Endurance Introspection
"To Finish Is To Win"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
Ned. Again.
Yesterday I posted a photo on Facebook, not a particularly unique photo, a shot from the saddle, showing the horse’s ears and the trail ahead, in our case, covered with a foot or so of fluffy white snow. I quizzed everyone as to whether or not they could guess the...
Hooking the Newbies!
As Ride Managers, we have a lot more power than we realize with regard to whether that brand-spankin’ new rider at our ride becomes an AERC member. Sure, some newbies (and I use that term with the utmost respect having once been a newbie) are just going to find this...
Why I Do It
On November 9th, 2011, the sport of endurance riding lost a dear friend. Debbie Zanot, longtime endurance rider and Ride Manager of the much-beloved Elk Valley rides held in Pennsylvania during the late 90s and early 2000s, was a friend and inspiration to so many of...
Why I Do It
On November 9th, 2011, the sport of endurance riding lost a dear friend. Debbie Zanot, longtime endurance rider and Ride Manager of the much-beloved Elk Valley rides held in Pennsylvania during the late 90s and early 2000s, was a friend and inspiration to so many of...
On November 9th, 2011, the sport of endurance riding lost a dear friend. Debbie Zanot, longtime endurance rider and Ride Manager of the much-beloved Elk Valley rides held in Pennsylvania during the late 90s and early 2000s, was a friend and inspiration to so many of...
Hooking the Newbies!
As Ride Managers, we have a lot more power than we realize with regard to whether that brand-spankin’ new rider at our ride becomes an AERC member. Sure, some newbies (and I use that term with the utmost respect having once been a newbie) are just going to find this...
Hooking the Newbies!
As Ride Managers, we have a lot more power than we realize with regard to whether that brand-spankin’ new rider at our ride becomes an AERC member. Sure, some newbies (and I use that term with the utmost respect having once been a newbie) are just going to find this...
The ride manager/head vet partnership
Reprinted from Endurance News, April 2008, monthly publication of the American Endurance Ride Conference, www.aerc.org, 866-271-2372 I've just arrived home from the AERC convention in Reno, and both the Ride Managers Committee and Veterinary Committee meetings had a...
IMG_6500
IMG_4314
The jigsaw puzzle pieces are falling in place … (VT 100 Report — long overdue)
… but some times it takes a little time and introspection to see the pattern in the big picture that the puzzle creates. Sit back with a cup of joe, boys and girls, this is gonna be a long one. I hesitated to write about my VT 100 experience back in mid-July, largely...
Casting A Bigger Net
Reprinted from Endurance News, April 2013, monthly publication of the American Endurance Ride Conference, www.aerc.org, 866-271-2372 If you’ve been paying attention at all in the last year, or occasionally emerge from your basement to check in with the goings-on in...