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Endurance in Colombia
Since 2001 a core group of riders has been partipating in around 4 rides per
year, held in varying locations. They are on a fast learning curve, and
dealing with the same issues that we (USA) have been dealing with for the
past 40 years, but in a very short period of time:

how to deal with juniors and sponsors and age requirements
how to cope with their native terrain which can be quite mountainous and
tough (too tough?)
how to standardize vetting issues - lameness and metabolic - where to draw
the line?
how to encourage more participation?
how to teach riders that if they are not careful, they can hurt their horses
how to sensitize the riders to the fact that ride managers and organizers
cannot do it alone, and will quickly burn out if it becomes too stressful...
So, now the Colombian Equestrian Federation has added Endurance as an
official discipline - along with Eventing, Vaulting, Dressage and Jumping.
(I don't think they have Reining yet!). With Endurance as a new official -
and visible - sport, they are now striving to consolidate the group, and
learn how to do the sport as well as they can. A few are travelling to other
countries, bringing back their observations and suggestions. Others are
researching and learning through trail and error. And with the goal of
hosting their own FEI ride in 2007, the Federation elected to bring a few of
us from the USA to observe their existing program, advise them on how to
step up to FEI level, and teach them about Endurance - training, management,
and competition.

One of Federations current concerns, and most contentious issue, is what
type of terrain is best, or acceptable, for Endurance competition. The
Bogota area is mountains - one of the chains of the Andes range. The easiest
and most accessible routes for Endurance are comprised of roads that wind
through the hill. They are mostly dirt roads, but packed with rock which
creates a concussive surface. Combined with the steepness of the terrain,
this makes for a tough ride. We were asked again and again if it was 'too
hard'.

Steve and Dinah compete in this type of terrain quite frequently - the
Eastern USA mountain and hill country has a lot of hard gravel and rock
roads, and they thought the terrain here was perfectly acceptable, although
it would be difficult to stage qualifying FEI rides, based on the current
FEI speed requirements. I was a little more critical of the terrain, since
we have few rides in the West which are both steep and highly concussive,
and I would be quite concerned about 'racing' on that type of course. Bottom
line was - if you condition the horses to tolerate the concussion - train
for it, and train your horse to be balanced on the trails - both uphill and
downhill - then you might as well go with what you have - and ride
accordingly.

However, we all agreed that for an FEI ride, they should look for kinder
terrain, better footing and fewer hills. There were several options that
they were considering - one of them at Nemencon, where Jorge Villa trains.
We drove to Jorge's and spend several hours driving the area with 4-WD rigs.
It was beautiful! and perfect for an FEI ride. Sandy roads (but not deep),
fairly flat terrain, and absolutely gorgeous. A little section of 'desert' -
complete with cactus! Parts of it reminded us of the Outlaw Trail -
slickrock and sandstone erosion. The only problem with this area was the
lack of facilities. No buildings other than an eroded adobe house. Water
would have to be hauled, tents erected, food and caterers driven in,
temporary corrals and stables put up. Jorge though he could have electricity
brought in, which would help tremendously. But the big concern was that the
lack of facilities.

We tried to explain to them that this was fairly common in the USA. Many of
the FEI venues are in bare fields, everything is hauled in. A lot of work,
but certainly possible. One of the problems they have is that their riders
are not used to camping, and don't have the LQ horse trailers that we have.
They are accustomed to hauling their horses to the venue the morning of the
ride, doing the ride, and then hauling them back home. For a CEI*** ride
they would have to have people and horses at the venue for 2 days, a new
challenge. I personally hope they can make this area work, it was classic
terrain for a great Endurance event - so pretty that Steve and Dinah were
already talking about bringing their own horses to ride in January.

There were a few other areas that they were considering, but we didn't have
a chance to go see them. One other option is a National Park with a large
lake, and flat/good footing around the lake. The Colombian Park Service is
being encouraged to promote tourism and multiple use, so the Park was
willing and eager to host an Endurance event there. But after a 'winter' of
record rains, the area was still under water from the high lake levels, and
we weren't able to view it.

So - that's basically the state of Endurance in Columbia. They are learning,
they are gaining experience, they are setting their sights on International.
And they are very serious and committed - it will be fun to watch their
progress, and see how they deal with their unique issues. There are also
other parts of Colombia which are taking up Endurance - there's a group in
Medellin, and a few rides have been staged in Los Llanos (the flat cattle
country). The biggest challenge for expanding the sport country-wide will be
dealing with transport (small trailers, bad highways) and the need to spend
more time at a venue - either camping or stabling and staying in hotels.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of wealth in the sport in Colombia - no
royalty, and few patrons or large breeders to support the training and
competition. These folks are doing it primarily on their own. But they're
passionate, and they're hooked - they'll make it work.

full story and coverage at http://www.endurance.net/colombia

Steph


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