Endurance High Performance Programme

About Endurance High Performance

The Performance Pathway has been designed to deliver an end to end pathway and programme to  support riders from pre development through to Elite. The goal is to establish a sustainable programme which can ensure our NZ based riders are well prepared with the required skillset to compete internationally. By using a programme to bring athletes through the pathway, we can manufacture opportunities and environments to accelerate development and ensure readiness for pinnacle events. The programme is split into two parts:

Pathway – Exploring and Developing phases of the programme,  all about the athlete
Campaign – The business end, established and now focusing on Championships, very much about combinations

Pathway Programme

Talent Identification Squad (TID): This is the identification and exploration space. Athletes can be on this squad from six months to three years

Talent Development Squad (TD): Athletes have now been exposed to a HP setting and have chosen to commit to it. Athletes are essentially doing an apprenticeship at this stage.

High Performance Potential (HPP): This is a bridging squad from development to HP and can act as a holding pen for athletes lacking horsepower. It is also an entrance point for athletes that skip the development stage.

Campaign Programme

The Campaign Programme is focused on the next Championship Event,  working with identified combinations to be best prepared to compete and achieve at the next Championship, focusing on achieving qualifications and building performance.

High Performance Futures (HPF): The experience for these athletes is much more bespoke and individualised. The criteria is results focused and athletes are selected as a combination (Horse and rider). In most cases, athletes in this squad are tracking towards the following championship

High Performance (HP): This is our elite squad, as per HPF, it is designed to deliver on each athlete’s individual needs. Athletes are chosen in combination and selection is results focused and athletes have typically achieved at a Championship Event.

One of the main criteria of these squads is a Athletes ability to prepare for a target event and execute the result at that event, its not necessarily about winning or achieving at every event. The driver for the Campaign programme are the performance targets and what the minimum standard is that combinations need to be aiming to achieve success at the Championship

So what are the Performance Targets and how have they been arrived by?

In our Olympic disciplines there is a requirement for an individual to prove to be able to achieve a Top 16 finish and a Team to achieve a Top 8 finish at an Olympic Games. What we know is that to achieve a Team result is a lot easier than trying to achieve an individual result.

When setting the Endurance Pathway we wanted to ensure the system was aligned, while Endurance is not an Olympic sport, it was felt the targets should still be the same for World Championships. What would it take for a NZ Endurance Team to finish in the top 8 at a World Championships?

To consider this we looked at the results of the last two Endurance World Championships and this is what we found:
2021 – Italy – 12 Teams started and only 3 completed
2023 – UAE – 23 Teams started and only 4 completed

What the above results show is that based on history, to achieve a top 8 Team finish at the World Championships we need to have a team complete the competition. This will now become the target focus, with less of a focus on speeds, but more on solid horse management, equine health, riding to strategy, riding as part of a team.

Selection

Selection of squads may take place up to twice annually, although Athletes may be added or removed at any time in between those selection dates.

For High Performance, High Performance Futures and High Performance Potential squad selections, the Endurance HP Manager will recommend people for selection to the various squads to the Selection Advisory Panel, who would then discuss selections against the selection criteria. 

The Talent Identification Squad would be selected following an application process which would then see applicants go through an assessment (one in the North Island one in the South) against the attributes of the selection criteria and rated. The HP Manager and Selection Advisory Members would be involved in these assessments along with other coaches or specialists from time to time.

The selection process and overall responsibility is managed by High Performance Central (General Manager HP, HP Operations Manager). Any selection concerns please reach out to the HP Central Team.

Selection Advisory Panel

• Ursula Keenan – Endurance HP Manager
• Tony Parsons
• Phillip Graham

Current Endurance High Performance Squads

Currently being reviewed