Sarah Hunt Engsberg Endurance is proud to announce that my personal recipe for poultice is under development. I have used this recipe for years with great success. Samples of my Race Horse Poultice are currently being tested by some of the most well known names in the endurance community. I am looking forward to bringing to the equestrian market a really effective poultice that is easy to use, cools, soothes and tightens, and has great rinse-ability when you are through. Look for SHE Endurance Race Horse Poultice soon in tack shops, on-line and in mail order catalogs.

 

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An avid endurance rider since 1991, Sarah has progressed from casual limited distance rider to international competitor. Read about Sarah's equestrian career and her equine partners in this exciting and growing equestrian sport.

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Endurance Riding – The perfect combination of competition and camaraderie.

My lifelong passion for horses and adventure make endurance riding the ultimate sport for me. It is truly a team sport, where horse and rider are united as one. Every success and failure teaches me and makes me better.

My first introduction to endurance riding was when I happened onto a copy of Karen Paulo's book, "America's Long Distance Challenge." I read it to tatters and spent the next two years "training" for an endurance ride. I could not imagine I could ever get a horse fit enough for this sport. In1990 I went to my first endurance ride, entered the 25-miler, finished it very slowly, and have never looked back. It seemed a very scary leap to make, but down the road, after completing a limited distance ride one day, I wanted to ride some more. The next logical step was to move up to the 50-mile distance.

Now I prefer Pioneer rides (three to five consecutive days of at least 50 miles each) and 100-milers. The desire for 100's came from somewhere deep inside, and I find them to be a truly unique and fulfilling experience. I think every endurance rider should give them a try.

In October of 2005, I was honored to represent the USA-East Endurance Team at the North American Endurance Championship in Maryland. In 2006 I accomplished several milestones in my journey to represent the United States at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, in August. I was selected to the 40 member training squad in the spring. In June I made the second cut and participated in the 18 member USEF National Training Team as an alternate. At the end of July the 10 member World Equestrian Team definite entries were named and Vanna and I again were honored to make the alternates list to travel to Germany. Although we did not get to go to Germany, I am very proud of Vanna and my efforts and how much we accomplished in the first attempt to compete at this level. All in all it was a positive learning experience and I would do it again.

Congratulations to the 6 member traveling squad who participated in the 2006 World Equestrian Games. Thank you for all your efforts and accomplishments.
 

“A canter is the cure for every evil”
-- Benjamin Disraeli

 

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Meet Sarah’s teammates:

 

Koweta Vanna Kaye- 1994 - Koweta Vanna Kaye is a grey Russian/Crabbet mare, 15 + hands, and, as a friend once commented, built like a brick (out) house. She was bred by Koweta Arabians and Denni Mack of Monticello, Georgia. She came to me as a 7 year old "give-away" labeled as unsuitable for the sport of endurance and a pasture rogue. I took her based on a photograph, her pedigree, her breeder and her potential. My plan was to condition and sell her to a good home but the more I rode and handled her, the more I fell in love. She is affectionate and loyal, beautiful and powerful, a fierce competitor and lovely to travel. She is all girl, hence the pink tack and accessories, prissy about her legs being touched, and chatty. She will talk you out of any food or affection you have. She has excelled in each division of the sport we have attempted. She really likes multi-days, getting stronger each day we go out. She is also the kind of horse we love for 100's. A voracious eater, she reluctantly leaves her vet check meals, but once on the trail, she is all business, strong and sound to the end. Now at 12, she is just maturing as an athlete. She has 2430 endurance miles and 10 100-mile completions.
 

SHE Galexxi– 1998- Daughter to my first endurance mare Koweta Gambolina, and half-sister to Vanna through their sire PR Alexx, “Sister” is all sass and vinegar. Barely 14-2 hands she rides like a big girl and has the attitude to back it up. Very athletic and fast, she does have a buck and a kick in her, but boy is she fun to ride down the trail. True to her breeding, Sister is tough as well as pretty, already showing success in the multi-day arena. I am looking forward to starting her on 100’s next year. She has 795 endurance miles.

 

SHE James Barnett– unknown age- A slaughter house rescue, I bought him from Carol McGhee, and named him after Jim Barnett who urged me to buy him. He is as talented as he is quirky and there are times I know why he was at the killers. A non-registered grade horse, we think he is an Anglo-Arabian. Nicknamed “brown horse” because he comes in a plain brown wrapper, he is 15-3 and quite eye catching when under saddle. Eighteen months into his training we are starting to see real mental progress and I am feeling the powerhouse he will be. Thanks to the patience and love he has been getting from Lori Sumrall, he is becoming a more trustworthy and trusting mount. More miles and more miles will continue to bring him along. He has 570 endurance miles and 2 100-mile completions.
 

 

SHE Marylynnejohnson – 2004 -Better known as “Emily”, this 2 year old Anglo-Arabian filly is the apple of her Mammas eye. Emily’s Mamma is a Secretariat granddaughter belonging to her name sake Mary Lynne Johnson. We can only hope she lives up to her grandsires incredible potential. She currently lives with a very long lived and long suffering 35+ year old gelding who is doing a wonderful job socializing and babysitting this precocious youngster. The endurance side of her pedigree belongs to the Belesemo breeding through Belesemo Chance standing at Agnew Arabian Athletes.

 

Gatiq – 1977-2006- I started riding lessons at 6 years old, did the Hunter/Jumper circuit during the teen years and early college and there I was introduced to my first Arabian. He was a donation to the universities riding program, small, unbroken and recently gelded. He was too small to be any interest to the leggy college girls and too quick for the kids lesson program. He promptly dumped into the dirt every kid they put on him. Since I was small and a good rider, the task went to me to ride him. The only place he was happy was on the trail so that's where we went for hours a day. I learned to love trail riding. After graduating from college and moving to Atlanta, he was given to me after a series of serendipitous events. He and I learned about the sport of endurance riding together. He was an absolute hoot to ride, entertaining me and himself with his on trail antics. As lively as he was for me, he turned into a complete pussycat anytime a child or a beginner climbed aboard. I watched him and my husband going down the trail in front of me one day, and Gatiq carefully maneuvered himself from side to side, staying directly under Towson as he swayed off balance from one side to the other. He died this past spring at the age of 29.

 

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Horse History Endurance Records