April 2022 101/201 Clinic
On April 2 the AZERC hosted an Endurance 101 and Endurance 201 clinic at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Fountain Hills, at the same base camp trail head of the annual Lead Follow or Get Out of My Way Endurance ride. 15 participants joined for the 101 lecture portion of the clinic, where host Mary Jane Fridley introduced a high level overview of endurance riding with topics on nutrition, conditioning, tack, and what to expect at an endurance event.
After a lunch and some networking, 6 riders tacked up to participate in the 201 portion, which was a mentored ride out on the McDowell Regional Park trails. Other than one loose horse in camp, that was thankfully recovered unhurt (hey, we wanted to simulate a REAL endurance event after all!), the mentored rides went off without a hitch. Each rider was matched with an appropriate mentor who was aligned with the rider’s plans and goals. We had one junior rider participate, and it was her first real training ride on her mentor’s ‘kid friendly’ endurance horse! The training loops consisted of distances between 11-17 miles, and a fun time was had by all!