The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is a U. S. business-focused, English-language international daily newspaper based in New York City. The Journal, along with its Asian and European editions, is published six days a week by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp; the newspaper is published in online. The Journal has been printed continuously since its inception on July 8, 1889, by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, Charles Bergstresser; the Wall Street Journal is one of the largest newspapers in the United States by circulation, with a circulation of about 2.475 million copies as of June 2018, compared with USA Today's 1.7 million. The Journal publishes the luxury news and lifestyle magazine WSJ, launched as a quarterly but expanded to 12 issues as of 2014. An online version was launched in 1996, accessible only to subscribers since it began; the newspaper is notable for its award-winning news coverage, has won 37 Pulitzer Prizes. The editorial pages of the Journal are conservative in their position. The"Journal" editorial board has promoted fringe views on the science of climate change, acid rain, ozone depletion, as well as on the health harms of second-hand smoke and asbestos.
The first products of Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of the Journal, were brief news bulletins, nicknamed "flimsies", hand-delivered throughout the day to traders at the stock exchange in the early 1880s. They were aggregated in a printed daily summary called the Customers' Afternoon Letter. Reporters Charles Dow, Edward Jones, Charles Bergstresser converted this into The Wall Street Journal, published for the first time on July 8, 1889, began delivery of the Dow Jones News Service via telegraph. In 1896, The "Dow Jones Industrial Average" was launched, it was the first of several indices of bond prices on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1899, the Journal's Review & Outlook column, which still runs today, appeared for the first time written by Charles Dow. Journalist Clarence Barron purchased control of the company for US$130,000 in 1902. Barron and his predecessors were credited with creating an atmosphere of fearless, independent financial reporting—a novelty in the early days of business journalism.
In 1921, Barron's, the United States's premier financial weekly, was founded. Barron died in 1928, a year before Black Tuesday, the stock market crash that affected the Great Depression in the United States. Barron's descendants, the Bancroft family, would continue to control the company until 2007; the Journal took its modern shape and prominence in the 1940s, a time of industrial expansion for the United States and its financial institutions in New York. Bernard Kilgore was named managing editor of the paper in 1941, company CEO in 1945 compiling a 25-year career as the head of the Journal. Kilgore was the architect of the paper's iconic front-page design, with its "What's News" digest, its national distribution strategy, which brought the paper's circulation from 33,000 in 1941 to 1.1 million at the time of Kilgore's death in 1967. Under Kilgore, in 1947, the paper won its first Pulitzer Prize for William Henry Grimes's editorials. In 1967, Dow Jones Newswires began a major expansion outside of the United States that put journalists in every major financial center in Europe, Latin America and Africa.
In 1970, Dow Jones bought the Ottaway newspaper chain, which at the time comprised nine dailies and three Sunday newspapers. The name was changed to "Dow Jones Local Media Group".1971 to 1997 brought about a series of launches and joint ventures, including "Factiva", The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe, the WSJ.com website, Dow Jones Indexes, MarketWatch, "WSJ Weekend Edition". In 2007, News Corp. acquired Dow Jones. WSJ. A luxury lifestyle magazine, was launched in 2008. A complement to the print newspaper, The Wall Street Journal Online, was launched in 1996 and has allowed access only by subscription from the beginning. In 2003, Dow Jones began to integrate reporting of the Journal's print and online subscribers together in Audit Bureau of Circulations statements. In 2007, it was believed to be the largest paid-subscription news site on the Web, with 980,000 paid subscribers. Since online subscribership has fallen, due in part to rising subscription costs, was reported at 400,000 in March 2010.
In May 2008, an annual subscription to the online edition of The Wall Street Journal cost $119 for those who do not have subscriptions to the print edition. By June 2013, the monthly cost for a subscription to the online edition was $22.99, or $275.88 annually, excluding introductory offers. On November 30, 2004, Oasys Mobile and The Wall Street Journal released an app that would allow users to access content from the Wall Street Journal Online via their mobile phones. Many of The Wall Street Journal news stories are available through free online newspapers that subscribe to the Dow Jones syndicate. Pulitzer Prize–winning stories from 1995 are available free on the Pulitzer web site. In September 2005, the Journal launched a weekend edition, delivered to all subscribers, which marked a return to Saturday publication after a lapse of some 50 years; the move was designed in part to attract more consumer advertising. In 2005, the Journal reported a readership profile of about 60 percent top management, an average income of $191,000, an average household net worth of $2.1 million, an average age of 55.
In 2007, the Journal launched a worldwide expansion of its website to include major foreign-language editions. The p
Rein
Reins are items of horse tack, used to direct a horse or other animal used for riding. They are long straps that can be made of leather, metal, or other materials, attach to a bridle via either its bit or its noseband. Reins are used to give subtle commands or cues known as rein aids. Various commands may ask for a slower speed, request a halt or rein back. Rein aids are used along with leg aids, shifting of body weight, sometimes voice commands. On some types of harnesses there might be supporting rings or "terrets" used to carry the reins over the animal's back; when pairs of equines are used in drawing a wagon or coach it is usual for the outer side of each pair to be connected to the reins and for the inside of the bits to be connected between the pair of horses by a short bridging strap or rope. The driver carries "four-in-hand" or "six-in-hand" being the number of reins connecting to the pairs. A single rein or rope may be attached to a halter to guide a horse or packhorse. A long rein called a longe line may be used to allow the horse to move in a circle for training purposes, or for the purpose of a clinical lameness evaluation by a veterinarian.
On certain designs of headgear, a third rein may be added to the paired reins, used for leading, longeing, or other specialized or stylistic purposes. The best-known example of a third rein used in the USA is the leading rein of the mecate of the classic bosal hackamore. Types of reins include: Closed reins, or loop reins: reins that are either a single piece or that buckle together at the ends. English riders use closed reins. Western riders in timed rodeo events use a single closed rein. A closed rein helps prevent the rider from dropping the reins. Double reins: The combined use of two pairs of reins, a curb rein and a snaffle rein; this is two single reins, though sometimes split reins may be seen on western-style bridles. Double reins are used with a double bridle, with bits such as the Pelham bit and, less on some gag bits used for polo. Draw reins and running reins: long reins made of leather or nylon webbing, that attach to the saddle or the girth, run through the bit rings, back to the rider.
Several design variations, they add mechanical advantage to the rider's hands and may the horse's ability to raise its head. Used in conjunction with a snaffle rein by English riders used alone by western riders. Lead rein: A third rein used on bridles, not to be confused with the single lead rope of a halter nor the direct rein aid known as the "leading rein". In North America a third rein is most seen as part of the mecate of a hackamore. In Mongolia it is integral to the bridle, tied to either a bit ring or a chin strap. Long reins, longlines, or driving lines: exceptionally long reins which allow the rider to control the horse from a cart, or from the ground, with the handler walking behind the horse. Mecate: a style of rein seen on a bosal style hackamore made of a single piece of rope that encompasses both a closed rein and a leading rope. Romal reins: a rein style from the vaquero tradition that incorporates a closed rein with a long quirt at the end. Side reins: used when longeing a horse, attached from the bit to the saddle or surcingle, they are not meant to be held by the rider.
Split reins: a rein style seen in western riding where the reins are not attached to one another at the ends. They prevent a horse from tangling its feet in a looped rein when the rider is dismounted, they are longer than closed reins. Two reins—reins used on bridles with two reins: Snaffle rein: Usually a laced rein that buckles at the center, used on the bradoon of a double bridle, or the upper ring of a pelham bit. Curb rein: The rein used at the end of the shank of a curb bit or pelham. Modern curb reins buckle together at the ends, though reins of the classical curb were sewn together at the ends to create a single rein. In popular culture, to rein in means to hold back, slow down, control or limit. Sometimes the eggcorn, reign in, is used. Usage of the opposing free rein dates back to Geoffrey Chaucer and means to give or allow complete freedom, in action and decision, over something. Horse tack Neck rein Riding aids Study of rein tension on side reins, The Veterinary Journal, Volume 188, Issue 3, June 2011, Pages 291–294 Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology, August 2005 Rein Check, June 2011
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been unchanged since at least classical antiquity. Horse races vary in format and many countries have developed their own particular traditions around the sport. Variations include restricting races to particular breeds, running over obstacles, running over different distances, running on different track surfaces and running in different gaits. While horses are sometimes raced purely for sport, a major part of horse racing's interest and economic importance is in the gambling associated with it, an activity that in 2008 generated a worldwide market worth around US$115 billion. Horse racing has a long and distinguished history and has been practised in civilisations across the world since ancient times. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in Ancient Greece, Babylon and Egypt.
It plays an important part of myth and legend, such as the contest between the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek and Byzantine sports. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC and were important in the other Panhellenic Games, it continued although chariot racing was dangerous to both driver and horse, which suffered serious injury and death. In the Roman Empire and mounted horse racing were major industries. From the mid-fifteenth century until 1882, spring carnival in Rome closed with a horse race. Fifteen to 20 riderless horses imported from the Barbary Coast of North Africa, were set loose to run the length of the Via del Corso, a long, straight city street. In times, Thoroughbred racing became, remains, popular with aristocrats and royalty of British society, earning it the title "Sport of Kings". Equestrians honed their skills through games and races. Equestrian sports provided entertainment for crowds and displayed the excellent horsemanship needed in battle.
Horse racing of all types evolved from impromptu competitions between drivers. The various forms of competition, requiring demanding and specialized skills from both horse and rider, resulted in the systematic development of specialized breeds and equipment for each sport; the popularity of equestrian sports through the centuries has resulted in the preservation of skills that would otherwise have disappeared after horses stopped being used in combat. There are many different types of horse racing, including: Flat racing, where horses gallop directly between two points around a straight or oval track. Jump racing, or Jumps racing known as Steeplechasing or, in the UK and Ireland, National Hunt racing, where horses race over obstacles. Harness racing, where horses trot or pace while pulling a driver in a sulky. Saddle Trotting, where horses must trot from a starting point to a finishing point under saddle Endurance racing, where horses travel across country over extreme distances ranging from 25 to 100 miles.
Different breeds of horses have developed. Breeds that are used for flat racing include the Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Arabian and Appaloosa. Jump racing breeds include the Thoroughbred and AQPS. In harness racing, Standardbreds are used in Australia, New Zealand and North America, when in Europe and French Trotter are used with Standardbred. Light cold blood horses, such as Finnhorses and Scandinavian coldblood trotter are used in harness racing within their respective geographical areas. There are races for ponies: both flat and jump and harness racing. Flat racing is the most common form of racing seen worldwide. Flat racing tracks are oval in shape and are level, although in Great Britain and Ireland there is much greater variation, including figure of eight tracks like Windsor and tracks with severe gradients and changes of camber, such as Epsom Racecourse. Track surfaces vary, with turf most common in Europe, dirt more common in North America and Asia, newly designed synthetic surfaces, such as Polytrack or Tapeta, seen at some tracks.
Individual flat races are run over distances ranging from 440 yards up to two and a half miles, with distances between five and twelve furlongs being most common. Short races are referred to as "sprints", while longer races are known as "routes" in the United States or "staying races" in Europe. Although fast acceleration is required to win either type of race, in general sprints are seen as a test of speed, while long distance races are seen as a test of stamina; the most prestigious flat races in the world, such as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Melbourne Cup, Japan Cup, Epsom Derby, Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup, are run over distances in the middle of this range and are seen as tests of both speed and stamina to some extent. In the most prestigious races, horses are allocated the same weight to carry for fairness, with allowances given to younger horses and female horses running against males; these races offer the biggest purses. There is another category of races called handicap races where each horse is assigned a different weight to carry based on its ability.
Beside the weight they carry, horses' performance can be influenced by position relative to the inside barrier, gender and training. Jump racing in Gr
Equitation
Equitation is the art or practice of horse riding or horsemanship. More equitation may refer to a rider's position while mounted, encompasses a rider's ability to ride and with effective aids. In horse show competition, the rider, rather than the horse is evaluated; such classes go by different names, depending on region, including equitation classes, rider classes, or horsemanship classes. Judging criteria covers the rider's performance and control of the horse, use of riding aids, proper attire, correct form, factor in rider poise and the cleanliness and polish of horse and equipment; the performance of the horse is not judged per se, but a poorly performing horse is considered to reflect the ability of the rider. Equitation classes occur in the Hunt seat, Saddle seat and Western disciplines. A good equitation rider is always in balance with the horse, maintains a correct position in every gait, movement, or over a fence, possesses a commanding, but relaxed, able to direct the horse with nearly invisible aids.
In the United States, the largest organizer of equestrian competitions is the United States Equestrian Federation. The organization offers equitation classes at its recognized shows, including those in hunt seat, dressage seat, saddle seat, Western; the hunt seat style of riding is derived from the hunt field. In equitation competition, flat classes include judging at the walk and canter in both directions, the competitors may be asked to ride without stirrups or perform assorted other tests or patterns, it is correct for the riders to have a light and steady contact with their horse's mouth the entire ride. Incorrect leads, break of pace, wrong diagonals are penalized. Loss of a stirrup or dropping the reins are faults, may be cause for elimination. In over fences classes, the competitor rides over a course of at least six jumps. Equitation over fence classes have fences higher than 3 feet 6 inches. Classes for more accomplished riders may require at least one flying lead change, one or more combinations.
The rider is judged not only on position and effectiveness of riding aids, but should maintain an forward pace and meet each fence at an appropriate distance. At the highest level of hunt seat equitation in North America are the national ASPCA Maclay Finals, the USET Talent Search Finals, the WIHS Equitation Finals, USEF Medal classes in the United States, the CET Medal and Jump Canada Medal in Canada; these championships and their qualifying classes may include bending lines, roll back turns, narrow fences, fences with a long approach to test the rider. Fences must be at least 3'6" and may be up to 5' wide, the course must have at least eight obstacles and at least one combination; the course may include liverpool or open water elements, depending on the class and region specifications. The USET Talent Search Finals always includes an open water element. Equitation tests may be chosen by the judge to help place the top riders; these tests are required in the medal classes. Tests may include a halt for several seconds, rein back, demonstration of the hand gallop, figure-8 at the trot or canter with correct diagonals or leads, trotting or cantering low fences, jump obstacles at the walk, jumping fences on a figure-8, oral questions regarding tack, equipment and basic horsemanship, riding without stirrups, performing a turn on the forehand or haunches, a serpentine at the trot or canter with flying changes.
Riders may be asked to switch horses at higher levels of competition, such as at a national final. Switching of horses is no longer common at smaller competitions only championships, due to the risks involved. Saddle seat is a uniquely American form of riding that grew out of a style of riding used on Southern plantations, with some European influences from "Park" or Sunday exhibition riding of high-stepping horses in public venues. Today it is seen most at horse shows organized for exhibitors of the American Saddlebred, Arabian, Tennessee Walking Horse, the National Show Horse, it is sometimes seen in competition for Andalusian horses. There are open and breed-specific national championships as well as an international championship held every other year. Gaits shown in Saddle Seat classes include the walk and canter; some competitions may call for extended gaits the trot. When showing a Tennessee Walking Horse they will be required to perform a flat walk and running walk; some class will require a canter.
All classes require Rail work, where competitors show and are judged as a group going both ways of the arena. Saddle seat equitation may include a pattern to be ridden. Tests may include backing up, mounting and dismounting, riding without stirrups, "addressing" the reins, figure eights and straight line patterns done at any gait. At the canter, only simple changes of lead are required, it is possible to have a "ride-off," where two or more riders are asked to perform additional work to determine the winner. Correct position for the rider is to have the ear, shoulder and heel in a line. He/she is to have a straight line from knee to toe, from elbow to wrist to the horse's bit; the rider's back should be straight yet relaxed, the legs and arms are to remain motionless. The informal dress for saddle seat equitation includes a coat and Kentucky jodhpurs of a dark, conservative color, e.g
Paralympic Games
The Paralympics is a major international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of disabilities, including impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, ataxia, vision impairment and intellectual impairment. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee; the Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. The Paralympics has grown from 400 athletes with a disability from 23 countries in 1960 to thousands of competitors from over 100 countries in the London 2012 Games. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a large funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
The Paralympic Games are organized in parallel with the Olympic Games, while the IOC-recognized Special Olympics World Games include athletes with intellectual disabilities, the Deaflympics include deaf athletes. Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are several categories in which the athletes compete; the allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible impairment types. The categories are impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, ataxia, vision impairment and intellectual impairment; these categories are further broken down into classifications. Athletes with disabilities did compete in the Olympic Games prior to the advent of the Paralympics; the first athlete to do so was German American gymnast George Eyser in 1904, who had one artificial leg. Hungarian Karoly Takacs competed in shooting events in both 1952 Summer Olympics, he could shoot left-handed. Another disabled athlete to appear in the Olympics prior to the Paralympic Games was Lis Hartel, a Danish equestrian athlete who had contracted polio in 1943 and won a silver medal in the dressage event.
The first organized athletic day for disabled athletes that coincided with the Olympic Games took place on the day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. Jewish-German born Dr. Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital, helped to flee Nazi Germany by the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics in 1939, hosted a sports competition for British World War II veteran patients with spinal cord injuries; the first games were called the 1948 International Wheelchair Games, were intended to coincide with the 1948 Olympics. Dr. Guttman's aim was to create an elite sports competition for people with disabilities that would be equivalent to the Olympic Games; the games were held again at the same location in 1952, Dutch and Israeli veterans took part alongside the British, making it the first international competition of its own kind. These early competitions known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, have been described as the precursors of the Paralympic Games. There have been several milestones in the Paralympic movement.
The first official Paralympic Games, no longer open to war veterans, was held in Rome in 1960. 400 athletes from 23 countries competed at the 1960 Games. Since 1960, the Paralympic Games have taken place in the same year as the Olympic Games; the Games were open only to athletes in wheelchairs. With the inclusion of more disability classifications the 1976 Summer Games expanded to 1,600 athletes from 40 countries; the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul was another milestone for the Paralympic movement. It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games, in the same host city, using the same facilities; this set a precedent, followed in 1992, 1996 and 2000. It was formalized in an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee in 2001, was extended through 2020. On March 10, 2018, the two committees further extended their contract to 2032; the 1992 Winter Paralympics were the first Winter Games to use the same facilities as the Winter Olympics.
The first Winter Paralympic Games were held in 1976 in Sweden. This was the first Paralympics in which multiple categories of athletes with disabilities could compete; the Winter Games were celebrated every four years on the same year as their summer counterpart, just as the Olympics were. This tradition was upheld until the 1992 Games in France; the Paralympic Games were designed to emphasize the participants' athletic achievements and not their disability. Recent games have emphasized that these games are about not disability; the movement has grown since its early days – for example, the number of athletes participating in the Summer Paralympic games has increased from 400 athletes in Rome in 1960 to 4,342 athletes from 159 countries in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Both the Paralympic Summer and Winter Games are recognized on the world stage; the IPC is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. It comprises 176</ref> National Paralympic Committees and four di
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the waterfowl family Anatidae which includes swans and geese. Ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the family Anatidae. Ducks are aquatic birds smaller than the swans and geese, may be found in both fresh water and sea water. Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes and coots; the word duck comes from Old English *dūce "diver", a derivative of the verb *dūcan "to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive", because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending. This word replaced Old English ened/ænid "duck" to avoid confusion with other Old English words, like ende "end" with similar forms. Other Germanic languages still have similar words for "duck", for example, Dutch eend "duck", German Ente "duck" and Norwegian and "duck"; the word ened/ænid was inherited from Proto-Indo-European. A duckling is a young duck in downy plumage or baby duck, but in the food trade a young domestic duck which has just reached adult size and bulk and its meat is still tender, is sometimes labelled as a duckling.
A male duck is called a drake and the female is called a duck, or in ornithology a hen. The overall body plan of ducks is elongated and broad, the ducks are relatively long-necked, albeit not as long-necked as the geese and swans; the body shape of diving ducks varies somewhat from this in being more rounded. The bill is broad and contains serrated lamellae, which are well defined in the filter-feeding species. In the case of some fishing species the bill is long and serrated; the scaled legs are strong and well developed, set far back on the body, more so in the aquatic species. The wings are strong and are short and pointed, the flight of ducks requires fast continuous strokes, requiring in turn strong wing muscles. Three species of steamer duck are flightless, however. Many species of duck are temporarily flightless; this moult precedes migration. The drakes of northern species have extravagant plumage, but, moulted in summer to give a more female-like appearance, the "eclipse" plumage. Southern resident species show less sexual dimorphism, although there are exceptions like the paradise shelduck of New Zealand, both strikingly sexually dimorphic and where the female's plumage is brighter than that of the male.
The plumage of juvenile birds resembles that of the female. Over the course of evolution, female ducks have evolved to have a corkscrew shaped vagina to prevent rape. Ducks eat a variety of food sources such as grasses, aquatic plants, insects, small amphibians and small molluscs. Dabbling ducks feed on the surface of water or on land, or as deep as they can reach by up-ending without submerging. Along the edge of the beak, there is a comb-like structure called a pecten; this strains the water squirting from traps any food. The pecten is used to preen feathers and to hold slippery food items. Diving ducks and sea ducks forage deep underwater. To be able to submerge more the diving ducks are heavier than dabbling ducks, therefore have more difficulty taking off to fly. A few specialized species such as the mergansers are adapted to swallow large fish; the others have the characteristic wide flat beak adapted to dredging-type jobs such as pulling up waterweed, pulling worms and small molluscs out of mud, searching for insect larvae, bulk jobs such as dredging out, turning head first, swallowing a squirming frog.
To avoid injury when digging into sediment it has no cere, but the nostrils come out through hard horn. The Guardian published an article advising that ducks should not be fed with bread because it damages the health of the ducks and pollutes waterways. Ducks are monogamous, although these bonds last only a single year. Larger species and the more sedentary species tend to have pair-bonds that last numerous years. Most duck species breed once a year. Ducks tend to make a nest before breeding, after hatching, lead their ducklings to water. Mother ducks are caring and protective of their young, but may abandon some of their ducklings if they are physically stuck in an area they cannot get out of or are not prospering due to genetic defects or sickness brought about by hypothermia, starvation, or disease. Ducklings can be orphaned by inconsistent late hatching where a few eggs hatch after the mother has abandoned the nest and led her ducklings to water. Most domestic ducks neglect their eggs and ducklings, their eggs must be hatched under a broody hen or artificially.
Female mallard ducks make the classic "quack" sound while males make a similar but raspier sound, sometimes written as "breeeeze", but despite widespread misconceptions, most species of duck do not "quack". In general, ducks make a wide range of calls, ranging from whistles, cooing and grunts. For example, the scaup – which are diving ducks – make a noise like "scaup" (hence
Endurance riding
Endurance riding is an equestrian sport based on controlled long-distance races. It is one of the international competitions recognized by the FEI. There are endurance rides worldwide. Endurance rides can be any distance, though they are over 160 km for a one-day competition. There are two main types of competitive trail riding and endurance rides. In an endurance ride, discussed in this article, the winning horse is the first one to cross the finish line while stopping periodically to pass a veterinary check that deems the animal in good health and fit to continue; as with human marathon running, many riders will participate to improve their horse's personal best performance and consider finishing the distance with a proper vet completion record to be a "win". In the United States, most endurance rides are either 100 miles long. Shorter rides, called Limited Distance rides, are organized for new riders to the sport or young horses being trained. However, LD's have evolved into a competition of their own, in which more experienced riders and horses participate.
There are longer multi-day, rides as well. In the US, the American Endurance Ride Conference sanctions endurance rides. In the UK, Endurance GB is the governing body. Winning riders can complete 100-mile rides in 14 to 15 hours. Any breed can compete, but the Arabian dominates the top levels because of the breed's stamina and natural endurance abilities. Though the need to ride long distances has existed since the domestication of the horse, endurance riding as an organized activity was first developed in the United States based on European cavalry and breeding program tests requiring the ability to carry 300 lb over 100 miles in one day. Organized endurance riding as a formal sport began in 1955, when Wendell Robie and a group of equestrians rode from the Lake Tahoe area across the Sierra Nevada Range to Auburn in under 24 hours, they followed the historic Western States Trail. This ride soon became known as the Tevis Cup, it remains the most difficult of any 100-mile ride in the world because of the severe terrain, high altitude, 100-degree temperatures.
Endurance riding first was brought to Europe in the 1960s. Before the ride, horses are inspected by a veterinarian to ensure they are fit to perform in the ride. Riders may be given a map or GPS waypoints for the course, which shows the route, the places for compulsory halts, any natural obstacles; the trails are marked with colored surveyor's tape ribbons at regular intervals with additional ribbons or small arrow markers at turns in the trail. The ride is divided with different names, depending on sanctioning organization. After each section, horses are stopped for a veterinary inspection, where they are checked for soundness and dehydration, with their pulse and respiration taken. To continue the ride, the horse must pass the examination, including reducing its heart rate below that specified for the event 64 bpm, although terrain and weather may require the ride veterinarians to set a different maximum target; the riders' time keeps running until their horses reach the required target, so it is important that the horses recover as soon as possible.
Any horse deemed unfit to continue is eliminated from further competition. After the veterinary inspection, the horse must be held for an additional hold time, at which time it is fed and watered. If the veterinary inspection is on the course rather than at base camp, ride management delivers to the inspection location a cache of riders' personal gear and water. While riders may compete without additional aid, sometimes referred to as riding cavalry, many riders have a designated crew to assist them during veterinary checks. In upper level competition this is important to efficiently prepare the horse for the vet as well as care of both horse and rider during the mandatory hold times. A good crew allows the rider a brief respite and time to concentrate all energies on the strategy and demands of the trail itself. Riders are free to choose their pace during the competition, adjusting to the terrain and their mount's condition. Therefore, they must have a great knowledge of pace, knowing when to slow down or speed up during the ride, as well as a great knowledge of their horse's condition and signs of tiring.
Riders may choose to ride, or may dismount and walk or jog with their horse without penalty. However, in FEI, they must finish lines. AERC riders have no requirement for being mounted at any point before, after the ride; the terrain riders compete over varies from ride to ride. Natural obstacles, are marked on the trails. In some areas, wilderness or undeveloped areas are difficult to find. Under the rules of the FEI and AERC, the first horse to cross the line and pass the vet check as "fit to continue" is the winner. Under the rules of competitive trail riding and the endurance rules in some nations, as well as for limited-distance endurance rides, the winner is determined by a combination of speed and the recovery rate of the horse or by a required standard. Additional awards are given to the best-conditioned horses who finish in the top 10 for distances of 50 miles or more; the Best
