Jennifer Allen wins rookie title for endurance riding

PRINCETON — There’s just something about feeling the wind in your face, especially when you’re on the back of a horse. Well, Jennifer Allen knows first-hand what that feels like, and she’s even got an award to prove it.

Allen, 20, was recruited by Lori Windows of Wyanet to ride one of her six horses during the endurance season in the Upper Midwest Endurance Competitive Riders Association (UMECRA). Windows wanted to make sure Allen was serious about riding because her goals this year were lofty. Windows wanted Allen to win the UMECRA Competitive Rookie of the Year award and for her horse, Gandie, to finish 8,000 sanctioned miles.

Allen said she told Windows: “I don’t like making promises, but I want to try.”

Gandie, a 23-year-old Arabian, has been doing endurance for 20 years and even made it to the World Equestrian Games in 1996. He’s used to the long endurance races which are 50 to 100 miles in a single day, as compared to the competitive endurance which is 25 to 30 miles a day. At first, this difference made it challenging for Gandie.

Allen started training the beginning of this year — though it wasn’t as early as Windows had hoped for due to the weather in February. In March, the two began their conditioning of the horses for the UMECRA season, which begins the end of April and ends in October.

“We’re just lucky to live in the best area to condition horses in the whole Midwest,” Windows said, adding they practiced along the canal and through the wooded areas on Allen’s parents’ property.

Allen’s first race was in Michigan.

“I have never pushed myself this hard before,” she said, recalling the early mornings for travel and rides. She’s improved as a rider and became a better person because of the sport, she said.

Allen and Windows traveled to other states in the Midwest for competitions. Going as far as Montana, Allen didn’t ride but was  part of Windows’ crew. The experience allowed Allen to see parts of the country she never thought she’d see, as well as meeting lots of people she never thought she’d ever meet including an Arabian sheik, she said.

Endurance racing is one of the few horse sports that is approved by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Competitive Endurance racing is very sportsmanship oriented and very horse-based. The horses are checked over completely by a veterinarian before and after the race. The use of Arabian or Arabian crosses compete as they have been bred for this sport. Points are awarded by how well your horse looks at the end of the race, as it did at the beginning.

Allen and another rider were competing for the Competitive Rookie of the Year award. Allen said she had a lot of support from the UMECRA members. She will be receiving a traveling trophy with her name on it in January, and she hopes to receive a scholarship as well. The season ended with her title, of which she is very proud. Gandie was also retired, finishing with the No. 3 spot for mileage in the 37 years of the club’s existence — 8,000 sanctioned miles.

“I’ve changed as a person. I have a title I’m proud to have, but the whole racing experience has helped me,” Allen said.

UMECRA is a very close knit group of 3,500 members.

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