Introduction to Endurance Clinic
August 17/18 2024 Harvey Bear Prk, San Martin, Ca
2024 Intro to Endurance Clinic
The terrible trio of Debbie Boscoe, Jill Kilty-Newburn and myself are hosting our fourth (annual?) Northern California Introduction to Endurance clinic on the weekend of August 17/18 2024. This year we return to Harvey Bear Park in San Martin, Ca, about 15 minutes south of San Jose, right off Highway 101. The trails are excellent at Harvey Bear Park, and you will be riding on the actual route of the Quicksilver Fall Classic ride at the end of September. The clinic is a two-day event that provides everything you need to learn about the sport of Endurance. The whole weekend is modeled after an actual ride weekend. You do not need any experience at all; in fact we encourage people to come who are interested in learning about, and actually trying a safe practice endurance ride on their trail horse.
On Saturday you get a whole day of lectures, presentations, demonstrations, static displays, and talks by special guest speakers. You will learn everything you need to know to prepare for and enter your first ride.
On Sunday you get to try an actual practice endurance ride on a real trail with real vet checks in a safe environment where you can ride as far as you want. This year we have a 10.5 mile long loop, and two options for a five-mile loop with all rides having an out of camp vet check, just like a real ride. The two five-mile options provide one loop with some single track, and the other with only fire roads. If you can’t ride five miles, we can accommodate you on a shorter distance including a vet check. We break the riders into small groups where you are joined by an experienced endurance rider on the trail to teach you how it works, and actually show you how to pace yourself. We will accommodate people who want to do a 2 mile ride at a walk if they like. Everyone gets a sample of attending and entering a ride. We have a limit of 25 horses, but we can have as many auditors as we want. We provide lunch on Saturday, coffee and snacks Sunday morning, and a ton of prizes and awards.
On Saturday evening we will have a special lecture by Jerry Wittenauer on riding at night. Last year we were able to take people out for a taste of riding at night, and it was a huge hit. We are trying to get permission to do the same thing this year, but the park has not committed yet. I’ll keep you informed of our progress. It really was one of the highlights of last year’s weekend.
We will also provide the Ride with GPS service so you can see what it’s like to use the GPS based application on your phone during the ride.
Registration will open soon, stay tuned for details as we finalize our plans. We are limited to 25 horses, but can have an unlimited number of auditors. The information web page and online entry form will be available in a few weeks, so stay tuned! The last three clinics were a lot of fun. Spread the word and forward this post anywhere you like. I hope to see lots of people there!
