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

 

 

 

 

Chemotherapy and Speed Bumps

Chemotherapy and Speed Bumps

I don't think I remember exactly when or where I met Sam. Sixteen or seventeen years ago? Is it possible it was that long ago? It was at an endurance ride, of that I'm sure.   She reminded me of my mom, my birth mom, long gone, but whenever I meet a woman who...

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#Enough is Enough!

#Enough is Enough!

Letter sent this morning to AERC Board of Directors. [Edited to add: Written, not by me, but a group of concerned members.] If you are a member and you agree with the sentiments in this letter and the members who signed it, it is not enough to hit "like" on Facebook,...

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Contemplating the Realities of 50

Contemplating the Realities of 50

(Feature photo by Tre Wheway.) I'm not talking about the fifty-mile distance, I'm talking about the half-century mark of longevity, the hallmark birthday when the AARP begins to send you postcards, the age at which (I read and now believe, based on a one-rat self...

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Today, I sent an email to the AERC BoD …

Today, I sent an email to the AERC BoD …

[If you are an AERC member and would like to voice an opinion on this topic, here's a link to email your BoD members. Please note that most of them do not read or participate on Facebook, so while such discussions may be gratifying and allow you to vent your spleen or...

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Ho-Hum and Hiccups

Ho-Hum and Hiccups

[Photos by Dawn Hilliard. Thanks, girl! For everything ... ] Iggy has been my test pony for all sorts of theories I've accumulated over the years we've competed and the horses we've brought along. How it is easier to start a horse who is mature and has all of his...

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Top Ten Questions Endurance Green Beans Ask

Top Ten Questions Endurance Green Beans Ask

[Photo by Spectrum Photography. GMHA, 2015] I believe that I shall always miss David Letterman's Top Ten lists. After teaching so many clinics, meeting new riders or prospective riders or riders who have an inkling that they might love our sport "if only ... " -- I...

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Legging Up with Limitations — Iggy’s Story

Legging Up with Limitations — Iggy’s Story

Three months ago, we bought Iggy, an 11 year old Arabian who had done a couple of 25 mile rides and a moderately paced 50 miler at age 6 or so. He'd been purchased, but life got in the way with his new owner, and he didn't have a full time (or even part-time) job for...

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Influencing Iggy

Influencing Iggy

It's just another one of those "do as I say, not as I do" moments ... Countless times I've told other people with new horses, fretting over this or that, that it takes a year to get to know a horse. It's been two months since we picked up a new horse in South...

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Life, Loss and Stewardship

Life, Loss and Stewardship

Damn. This one is tough to write. Ned has been a huge part of my life for nearly twenty years. And tomorrow we will be letting him go. Some creatures -- human or equine or canine -- just have more personality than others. Ned has been mammoth in more than stature....

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