Held on May 31 in Wingello State Forest, 87 riders entered the blue-ribbon 80km endurance ride, which included six juniors.

Another 44 entered the 40km training ride and 13 riders saddled up for the 10km social ride.

With many horses and riders, the ride base became a sea of horse floats, yards, horses and campfires as 138 horses arrived for the competition.

Every one of the horses was checked by the expert vet team on Saturday afternoon prior to the ride, and were then checked after finishing each leg of the endurance event.

Horses had to be passed as “fit to continue” by the vets in order to complete the ride and be eligible for completion awards and prizes.

The damp weather across much of the Highlands and South Coast may have kept some participants away, but it was the absent riders who missed out.

Horses and riders awoke on the Sunday morning to be met with dry and still conditions, with tendrils of fog drifting among the tall pines of the forest.

Mid-morning the sun began to stream down through the fog, making every pine needle glisten, and awakening the damp earthy forest scents.

The 80km ride was won by Le-Gendre Katrivessis from Tarago on Marcon Los Conquero in a fast riding time of 3hrs 34mins.

She was closely followed by Jamie Mollema from Bathurst on Littlebanks Tic Tac Toe who came second middleweight in a time of 3hrs 38mins.

Carol Layton from Wakefield on Omani Mr Sqiggle was the first lightweight rider across the finish line in a time of 3hrs 40mins.

Chris Magnabosco on Magna Viking won first heavyweight rider in a time of 3hrs 43mins. The slowest completion time for the 80km ride was 8hrs 22mins.

The ride could not have been run without the substantial financial support of major sponsors, Wingello Village Store, Moss Vale Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre, Southern Highland Wines, Campbell Jones Property, Bureaucracy Busters Town Planning Consultants and New-Moon Arabians.

The ride will be on again next year, and with a few teething details ironed out, is expected to be even bigger and better than this year’s event.Proceeds from the ride were donated to Tallong Rural Fire Service.