Hello everyone! With the end of 2021-1 coming to a close, I'm very pleased with the year we've had, and I hope everyone has had fun with it as well! I do apologize for there being a wait on results as this turned into a harder year for me then I thought, but they're getting out now, and I'm hoping we don't have this issue in the future. At least not as bad!
Now though for the reason of this post! I have updates that are coming in 2021-2 for the Endurance club, and I'd love some feed back on them from you. At the end of this post, there will be a quick survey that I'd love for you to fill out so I know how people feel about this stuff. If you do, you can post it in reply to this topic, or if you'd rather you can PM me the results. If you don't want to fill it out, no problem, but if you do you will be awarded 50% off entries for ONE (1) Endurance club race meet! This is for all entries, so you'll just have to add them up, and pay 50% of that. There is is no limits and it's good for any race meet you'd like to use it on.
Now onto the updates!
Entry fee/Purse updates! Currently we do have pretty high entry fees for our race meets and we're constantly trying to figure out a way to make them affordable for everyone while making it so that it doesn't break my bank with purse fees as well. Hence why show entry fees tend to be so high. However, we are working to try and make this a little cheaper over all for everyone, and hopefully keep up the high rewards we've become known for. So starting in 2021-2 the following prices will apply to our shows!
Stakes Races: $5000 per horse (this includes the Gemstone Races, Crystal Races, Mongol Derby)
Continental Divide Race: $10 000 per team (more info below)
Amazing Race: $8000 per horse
Prospect Classes: $50 per horse OR $300 for unlimited entries (good if you have over 6 horses entered)
Other Races: $100 per horse OR $2000 for unlimited entries (good if you're entering more then 20 horses)
For these races, note that there will also be a change to the prizes as well! Just to adjust it a bit! They are listed below.
Gemstone Races: 1st: $20 000, 2nd: $10 000, 3rd: $5 000
Crystal Races: 1st: $15 000, 2nd: $8000, 3rd: $4 000
Mongol Derby: 1st: $20 000, 2nd: $10 000, 3rd: $5 000
Amazing Race: 1st: $20 000, 2nd: $10 000, 3rd: $5000 (NOTE! This is paid out to EACH participate because its' a team event, so total purse is $70 000!)
Other Races: 1st: $500, 2nd: $250, 3rd: $100
Invitational: 1st: $10 000, 2nd: $5000, 3rd: $2500
Continental Divide Race: Individual Places: 1st: $2000, 2nd: $1000, 3rd: $500
Overall Placings: 1st: $25 000, 2nd: $15 000, 3rd: $10 000
While we understand the entries are expensive for the stakes races, we do feel like the prices reflect well the amount of money you have a chance to win back.
New Stakes Races! The Endurance Club is happy to announce that we are adding a number of new stakes races and series to our 2021-2 race cards this year! You've probably noticed them above, let us introduce them to you!
The Crystal Races: These races will be for horses that are 4-6 years of age and are the younger horse equivalent of the Gemstone races! Note, that six year olds will have the choice between competing in the Crystal or the Gemstone races, once they are entered in a race from one of those two series, they may NOT enter the other one! These races are have the length of the Gemstone races, and are a good start for younger endurance horses who are looking to hit the big times.
Continental Divide Race: This race is intense. It's a two week long race done in a relay style! It's almost 5000 kilometres from the border in Mexico, up to the border with Canada in the north. It'll take you through five states and numerous different terrains as you follow the Continental Divide Trail! This is the longest race by far in our line up, and definitely one of the more unique ones. Unlike the other races, this one is broken down into five (5) parts. You need 5 horses, each of who is expected to handle 1000 kilometres of the trail. As they finish their leg, they will get a placing based off their scores, and you will win money for each of these placings. You may also collect the activity points for them as well!
To determine the over all finishing position of each team, your scores will be added up from all your horses, and the highest scoring team will win over all! This gets you another set of points per horse, and more money! This race has a purse that could be as high as $35 000 if you win all legs and over all! Hence the high entry fee!
Invitational The invitational isn't a long race and will only be about 500 kilometres, hosted in Nova Scotia, Canada. This race is an end of year race, and is open to any horse over the age of four (4) who gathers more then 100 points in the Endurance Club over the year! It will be hosted in the last week of the year, and will be a free race to enter! All qualifying horses will receive an invitation to join us in the race! You will NOT be able to enter if you don't qualify though.
The Invitational will be run a little different then the rest of the races on the card, because this race will be run using RP! This means you'll find things on the trail, you'll have to make decisions and your choices will determine how you do in the race! Good luck to all who qualify! More info for this will be released as I have it figured out!
Points! I meant to do this last year, it just didn't work out. I will be tracking points in the Endurance Club starting in 2021-2! These points will go towards the horse of the year awards, and qualifying for the Invitational. Currently our club points will be:
Normal Races:
1st: 10pts
2nd: 9pts
3rd: 8pts
4th: 7pts
5th: 6pts
6th: 5pts
7th: 4pts
8th: 3pts
9th: 2pts
10th+: 1pts
Stakes Races
1st: 60pts
2nd: 50pts
3rd: 40pts
4th: 30pts
5th: 30pts
6th: 10pts
7th+: 5pts
NOTE! These are for in club only, and all SS points are to be recorded towards titles.
Race Hosts! We have decided on the hosts for next years races, thanks to Vienna Raine for the suggestions and help with locations!
Gemstone/Crystal Races: - The Opal/The Azurite: Papua New Guinea
- The Pearl/The Ametrine: Japan
- The Sapphire/The Bismuth: Kenya
- The Ruby/The Cinnabar: Brazil
- The Emerald/The Moonstone: Norway
- The Diamond/The Peridot: Mexico/Guatemala/Honduras
The Amazing Race: Hawaii, USA - Volcano tour!
I will be posting the survey in the next post! So please don't post until you see that up! I look forward to seeing everyone out there!
