This year has seemed colder and longer than normal for many of us but with summer fast approaching, horses shedding their winter coats -- and hopefully starting to look somewhat fit -- you are probably turning your thoughts to the summer ride schedule. While planning your ride season think about adding a bit of an adventure by attending a ride that you have never been to but have always wanted to ride.

It is wonderful to be able to ride the most scenic trails in the world and have everything arranged for you in advance. How sweet it is to know that you can drive to a ride in the middle of nowhere, have a camp area reserved for you, often great meals, have a trail that is totally marked for you and have vets to watch over your horse.

It is equally appealing and unbelievable to drive into a strange camp and see so many of your horse friends all in the same place in the middle of nowhere too. At some rides there are people who know each other from all over the world.

At each and every ride we need to go out of our way to meet the new people who are getting involved in our sport. Make them feel comfortable and give them help when you see they are struggling.

There is so much more to endurance riding than just the competition. Take time to smell the roses, look at the scenery, enjoy your horse and enjoy the ride. Don't get uptight when things don't run as efficiently as you like in a vet check. Just have fun, be glad someone is willing to host a ride for you to attend and roll with the punches when things aren't perfect. I think too often riders miss out on the best part of the ride just because they are too stressed out.

The competition does give you goals but those goals will be different for everyone. I believe the nearest sport that you can compare endurance riding to is marathon running. Each runner will train to run a certain distance within their capabilities; they will strive to reach certain goals they have set for themselves. Winning is a goal set only by a very few; most have other goals that can be just as rewarding.

The number one goal of every endurance rider should always be the welfare of their horse. Everything else is just icing on the cake. When you complete with a healthy horse, you should count your blessings. Sometimes your goals may have to be adjusted as the ride unfolds and those goals can change during the ride.

Riders just coming back after a long illness or an injury meet goals every time they climb up on the horse and each time they ride they strive for the next goal. We all worry about out horses but keeping ourselves healthy is a very important goal as well.

Endurance riding offers all sorts of goals that are fun as well as challenging. This may be something as small as attending a new ride, riding a 25-mile ride for the first time, or a 50, or a 100, or maybe reaching another milestone for yourself or your horse.

I was totally in awe to find out that, through 2009, four horses had reached the 3,000-mile mark riding all limited distance rides! Can you imagine how many rides that took? What an awesome goal to work toward.

Set some goals for yourself for the rest of this ride season. There are lots of events and goals to choose from and no two are alike.

Let's all hit the trail, get out there and ride. Above all let's all keep a smile on our faces and have fun while we are at it. Endurance riding is not just a ride, it is an adventure!