Endurance Introspection
"To Finish Is To Win"Welcome to Endurance Introspection — a website for new, old, aspiring and contemplative endurance riders
About the Site
Authored by Patti Carey (formerly Patti Stedman), Endurance Introspection is a website for endurance riders, aspiring endurance riders and other sport horse enthusiasts interested in the cross-training aspect of endurance conditioning and training for horses. Patti’s vision for the website is to provide a place for endurance riding enthusiasts interested in the philosophies, training, conditioning strategies and life lessons learned during the act of enduring.
Patti is an AERC (American Endurance Ride Conference) endurance competitor/Ride Manager/former BoD member who truly embraces the sport’s motto of “To Finish Is To Win”.
About Patti
Patti was raised in rural Western New York. She started riding at the age of seven and eventually showing in various disciplines, until she discovered dressage (the art of riding and training a horse in a manner that develops obedience, flexibility, and balance.) in her late teens. She attended Cornell University and received her BS in Animal Science.
While she taught and trained professionally for a few years, it became apparent that a career outside of horses allowed more financial security (and that wackily practical health insurance), so her love of teaching took her in the direction of occupational safety and environmental compliance. She owns two successful businesses, one providing live training and consulting, and the other providing web-based safety training.
Patti began to compete in endurance rides in the mid 1990s. A couple of decades and a few thousand miles of competition later, she has acted as a Ride Manager for the Allegany Shut Up and Ride and was formerly a member of the AERC Board of Directors, Ride Managers’ Committee, and Education Committee. She developed materials for and insurance coverage for AERC Endurance 101 Clinics and has taught dozens of clinics, and encourages others to do the same to give riders new to our sport the skills needed to succeed and a sense of community with other local endurance riders and mentors.
Her passion for sharing her sport led her to creating a web-based course for new and aspiring endurance riders, Endurance Essentials, which can be found at horselearningonline.com
Patti loves combining the disciplines of endurance and dressage, and observing and writing about the inside world of endurance riding competition. Patti currently lives in rural South Carolina, with her horses, dogs, cats and various vermin.
Header photo by Carien Schippers @imagequine
Endurance at Almost 57: New Goals and the Want To
[Feature image photo credit: Me, of Rachel Lodder and Dakar, who I would follow almost anywhere. Pine Tree 50 2019.] I have always considered myself a namby-pamby endurance riders of sorts. I'm not the least bit competitive, although I do love going as fast as we can...
Legacy of Mom: A Mother’s Day Love Story
No one's life should be defined by their tragic death. But that's what happened to my Mom. So let's get that part out of the way: Thirty four years old. 1974. In the passenger seat of a Chevy Vega with only a lap belt. At an intersection four miles from our Marilla...
Boomerang Boy’s Rehab: In Praise of The Village
I affectionately call Iggy "Boomerang Boy." I gave him away twice during my divorce, and both times, he came back. I tell myself he was meant to be my boy. He's a quirky fella, mostly cheerful and a little crooked. He's the type who internalizes his stress until his...
Quid Pro Quo and Ponies
Sometimes I’m convinced I’m getting softer and more woo-woo when it comes to horses as I get older. I wish I had another lifetime ahead of me to learn about them, or that my 56-year-old body and mind had the fearless and athletic approach of my twenty-something self....
Relationship Status with Me, Myself and I: It’s Complicated
I have a difficult relationship with myself, my body specifically. Some parts more than others. I can't think of many women who don't. Before and during my divorce, I lost a lot of weight, first intentionally, then less so. A combination of ditching white...
Observations on Aging and the Sport of Endurance
Purchased photo by the fabulous Becky Pearman. Highland 100 finish line. Steven and Alayna Hay on Mu and Ivan. 5th place. “No one is as old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” (Henry David Thoreau) Becoming an elder in your tribe just sort of sneaks up on you....
Letting Go Lessons from Hummingbirds and Hazmat Response
This weekend we had a hummingbird crisis. One flew into our barn, which is large and has high ceilings, and could not find her way out. She flew furiously along the very highest levels of the ceiling, darting here and there as hummingbirds do. My heart raced in worry....
Vermont or Bust!
Moonlight in Vermont has been one of my favorite rides for a very long time. It was my first 100 mile ride with Ned in 2005. We finished near maximum time, and wiser, we came back to finish it hours earlier the following year. It was Ace's second 100, ridden by...
Planting A Good Garden (Hint: thisisn’treallyaboutgardening)
I've been doing yoga in the mornings, recently focused on a DVRed episode that is a series of seated twists, exactly what I need as of late. At the beginning, the instructor talks about asking her mother-in-law, who was nearly 102, about the secret to a good life....
Liminality, Benny and an Oh Shit Strap
The Dunkin Project is going well. I've done some things handling Dunkin in the last month or two that remind me of the time spent with my first horse, Benny. Benny was the horse I "leased" when I was ten years old. "Leasing" Benny meant that I rode 5 miles each way on...
Diagnosis: Failure to Connect
Last week I met Dawn for breakfast while traveling for work. We caught up, talked horses, talked life, as we do. As we were wrapping up, I expressed that I was feeling ashamed that I'd let some things slide with Dunkin. She scolded me just a bit. "No, not shame."...
Endurance and Infinite Game Theory
Photo by Dawn Hilliard. The Wednesday night prior to the Old Dominion ride, I lie in my little trailer, listening to the pouring rain, relentless on the roof. “Why am I doing this?” One of the worst things about the sport, in my experience, is being warm and dry while...