Like many people Alan found his way into Endurance Riding by crewing for his 13 year old daughter in 1982/83. Working at, and helping to organise the Monks Kirby Ride soon followed, as did timekeeping at various events.

Involvement in organising grew, leading ultimately to the first Cirencester Ride in 1988 followed shortly after by the Vyrnwy and White Rose Rides. Duties in this field have been many and varied, ranging from organising and managing the first Vet Gate at the European Championships at Southall and involvement in the inaugural Young Riders European Championship at Cirencester.

In the days of BERA Alan served for many years on the committee of the Midland Region and was Chairman for several of these. He also served as Midland Region Director on the BERA Board of Directors, responsible for the Midlands and Wales. In this role he was a member of the Rides and Rules and International Committees.

Since the creation of EGB Alan has continued to be very involved with the Cirencester Ride, the Heart of England committee and stewarding at various events.
 

Julie started endurance riding back in the early 90’s together with her husband Eddie and their horses Aladdin and Silver Lady becoming Gold Series (advanced) in 1995; no mean feat as Aladdin was then 21 and a rescue horse & Lady, a 14 hand native pony (both still going strong & enjoying their retirements). They bought Kiwi (Grey Salix) a pure bred Arab as a 2 year old and Julie took him through to become advanced in 1999. Apart from riding Julie has crewed all over the world.  The most exciting event for her was to crew her cousin at the Quilty in Australia in 2006

Photo courtesy of RADFOTO

Tufty is 25 years old now and although he is as keen as ever
Marian no longer does competitive rides on him.  She is very lucky to have Burnished Pearl, a chestnut Crabbet Arab mare and they have just completed their first competitive year together. Marian says that Pearl is a dream to ride and they plan to have a great future together.

Additionally, Marian has crewed for many friends over the years and has crewed abroad with the International teams on three occasions.

Donna Taylor  -  Membership Secretary
 

Karen started Endurance Riding around 1995 with her Arab, Red.  They mainly did rides run by EHPS (Endurance Horse & Pony Society) as she was a member.  Since 2001 Karen has only had the opportunity to do a few pleasure rides due to family commitments and not having much time to ride and get anything fit!  Red is now 26 and semi-retired but she is hoping to get back to doing a bit more in the not too distant future.

Karen served on the EHPS – Mercia Group committee for a couple of years – before the two groups combined to create ‘Endurance GB’ and has been on the Heart of England committee since 2004 as Trophy secretary which means the end of the season is her busy spell.

Photo courtesy of West End Photography

Steven was a member of the British Horse Society and owned a dales type pony. The Society had a section that was to become known as the Endurance Riding Group (ERG) but ponies were not allowed to compete. A couple of years later in 1975 he owned his first horse, an anglo-arab (Paddys Blaze), and his introduction to endurance riding began. That was a 40 mile Golden Horseshoe Qualifier in the Chiltern Hills which he rode wearing a black show jacket, complete with shirt, tie and long boots (it was a BHS event!). Despite a boiling hot day they qualified but a subsequent injury meant that he went to the “shoe” on a reconnaissance mission instead of riding. Steven ended up helping a lady who was competing and she achieved Gold status. Of course what he was doing is now called crewing but things were very formal then and you tended to wave to your rider instead of throwing water over them! Two years on and with a different horse (Heidi) Steven returned to Exmoor. This time a track suit top had replaced the black jacket but the long boots remained. We achieved Gold which was the pinnacle of his riding career – Steven jokes that it has been down hill since then!

In the mid 1980’s work took over and although remaining a member of ERG it wasn’t until 1993 that he returned to competition with Kassie. She has carried Stevem far and wide giving him so much enjoyment over the years. Kassie is now in foal - the excitement and nail biting continues.

Steven has served on various committees over the years and he is currently the Health & Safety Officer for the Heart of England Group. Ride organiser, transport manager and ride programme producer at The Young European Championships and BERA newsletter editor has also featured amongst many roles undertaken.

You will find John around and about during the year acting as TS or helping generally at Heart of England rides and events. You will find him particularly active at the Cirencester Park Ride, for which he is on the Organising Committee, organising the water points and crewing areas. He is also currently the Groups Liaison Officer for Heart of England. John no longer rides due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery. He is married to Di and together they have had tremendous fun in endurance over the past 18 years with several horses, securing life long friendships along the way. John has always given unwavering support to Di as her number one crew and mentor and continues to give tirelessly to the sport.
 

By permission of Eric G Jones

Di and her Arab/Welsh mare, Kozie, were introduced to endurance riding in 1991 when Kozie was 18. They became gold series and successfully completed 2 x 50 mile rides and 75 miles over 2 days before Chloe Kazoo, Kozie’s daughter bred specifically for endurance, took over. Chloe and Di successfully completed over 2000 competitive endurance miles together including a trip to Landivisieau with the GB Intermediate Team in year 2000 where they successfully completed 132 km.

Di is a Selector for the British Endurance Team; She has also crewed at all levels, is a TS and is on the Organising Committee for Cirencester Park. For 2009 she is also the joint organiser of Cannock Chase and Cosford Grange. She feels that the sport has given her many opportunities and she not only wishes to see Endurance GB flourish, but for the sport of endurance to be given the recognition it truly deserves and be counted among the great equestrian sports.

Photo courtesy of AGC Photography

Growing up in Australia Lisa lived and breathed horses. Aged 12 she got her first pony, Kylie, who saw her through pony club, regional and national shows. Another pony and a couple of ex-racehorses followed before leaving Australia to travel Europe eventually settling in London. In 1983 Lisa acquired an Anglo-Arab which she evented. Lisa had heard rumblings about endurance riding but information was scarce and personal circumstances didn’t allow her to pursue it. For several years she mainly competed in hunter trials and showjumping classes before giving up horses to concentrate on her career. For 16 years she only sat on a horse twice before moving to Birmingham in 2007. A decision to start riding again led her to finding Minica, a chestnut Anglo-Arab mare and their endurance partnership began. They are new to the sport but their first season saw them move from novice to open in 3 rides. They represented the novice entry on the HoE/Cotswold team at Ludlow in 2008. Minica gained a grade one and the team came 3rd. 2009 has been uneventful with Minica injuring herself in the field and recouping, only recently coming back into work. Nevertheless, this has given Lisa time to bring on her ex-racehorse, Livia, and together they have completed several PR's at Mortimer Forest, The Golden Horseshoe, Dukeries, Cirencester and Windsor. Livia is proving to be a very keen and willing ride and Lisa will compete her in 2010 at Novice Level with Minica working towards Advance. As a 'significant ' birthday present to herself Lisa recently purchased a purebred Arabian yearling called Troy.