City Slickers Endurance Ride 12th Annual Event Invites Riders On March 23rd and 24th, the 12th Annual City Slickers Endurance Ride is going to be held at Shelby Farms, Memphis, TN The event is two days this time, attracting more riders from further distances and hoping to give the local rides a greater opportunity to participate. Endurance riding is for everyone, from ages 8 on up and for all breeds, age 4 and older. There will be a 25 and 50-mile ride on Friday and a 25, 50 and 14-mile introduction to endurance ride on Saturday. All those wishing to enter one or both of these days and any distance must vet check their equine in the day before their ride day, at the Shelby Show Place Facilities. For all the ride information, directions, and entry forms, please go to www.sfeaonline.org, click on City Slickers. The Shelby Farms Equestrian Alliance is the sponsor for the endurance ride, with ride proceeds to benefit the Trails at Shelby Farms; and for the first time this event is sanctioned by the Arabian Horse Association as a local ride, the American Morgan Horse Association has sent awards for the high point Morgan for each day and this is a qualifying ride for the Appaloosa Endurance Nationals, and sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference www.aerc.org and the Southeast Endurance Riders Association, www.seraonline.org New for this year will be tack vendors on site, farrier, and a representative from Merial Limited, manufacturers of UlcerGard will be presenting a short seminar each night on the prevention of ulcers in competition horses. There will be a nightly ride information meeting and a meeting for riders new to the sport of endurance riding. Memphis area photographer Gary Baldwin of Gary Baldwin Photography is the City Slickers Saturday’s official event photographer. This is an endurance ride that hosts a mix of serious competitors and riders new to the sport, with numerous local riders competing. Physically the ride is not generally considered to be a highly challenging one, but is more of a mental ride as the trail winds through all the different scenery the park has to offer, single track trails along the Wolf River are shared with hikers, byclicists, and dog walkers, while other sections wind by the buffalo pens, Frisbee golf area, along the Tour De Wolf trails, through beautiful open fields. Though the terrain is considered flat and fast you still have to condition your horse to compete. For how to condition your horse for an endurance ride, go to www.seraonline.org, click on the Training articles under Education. For more information on endurance riding go to www.aerc.org. For information on the City Slickers Endurance Ride contact Terry Silver at turquoisehorses@aol.com