The Arab horse has many of the attributes required for successful endurance racing. Endurance riding developed from races in the cavalry that tested the horses’ stamina and condition, and the riders’ horsemanship (Ruggiero, 2000). It is now defined by the American Endurance Ride Conference as “an athletic event with the same horse and rider covering a measured distance within a specified maximum time” (Arabian Horse America, 1997). In a day race, the horse and rider cover a distance of 65-160 km, but in a race of several days they can do more. The original cavalry endurance tests were often extremely severe, and in some cases the horses were ridden to death (Edwards, 1994). There are now strict rules and requirements to which the rider and horse must adhere in order to prevent this from occurring. In an endurance race there are veterinarians at checkpoints who assess the horse and will withdraw it from the race if they consider the horse to be unsound or metabolically compromised (Arabian Horse America, 1997). In addition to these checkpoints, there are mandatory rest stops or holds. The winner is the fastest horse that passes all the veterinary checks and is fit to continue. The most grueling American race is the “Tevis Cup” which is a 160-kilometre course covered in one day. The Australian equivalent is the “Tom Quilty Endurance Ride” (Edwards 1994). In 2001, eight out of the top ten horses in the “Tevis Cup” were Arabs (Arabian Horse America, 1997).
