article.
Endurance in harness racing, what you need to know
Endurance in driving is the ability of the horse and its rider to perform and sustain a prolonged effort. In general, the endurance test in driving is done on well-defined courses. It can involve running on your horse on a marked course of 10 to 60 kilometers during a test at regulated speed. It can also involve a course of 90, 130 or even 160 km or even two times one hundred kilometers to be completed in two days following a free speed. It should be noted that riders who practice endurance in driving are generally made aware of it from the beginning and take care to respect their horses.
Endurance, precision work
It is important to understand that in the discipline of endurance driving, performance can only be achieved with a significant workload. That said, to support such loads, horses are required to work correctly. Otherwise, they must work in the right direction .
During endurance, the running horse does not have the same attitude as if it were on a dressage rectangle. The second has closed "neck" and "hip" angles. The gesture is supple, round and the tone is maximum. As for the first, it has open angles in order to allow horizontal, economical movement and it is very relaxed.
Moreover, the dressage rider has permanent aids that do not change much. On the other hand, the endurance rider must constantly seek balance, obtain the pace... From this moment on, the aids remain on standby. The rhythm is generally regular, the cadence is slow and the gesture becomes mechanized.
The rider's work during endurance will consist of obtaining in a straight line the cadence, the gesture, the transitions and all this with a horse that is in horizontal balance. The rider uses a lot of the binder of the seat, his reins are quite long and his legs are very low. On the other hand, the feet are supported in the stirrups. To obtain the best equipment to achieve successful endurance in harnessing with his horse, you can try on La Sellerie Française , one of the best stores selling 100% Made in France products.
To be successful in harnessing, the rider must learn to act and yield constantly on long reins. In addition to this, he must use his voice. The rider who has some experience can even make transitions with regard to imperceptible angle closures. He can even change lead in the train with open angles.