Two decades down the line and the Ullswater ride for the Cumbria Group of Endurance GB is still thriving, attracting many entries.

A very impressive 119 riders from as far a field as Scotland and Wales turned up for the four classes held on Sunday, April 10, at Low Close Stables, near Askham, next to Lowther Park - the venue of the famous Lowther Horse Trials.

The main ride of the day was the 65km with 21 entries, the second class was the 40km, third was the novice, again over a distance of 40km, and finally a pleasure ride of 25km, which had the largest entries totalling 57 riders.

Set in what is undoubtedly some of the best countryside in England this beautiful ride was a huge success for the group. The terrain was varied riding through a large amount of the Lowther Estate by kind permission of Lord Lonsdale and estate manager Robert Benson, with stunning views from the higher points on route over The Dodd, Wartches, Barton Fell and Heughscar Hill.

The largest climb of the day was well known to the riders and horses - Loadpot Hill. This hill is 671m above sea level and needed total respect from the riders. Horses that walked up faired far better with lower heart rates in the vet check at the end of the ride than other riders who pushed their mounts faster.

Ride organiser Ann Aldridge, who has held this post since taking over from Sue Rogers in 1990, said: "I prayed all week for good weather, as for the past three years the weather has been fantastic. This year didn't let us down, although it did look doubtful for a while with the rain!"

Other than being a little fresh, the weather was near perfect conditions for the horses. Ride speeds for the day were very sensible, averaging between 11kph and 13kph, with only eight horses being eliminated by the vets for lameness throughout the day.

"The veterinarians came from the practice Frame Swift and partners based in Penrith," Ann said. "Two of the vets were new to the sport of endurance and did their job brilliantly and the practice even let a student watch the procedures for the day."

The venue was on land belonging to Peter and Fiona Harwood, who run a livery yard at Low Close Stables. They provided hard standing for all the trucks and trailers, which is a blessing nowadays - no getting stuck in need of a tow - and a hard concrete area for the veterinarian trot up, which I as a rider/trainer am certainly not so sure about. I believe the ground should have a little give in it for horses who have travelled some kilometers. Sadly too many stones and hard flints covered the hard ground going into the vet check area, although you could tell a brush had been taken to the trot up lanes. Standing on a stone with no give in the ground is damaging to the horse's feet and unfortunately it took its toll for some of the eliminated riders.

The technical steward for the day was the very experienced Yvonne Clark. Ann said: "Yvonne gives me total confidence and back up. She is so very efficient and I owe her a debt of thanks, as holding an endurance ride takes a lot of hard work and dedication from everyone involved, and it is all voluntary."

Local rider and member of the Durham and Teesside group, Karen Greenwood said: " It is one of my favourite rides, I absolutely love Ullswater. I have been coming here since 1999. My horse Billy loves the terrain; he is built for this type of going. The organisers did a very good job; in fact a brilliant job - the organisation is second to none. The going was in general very good, slightly soft and slippery in places, but nothing major after the rain we had. I look forward to next year greatly, it is sad that they cannot manage to run more than one ride at this fantastic venue each year, maybe in the future".

One of the most impressive aspects of the day was the huge number of pleasure riders who loved hacking around the 25km marked course. It proves that this is a sport for all people and all types of horses. If they wish to move up the scale to competitive rides the chance and training advice is there for them to do so.

My 'hero' of the day has to be Debbie Thompson, an orienteeror and long distance runner. Debbie was responsible for laying out the marker flags over and around Loadpot Hill, and all this was done on foot. Well done and thank you Debbie on behalf of all the crew and riders.

Ullswater is a beautiful ride for everyone and I feel that it should be the venue for FEI competitive rides over longer distances in the very near future. One thing is for sure, another 20 years running this event will be easy for this group of Endurance GB.

Published: 06/05/2005