The Shahzada Memorial Endurance Test is exactly that: a test of endurance over 400 kilometres of challenging country over five consecutive days. The annual event based at St Albans has been running since the early 1980s and has seen many endurance legends made, both horses and riders.
It will take over the village with the ride officially beginning on Monday, 24 August until Friday, 28 August.
Many regard Shahzada as a test of mental strength and toughness as well as physical fitness, horse management and soundness. The horses are carefully checked by veterinarians every day to determine whether they are able to continue on their quest to claim a prestigious Shahzada buckle.
As organiser Cody Nettleton puts it, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of riding on the historic tracks.
“Being on those historic tracks, knowing the forepeople of endurance rode them,” she said. “They are old school endurance, they are hard, they are technical, you are not rushing down the road. The amount of times you have to stop and let your horse eat, all of that, it is very, very cool.
“What other competition in the world can you spend a week riding your horse for 8 to 10 hours a day?”
Although the 400km event is the main attraction, the traditional 120km mini-marathon over three days will be there as well as a new 200km five-day ride.
“We have the new 200 this year, which has gotten an overwhelming response,” Nettleton said.
“We are hoping everyone that has entered the 200 can step up into the 400 next year, to encourage people to have a taste of what the real Shahzada is like, the five days of riding.”
Although the horse events are the biggest part of the week, Shahzada’s off-track activities bring everyone who turns up to St Albans together. There’s a ‘bright and happy’ dress up day, odd sock day, dog races, vet races, and more.
“Even if you are not a rider, there is something for you to come down for,” Nettleton said. “Endurance is not typically a spectator sport but the dog races are hilarious, everyone dressing up, the vet races, the vet things, all of those things make it really different.”
Numbers aren’t quite what the Shahzada organising committee had hoped for, with the fuel crisis limiting the ability of people to travel, but Nettleton and the rest of the volunteers are planning a mentoring program to get involved in it next year.
For more information, visit aeraonline.com.au. For more information on endurance riding in NSW and to view coming rides in your area, visit nswera.asn.au.
