{"id":211625,"date":"2018-06-19T23:27:16","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T13:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=211625"},"modified":"2020-07-31T09:55:47","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T23:55:47","slug":"riders-tackle-nanango-endurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/06\/19\/riders-tackle-nanango-endurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Riders Tackle Nanango Endurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Vet checks in the dark on Saturday night during the 80km ride [Photo: Julie Kemp]<\/figcaption><\/figure>June 20, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Nanango Heritage Endurance Ride is always a test for horses and riders … but at least the horses get regular vet checks!<\/p>\n

A total of 115 riders took part in the annual event on Saturday, which started at the South Burnett Endurance Riders’ grounds near Nanango Racecourse.<\/p>\n

They had three rides to choose from: 20km Introductory (14 entrants), 40km Intermediate (25 entrants) and the competitive 80km Endurance (76 entrants).<\/p>\n

There was also a special celebrity rider: Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington rode part of the 20km course on board “Silversmith”, owned by club secretary Colleen Shaw.<\/p>\n

“She rode five kilometres but I think it was a really guts thing to do,” Colleen said.<\/p>\n

“She drove up from Brisbane in the morning. I don’t know how long it has been since since she’s been on a horse and she then had to get ready for the Kumbia Deb Ball … that would have taken me a week to get ready for!”<\/p>\n

There were four divisions in the 80km ride: Heavyweight, Middleweight and Lightweight (based on the weight of the rider plus saddle), and Junior (for U18s).<\/p>\n

The first horses left Nanango at 2:00pm … and the last returned just before midnight.<\/p>\n

The course proceeded along back roads near Nanango and then into the Din Din Forest and Peach Forest before returning to the club grounds.<\/p>\n

Colleen said only the 80km was competitive, and it was undertaken in two 40km stretches with a break in between for horses and riders.<\/p>\n

There were four vets on hand, and all horses were checked for heart rate, lameness and metabolic parameters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The whole basis of endurance riding is horse welfare,” Colleen said.<\/p>\n

All horses entered also had to have up-to-date Hendra vaccination certificates.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0South Burnett Endurance Riders attracted 20 volunteers to help out at Saturday’s event.<\/p>\n

“It’s a big job for a small club,” Colleen admitted.<\/p>\n

“All the track has to be marked beforehand and all the signage taken down afterwards, and then all the grounds have to be cleaned up.”<\/p>\n

[Photos by\u00a0Keren Mcsweeney Photography<\/a>,\u00a0Denise Keelan Photography<\/a> and Julie Kemp]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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80km Results<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n