By Davy Crockett 
Both a podcast episode and a full article

You might ask, what does the history of endurance riding have to do with ultrarunning? There are many close parallels between these two endurance sports. Ultrarunners should feel indebted to those of the endurance riding sport who had the vision to establish some early trail 100-milers for runners. The trail 100-miler inherited many of the same procedures of aid stations, course markings, trail work, crews, medical checks, cut-off times, and of course the belt buckle award. Part 1 covered the very early history of Endurance riding up to 1955.

By 1955 the sport of endurance riding had existed in America for more than 40 years since the initial competitive 1913 ride in Vermont. The sport was called “endurance riding” by those who participated in it for the early decades. Part 2 will cover the very significant birth of the famed Western States Trail Ride (aka Tevis Cup), which inherited practices from the older endurance rides, especially the Vermont 100 Trail Ride.

Introduction: Different Formats For Endurance Rides

When you read some of the histories on the Internet about endurance riding, It is odd to an outsider to read such things like, "endurance riding was born in 1955 with the first Western States Trail Ride“ and  "a new nationwide sport was born.” These "birth" references ignore the roots of the endurance riding sport that existed for decades and was shared in Part 1. Why?

About 1970, a redefinition was invented to solve disputes of competing endurance riding factions. The main difference is whether an endurance ride should enforce a minimum finish time to protect the horse. It appears that much of what was called in the past, "endurance riding," wasn't really endurance riding, it was "competitive trail riding" simply because they had a different format and distance. To this outsider history buff, you shouldn't rename the past to fit your format preference of the present. Nevertheless, most of those who prefer the present-day "endurance riding" definition believe that their sport gave birth in 1955 with not much acknowledgment of the past. That "birth" will be covered in this part.

The parallel with ultrarunning history is fascinating. Many runners think incorrectly that the entire ultrarunning sport was born with the creation of the Western States Endurance Run in 1977. Similarly, many riders think that the entire endurance riding sport was born with the creation of the Western States Trail Ride. In both cases the legend and folklore of these major events are taking too much credit at the expense of pushing aside their heritage and those who made their events possible to be established.

The creation of the Western States Trail Ride was certainly a pivotable historic event for the sport. It would eventually lead to the creation of the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) governing organization in 1971 that helped launch the endurance riding sport into a new modern era. Even more impactful to the endurance world was the creation of the Western States Endurance Run in 1977. Both of those events will be covered in the next article/episode.

The State of Endurance Rides in 1955

In the 1950s and 1960s there was no overarching governing body for endurance rides to set standards or to sanction the events. Much like trail ultrarunning today, riding competitions were created by independent associations and clubs. Event directors could set the distances and rules themselves. Public perception and criticism influenced how the events were handled. Rides were created patterned after other rides held in the country. But the endurance riding sport did exist before 1955 and was growing.

Miss USA awards the winner of the 1955 Vermont 100

In 1955, the premier endurance ride, the Green Mountain 100 Mile Trail Ride, held its 20th annual ride and was alive and well. Miss USA presented the Ride awards in South Woodstock Vermont. Also,