News, information and tips on long distance riding.

Mixed elements

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5 Elements and when elements mix The five elements of a horse's personality are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. In a nutshell, you could say Wood horses are dominant and fearless, Fire horses are expressive and emotional, Earth horses are reliable and calm, Metal horses are competent and responsible, and Water horses are timid and sensitive. U...

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The Wood Horse

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2026:Year of the Fire Horse! Officially the year of the Fire Horse doesn't start until February 17, this is the Chinese New Year and we'll move from the year of the Snake to the year of the Horse.And apparently we will be going from introspection to bold outward going energy! Sounds promising! The Chinese Zodiac has 12 cycles, named after an animal...

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The Water Horse

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2026:Year of the Fire Horse! Officially the year of the Fire Horse doesn't start until February 17, this is the Chinese New Year and we'll move from the year of the Snake to the year of the Horse.And apparently we will be going from introspection to bold outward going energy! Sounds promising! The Chinese Zodiac has 12 cycles, named after an animal...

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The Metal horse

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2026: Year of the Fire Horse! Officially the year of the Fire Horse doesn't start until February 17, this is the Chinese New Year and we'll move from the year of the Snake to the year of the Horse.And apparently we will be going from introspection to bold outward going energy! Sounds promising! The Chinese Zodiac has 12 cycles, named after an anima...

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The Earth Horse

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2026: Year of the Fire Horse! Officially the year of the Fire Horse doesn't start until February 17, this is the Chinese New Year and we'll move from the year of the Snake to the year of the Horse.And apparently we will be going from introspection to bold outward going energy! Sounds promising! The Chinese Zodiac has 12 cycles, named after an anima...

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2026: Year of the Fire Horse!

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Happy New Year! As you probably have seen just about everywhere, it is the year of the Horse, the Fire Horse to be exact. Officially the year of the Fire Horse doesn't start until February 17, this is the Chinese New Year and we'll move from the year of the Snake to the year of the Horse. And apparently we will be going from introspection to bold o...

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The Endurance Training Workbook 2026

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This autumn we've been working hard to make a printed workbook for your training. Many of you enjoy the online information provided by our Online coaching courses "Endurance: Step by Step" and the "Endurance: Train smarter" or our webinar series "Prepare your season" and  the "Midsummer progression".These include online worksheets, but the ide...

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The Equestrian Partnership Challenge

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Groen Equestrian invites you to take part in a new (FREE!) partnership challenge from 1 to 9 November 2025 that encourages you to deepen your connection with your horse—no matter your discipline. Whether you are passionate about endurance, dressage, jumping, team chasing, eventing, or simply enjoy hacking, everyone is welcome to join the exper...

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EGB Magazine art7: Improve yourself to improve your horse

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This is the third in a new series of articles in which we will investigate the quality aspect of training and how to maintain a healthy, sound, and happy equine athlete. The first article touched on the basics and "riding in the box," and in the second I gave you information, tips and exercises for the practical quality aspect of training In this t...

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EGB magazine art 6: Improving our horse

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This is the second in a new series of articles in which we will investigate the quality aspect of training and how to maintain a healthy, sound, and happy equine athlete. While logging miles is important, the manner in which we do so is equally, if not more, crucial. The first article touched on the basics and "riding in the box," and in this insta...

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EGB Magazine 1 Fuel efficiency

This is the first in a series of articles I wrote for the EGB endurance magazine in 2023. I have added it as a blog as well for you to enjoy and use. You can find all follow up articles in the Free GE Community, so have a look there for a lot of information. I (well, really hubby and me ? ) bought a new car. Our older (very fuel-efficient) diesel n...

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The social licence for endurance

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Have you ever heard of the term "Social Licence"?   I came across the term recently and I realised improving our social licence, as equestrians, but also as endurance riders is for a large part why I do what I do: I want riders to learn and know more, so they can become better ambassadors for our sport each day. But what is a "Social...

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Are you a passenger, or a rider? Or perhaps a trainer?

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I'll let you think on that question for a moment, and while you are thinking about the type of equestrian you are, also think on whether you are happy being that type or if you perhaps want to be different? Many of you will be the "Passenger type" maybe even without realising you are...Or perhaps you know you are the passenger type a...

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Groen Equestrian Winter Webinars and Endurance Coaching courses

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We've got you covered! Loads of help available for you, something for everyone.You might just want to listen to a webinar one evening, or follow a number of them. But it could also be you want more structural help via one of the endurance coaching courses on our website. Let me start with what we have to offer webinar wise: Keep an eye on...

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Why the French are so amazing at endurance

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Have you followed the World Endurance Championships 2024? If you didn't, have a look at the different media available. A start in the dark in a huge thunderstorm and then 160 km of tough muddy conditions, really testing all combinations at this top level of our sport. Being a Dutchie in the UK, I supported 2 countries, cheering on both the Dut...

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2024 Comparative heart rate study

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We have been working on this project for a while, and on Saturday 30th March, we began the first session of the Groen Equestrian 2024 Comparative Heart Rate Study in Banbury, Oxfordshire. As many of you have noticed, I am very interested in heart rates, particularly how various breeds of horses respond to the same workload and how we can provide be...

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NEW: make your training schedule

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Making your training schedule can be hard: how much should you train, what rides to do, what about tapering, rest and other things you need to consider to compete your horse happy and healthy? Groen Equestrian can help. We have a lovely package to help you:3 recorded webinars and 2 30 minute face2face zoom sessions to give you the th...

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A look back on the Europeans 2019

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This is an old piece (4 years ago to be precise) I wrote after being part of the Dutch team for the 2019 European Championships. It still resonates very much with me, especially now I have taken a little break from endurance until the youngsters are old enough to start. Watt and me will be doing other fun stuff in the mean time. Have a read, s...

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2022: The story of Asphodele Larzac

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What a year. What a horse!A total of 8 rides ( 9 ride days) and 460 km (the most she's ever done), nearly 9000m (!!) elevation including the Golden Horseshoe 80 km and Red Dragon 80 km! In 2022 I have solely focused on competing Asphodele Larzac, my small (but huge ) amber champagne part bred Arab mare. So why is she both small ...

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ITEH5 - Lungs and oxygen

ITEH5 - Lungs and oxygen

They say oxygen is the source of life ,and of course that is correct, (nearly) all metabolism needs oxygen to perform.  So we could say:  More oxygen = better performance We could have a huge heart, the best muscles for the job and an unlimited supply of fuel. But without the oxygen, and with that the lung capacity to get oxygen to t...

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