February 5, 2015
An influx of endurance riders, their horses and support teams gave Blackbutt a mini-economic boost at the weekend.
The Blackbutt Heritage Endurance Ride attracted 141 nominations from all over south-east Queensland and northern NSW.
It was organised by the South Burnett Endurance Riders and sponsored by the Heritage Bank branch in Nanango.
Club treasurer Ruth Dixon said for every rider there were at least two or three support people, and they all went into Blackbutt on Saturday to vote.
The ride is the first of three the club has planned for this year, dubbed “the Lunar Series” because they’re all being held under a bright moon.
The next ride will be on May 30 followed by an overnight ride on September 19-20.
Ruth said Saturday’s event featured an 80km competitive ride, which started a 3:00pm, plus two non-competitive events: a 50km ride and a 20km ride which are “speed limited”, ie entrants cannot ride faster than 14km/h.
On Sunday morning there was a 5km “Tiny Tots” event which started at 6:30am.
The non-competitive rides were open to all-comers, but entrants in the more gruelling 80km ride have to be members of the Queensland Endurance Riders Association and have completed at least two 40km rides recently.
The 80km ride was also divided into four divisions – Heavyweight, Middleweight, Lightweight and Junior – based on the combined weight of the rider, saddle, saddle blanket and helmet. Riders are weighed in at the start and end of the event.
Ruth said it was an extremely hot day – the temperature topped 33 degrees C – which could take a heavy toll on horses and riders.
However, there were four vets in attendance and water was available every seven kilometres for the horses. Strapping water to wash down the horses was also available.
The riders weren’t forgotten, either, with bottled water and mangoes distributed along the route.
The 80km route left the Blackbutt Showgrounds and headed six kilometres up the Rail Trail and then into tracks within the Benarkin State Forest before returning down the Rail Trail.
It was run in three legs, with the horses checked by vets at the end of each stage before being allowed to continue.
“We had an 88 per cent completion rate which was wonderful considering it was a very hot day,” Ruth said.
At the end of the 80km, the top five horses in each division were then examined extra closely by vets to select the “Best Conditioned” horse in each group.
The South Burnett Endurance Riders would like to thank the sponsors who helped with the ride:
- Heritage Bank – Nanango
- Stanwell Corporation
- BGA Agriservices
- Riverina Stockfeeds
- The Goomeri Emporium
- Central Fruit Packers – Mundubbera
- Davcar Horse Floats – Clontarf
- Toft Endurance – Marburg
- Dixon Smith Equestrian – Mullumbimby
- Horse And Rider Therapy – Brisbane
- Pandora Performance Saddles – Haigslea
[Photos: Denise Keelan Photography. More can be seen on her website]
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[UPDATED with correction]
