I received this yesterday from an Australian
endurance rider. The part in red is some further information. With
her permission I thought some of you might be interested.
Just some more info (in red)
FYI.
As you can see, they have two different types. The Novice and the
Endurance. The requirements for a horse to progress from Novice to
Endurance require a completion of 240 KM (150 miles), with no ride exceeding
120 KM (75 miles), and no more than 4 rides entered in a 90 day time
frame. Another interesting control feature is, while riding as a Novice,
the pace traveled cannot exceed 14 KM/per hour, with equates to 8 3/4 miles
per hour. At some rides they use Pacers for the Novice riders.
Our rules allow for this mininum time to
be slowed - depending upon conditions. I think it may happen more here
(North Queensland) in humid conditions. I've been at some rides that
have a 12km/hr (7.5 miles/hr) maximum pace.
We also have a maximum time which is
usually set at a pace of 10km/hr (6.25 miles/hr), but again can be slowed
depending on terrain and conditions.
Also, a horse that reaches the Endurance level must be identified with
either a microchip implant or a certified veterinary identification
(registered brand). This, obviously, would prevent a rider from riding a
horse that isn't the one for which the Endurance logbook was issued.
I added the 13th month rule in there to show that if a horse has not
completed a ride (notice that it is completed, not entered) within that
time frame the horse is automatically dropped back down to the Novice
category.
A horse falling under this rule is
required to successfully complete one (1) 80km ride to move back up to
Endurance status.
The rules that apply to the rider's status are similar. The
rider is treated as a Novice until they meet the same mileage requirements as
the horse. Once the rider has taken their first horse through the Novice
requirements the rider is issued a Membership card.
A rider must first complete 2 x 40km (25
miles) rides before being allowed to enter an 80km ride.
A novice horse is not required to do this
ie an open rider may bring on a novice horse without having to do the training
rides (I think you guys call them Limited Dist. rides).
I'm running our of space here and want to try and keep this section in
one post (is anyone reading this?). Jim Holland has asked the AERA
secretary to contact me, via email, and I'm hoping to start a dialog with
her. Like you, I have some questions on this (what do you do with these
books when it rains, for one).
It doesn't rain here much ;-)
Seriously, we are in a drought for the
last few years. But I have seen log books kept on clip board folders
with a clear plastic sheet over the lot - so not really a
problem.
Please, email me any questions, or problems you have understanding their
rules to me and I will try and answer them, via the AERA secretary. I
realize not all of this is for us and I certainly don't want to change our
dress code,
I think the dress code is only one of
being tidy. I haven't heard of this ever being a problem with what
riders want to wear to be comfortable.
