Endurance Riders

Susan Reid won the nationals on Achilles. (pictured above)

December '11

July '11

Firstly thank you very much for our on going sponsorship we really do appreciate Vetpro and the products we are able to use for our horses, they are performing very well for us and looking great to.
More fantastic news Sian and AA Sabatage have been selected onto the team of young riders going to Abu Dhabi for the World Champs in December. The horses will be leaving around the 20th of November and the ride is 120km on the 10th of December.
Not much else for news, we are very very wet here so hopefully another few fine days might help dry things up a little.
Cheers
Sue, Sian & Robert

June '11

I hope this email finds you and all the staff at Vetpro well, we are all fine the horses are enjoying a bit of a rest, although in saying that Oscar is only 23kms off getting his 5000km award so we will probably take him to a small ride in the next month.
Just thought I would send you an email to keep you up to date, we have some exciting news, Sian and AA Sabatage have been selected on the long list to the
Junior/Youth Endurance World Championship being held in Abu Dhabi on the 10th of December this year.  AA Oscar was also qualified.
The short list will be announced later in June.
I am also off to Brisbane next week to attend an Endurance conference, which is the first of its kind in this part of the world.  There are vets, nutritionists, trainers the list goes on.
We are also in the early stages of planning our trip to the Tom Quilty in Adelaide at the end of September.  We are taking Makahiwi Achilles over for the competition.
So as you see even though the season is over here in NZ there is still lots going on for us.
Kind regards
Sue, Robert and Sian

Jan '11

We went to the Kohuratahi ride over the New Years weekend, wow was it hot.  There was a fairly big turnout with most people wanting a workout before the NI Championships next week.

Makahiwi Achilles did the 40km with me on the Sunday and then Robert rode him in the 80km on Monday, I was riding AA Oscar and with Sian away for New Years we managed to get two other riders for AA Sabatage and AA Fhantom.  With the exception of Sabatage all the others qualified their rides, and for Fhantom it was his first novice 80km and quite a tough one in the heat, and there are always a few very good hills in Kohuratahi.  Sabatage went out on a h/r, probably a combination of the heat and his rider was a little heavier than I am, although he looked bright at the end.

There have not been many rides to go to at this end of the country so the horses have not had the lead up to the NI Champs that I would have liked, in saying that though I am very happy with them.  We have Chilli entered in the 160km and Oscar in the 120km with Sabatage in the 90km.  With the heat at the moment it will make the championship ride a tough challenge.

They are currently on Digest-rite, Musclemax, Vitamin E  we make good use of the quicklyte syringes during the ride.  They have all kept good weight during a harsh wet winter, and now into a dry summer.

I look forward to emailing you after the NI Champs with our results.

Could I please order, a packet of the B Boost syringes

And a 10kg of Vitamin E.

Thanks

Sue

Dec 09

Just an email to keep you up to date with us.
 
Last weekend we went to the Kohuratahi ride which was based at Whangamomana. (not sure on the spelling)
 
Unfortunately Sian couldn't ride as she was bridesmaid for a friend, so Robert and I went taking Oscar and Chilli.  After all the rain the day or two beforehand we were lucky with the weather.  The tracks were not too bad a little slippery in places.
 
Our riding time for the 80km was just under 6hours so a good time for the course as the terrain is fairly steepish but flowed well so we could move along in places.  Not a big turnout, I think due the the Trans Tasman being run two weeks before.
 
So now we are looking forward to a quiet Christmas at home and building up for the NI Champs at Waiuku at the end of January.
Nice and close for us.
 
We hope that you have a great Christmas and New Year.
What dates are you closed for as I think I might need some things before the North Islands.
 
Thanks
 
Sue

Well we had a very very wet ride yesterday at Tokoroa, I don't think I have been so cold and wet out riding before.  The tracks turned into bogs, rivers and little waterfalls, huge puddles we were wading through really slowed us down on the second loop.
Going up one slippery hill with water running down it, Chilli put his back foot down and a hole appeared under it and his leg went in up to his hock, also the tree roots became covered in mud and very slippery.
But we did get back to the base eventually, Robert won the 80km CEN ride on AA Sabatage, and I qualified Makahiwi Achilles in the 80km CEI 1* ride, so we were pretty happy just to get finished qualified and into some dry clothes, load up the truck and head for home.
Our next ride is in three weeks at Taupo, where hopefully we will have Oscar with us too.
Sian volunteered to stay home and feed the calves we have, she must have read the weather report more carefully.
Hope you had a good weekend and were nice and dry and warm.
Regards
Sue Reid

Endurance is very much a family sport for us, with my husband Robert, myself and Sian competing and supporting each other.  We are very much a team unit, we all train, compete and strap, although due to an injury Robert is only just coming back into riding.

Arctic Blast Rugs and Bandages,

"Our Arctic Blast Rugs are proving their worth after clearing the preliminary Vet Ring and before any re inspection.  Kevin James, High performance Director, Endurance New Zealand, has recommended the use of Arctic Blast Rugs to Endurance New Zealand."

October 2008 update

I went to the Tokoroa Endurance ride last weekend, Robert ended up at home with the flu which he had a real bad dose of.  The Waikato Club had a good turnout over the weekend of 100 horses, 30 in the 80km on Sunday.  I rode AA Oscar and we cruised around in six and a half hours.  The track was really good, mostly through the forest and some really nice cantering tracks, the only downside was it rained all day although once in the saddle and underway it wasn't too bad, at least not torrential rain but a steady drizzle.   A friend came down on Sunday and rode AA Sabatage in the 40km pre novice and he qualified as well.  Next ride is Taupo at Labour Weekend, apart from Oscar doing the 120km Junior 2* we are not sure of what the others are doing yet.  We will decide in the next week or so.

Cheers Sue

February 2008 update

"Since we began using Muscle Max this season, we have been delighted with the overall wellbeing and condition of our endurance horses, they are LOOKING SO WELL.  We have been using Equifix Leg Tightener on our horses after competition and training and we are very pleased with the ease to apply and the lovely smell it has.  Along with Equifix Repair Cream which is great to have on hand, we used it recently after one of the horses had a fall and had great results with the healing process using Equifix Repair Cream."

 January 2008 update  

"We had a fantastic weekend. The track was one of the toughest tracks we have done in a while.  We were pretty lucky with the weather even though it was hot we were lucky to have a good breeze.  Sian won both the 100km Junior on Oscar and the 120km Junior division on Sareign also got the best Conditioned Award with both horses.  Laredo and I were 2nd in the 160km ride.  We were lucky as we had a fall in the 2nd leg, but luckily Laredo got up and had not done any damage, just taken a bit of hair off one knee and his shoulder.  All three horses have come through the ride well.

Cheers Sue"

We have been involved in Endurance for nearly twenty years, with our share of successes and unfortunately a few disappointments.

Sian Reid : 16 years old, attends Hauraki Plains College in Year 12, and a keen netballer.

Sian competes on all three of our open horses.  In particular AA Oscar belongs to Sian. They have had a great partnership, competing two 160km rides, and they were 2006 North Island Champions over a distance of 120km.

Sian has been riding Endurance since she was eleven years old.

Her career highlights would be competing in Argentina in March of 2007 in a CEIJY 120km**** event where she was 29th on a lease horse.

Sian has also ridden in Australia three times, for one start in the 2006 Tom Quilty which had over 300 horses on the start line, unfortunately she vetted out before the end of the ride, one start in the Queensland State Championships where she was first juniour over the finish line but went out lame at the end.  Also winning an 80km club ride and taking the best conditioned award, all these rides were on different horses that she had only ridden briefly before the rides started.

Here in New Zealand she has been both a Junior National Champion and a Junior North Island Champion.

Also she is currently on the junior team's squad.

Susan Reid: I work part time as a vet nurse/receptionist at the local veterinary clinic.

I have been riding Endurance for nearly twenty years mainly competing on my now retired horse.  Now that we have more riders in the family I spent the last few years bringing on the young horses.

Highlights; Winning the North Island Championship in 1998, and second for the next two years.

Being part of the strapping crew for two team's events overseas, the Junior World Championships in Argentina 2007 and the Open team in Dubai for the Endurance World Championships in 2005.

I am currently on the National Elite Squad, my aim is to stay on the squad during the next few years and compete at the World Equestrian Games in America in 2010.

The Team

AA Oscar

11 year old Grey Gelding, 15hh. Junior North Island Champion, 2006.  2nd Nationals Junior 160km 2006.  4th Nationals Junior 120km 2007.  3rd North Island Open 160km 2007.

Makahiwi Laredo

8 Year old Bay Gelding, 15hh.

2nd Junior 100km National Junior 2006.  3rd Open 120km Premier ride 2007.  7th Open 160km National 2007.

Sareign

12 year old Grey Gelding, 15.2hh.

Imported from Australia 2006, owned in Partnership.  Sareign suffered an injury his first season here and has had Surgery we now have big hopes for him this season.

Makahiwi Caliber and AA Sabotage and AA Fhantom, rising 5 and 6 year olds, we plan to get them through the novice system this year.

Currently we use Vetpro products, and other Vitamins and minerals products.  I would love to change this to totally Vetpro products.

Regards Susan Reid.