Canadian Endurance Riders Announced for 2018 WEG Test Event

Horse-canada.com

March 6, 2018
by: Equestrian Canada

The following Canadian athletes have been invited to the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) Test Event – Endurance CEI 2*, to be held April 26-28, 2018 in Mill Spring, NC:

• Robert Gielen – Flesherton, ON
• Wendy MacCoubrey – Sainte-Justine-de-Newton, QC
• Kimberley Woolley – Finch, ON

The three athletes were chosen to compete in the 120km race based on their standings in the 2017 FEI Open Riders World Endurance Rankings, in which MacCoubrey was the highest placed Canadian, followed by Gielen and Woolley as the second- and third-highest Canadians.

MacCoubrey had an exceptional 2017 season that included multiple top-three finishes on her nine-year-old part Arabian mare, Black Bart’s Lolita (sired by Vondar Black Bart). The duo ended the year strong, earning fourth in the FEI Open Combination World Endurance Rankings.

Gielen was close behind in the FEI Open Combination World Endurance Rankings in eighth with his horse, More Bang for Your Buck (Doran x Forty Thieves). The nine-year-old Arabian gelding and Gielen have won six consecutive endurance races together at the FEI level since 2016.

The final athlete competing in the WEG Test Event, Woolley, has competed with her 12-year-old Arabian mare, Schakka Khan (Sambors Destiny x Hesa Champ), at the FEI level since 2013. The duo came in second at the 2017 Coates Creek Challenge, covering the 120km distance at an average pace of 12.14km/hr.

More information on the 2018 World Equestrian Games can be found here.

How will the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Mill Spring, NC, impact the Upstate?

Upstatebusinessjournal.com - Full Article

By Trevor Anderson - April 11, 2018

Upstate business leaders aren’t putting the cart before the horse, but they are champing at the bit to see what kind of impact one of the world’s largest equestrian events will have on the region.

The Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) in Mill Spring, N.C., will host the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG) Sept. 11-23.

TIEC officials said the event could attract more than 1,000 riders, 1,500 horses, and 500,000 spectators from 70 countries, and have a $400 million economic impact in Western North Carolina and the Upstate.

“We’re excited for our neighbors in Tryon [N.C.] to host the World Equestrian Games late this summer,” said John Lummus, president and CEO of Upstate SC Alliance. “While the core action will occur in North Carolina, the event’s location within the greater ‘Charlanta’ region is a great testament to the transportation connectivity, beautiful climate, and hospitable environment this area has to offer.

“We anticipate a great deal of eyes will be on Tryon and nearby communities like Asheville [N.C.], Greenville, Spartanburg, and the surrounding retreats. The event draws 500,000 attendees from throughout the globe,” Lummus added. “Because the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport is the designated airport of entry for the games, we anticipate a great deal of economic impact as visitors explore our region’s additional amenities...”

Read more here:
https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/how-will-the-2018-world-equestrian-games-in-mill-spring-nc-impact-the-upstate/

Clean Endurance slams limited welfare progress in Middle East

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

April 11, 2018
Horsetalk.co.nz

Desert endurance racing in the Middle East continues to exact a heavy toll on horses, four years on from what should have been a watershed moment for the sport, according to the group Clean Endurance.

The group says it is dismayed that, four years after the Endurance Strategic Planning Group (ESPG) set out a blueprint for change, there have been no concrete signs of improvement in the FEI’s Group 7 region, in the Middle East.

The FEI formed the ESPG in 2013 amid growing concerns about horse welfare, doping and rule-breaking. Delegates included representatives from Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the European Equestrian Federation, the FEI Endurance Committee and FEI headquarters.

All had agreed, according to Clean Endurance, that, globally, all efforts had to be made to reduce the numbers of horses testing positive for prohibited substances and suffering injuries.

On November 6 that year, ESPG chairman Andrew Finding opened his presentation to the FEI General Assembly session on Endurance in Montreux, Switzerland, with the words: “President, ladies, gentlemen, friends: we have a serious problem to resolve for Endurance sport and thus for all equestrian sport. We may not like the nature of the media coverage, we may feel that it is not all correct, but we cannot deny the fact that the levels of doping and the incidence of catastrophic injury to horses are unacceptable.”

The ESPG, after months of consultation, presented 41 recommendations to the FEI Sports Forum in April 2014.

“The ESPG’s clear-cut approach gave campaigners cautious hope,” Clean Endurance said.

Four years later, Clean Endurance has revisited the recommendations. It believes that half of them were never adopted. Others, it says, have been only partially executed so far.

“In some respects, the situation has worsened in the desert rides since 2014,” it says...

Read more at https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2018/04/11/clean-endurance-limited-welfare-progress-middle-east/#fafcxTFuGmjTBj1k.99

Gallops of Morocco a view from participant Michèle van Kasteren

Endurance-world.com - Full Story

10 April 2018

On 7 March 2018 we reported about the Gallops of Morocco. Read the inside story of Michèle van Kasteren one of the participants.

I have bred Akhal-Tekes for over 20 years with whom I do compete almost quite as long in endurance. I have competed up to international level, but the Gallops of Morocco…? No, I must admit, I never heard about this concept before. It was my friend Clothilde, a polo player, who introduced me to the Gallops.

So what are the Gallops? It is an adventure combining equestrian tourism with competition. The aim is to achieve 200 km on a horseback in 6 days within a fixed time frame together as a team of 5 persons. Due to some circumstances, horses have been a little in the background for the past three years. Needless to say, I am a little out of shape when it comes to physical condition.

But the idea to participate into a «soft» endurance team ride and meanwhile discover Morocco, where I have never been to, was an idea I immediately got hooked on. Exploring the Sahara on a horseback! What a fabulous challenge to take. 200 km in a week should be ok…I’ve done 160 km in a day in the past. The program sounded fantastic, so it didn’t take much effort for Clothilde to persuade me to participate. But this was 3 weeks before the start of the Gallops!...

Read more here:
http://endurance-world.com/gallops-of-morocco-a-view-from-participant-michele-van-kasteren/

China: Over 100 compete in equestrian endurance in Anhui

Globaltimes.cn - Full Article

Source:Ecns.cn
Photos by: China News Service/Han Suyuan
Published: 2018/4/9 15:05:20

The 2018 China International Equestrian Endurance Competition opens in Dangshan County, East China's Anhui Province, April 8, 2018. More than 100 jockeys from more than 10 countries and regions took part in the race, the highest level of its kind in China, held along the old riverway of the Yellow River...

See more at:
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1097055.shtml

KER Brings Unique Expertise to FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018

Equimanagement.com - Full Article

Kentucky Equine Research will coordinate feed, forage and bedding for the FEI's World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018 as the Official Equine Nutritionist.

KENTUCKY EQUINE RESEARCHAPR 9, 2018

Kentucky Equine Research has been named the Official Equine Nutritionist of the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018 (WEG). This is a familiar role for the company, which has coordinated the logistics of importing, controlling and distributing feed, forage and bedding at major international equestrian competitions for more than 20 years.

Horse owners know that consistency is key to feeding and managing healthy horses, especially in the midst of travel and competition. When show schedules take horses across international borders, biosecurity concerns and import procedures make staying on familiar feed a challenge. Kentucky Equine Research has a long history of helping national federations and athletes navigate this process at events around the world.

“Competition support is a little-known aspect of Kentucky Equine Research’s services to the global equestrian community,” said company founder and president Joe D. Pagan, PhD. “We have feed-manufacturing partners on six continents and are familiar with the sources and processes necessary to ensure the world’s top horses continue to receive their proven diets in Tryon...”

Read more here:
https://equimanagement.com/news/ker-brings-unique-expertise-to-fei-world-equestrian-games-tryon-2018

Road to the Mongol Derby: Why the Derby?

ThoroughbredDailyNews.com - Full Story

April 3 2018

By Kelsey Riley

TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley will be riding in the Mongol Derby in August 2018, and will be regularly blogging about her preparations and ultimately, her 1000-kilometer, 10-day ride across Outer Mongolia. Every rider chooses a charity for which they raise money as part of the process. Kelsey has chosen the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances Program at the Blackburn Correctional Complex in Lexington, KY. To learn more about Blackburn, click here.

If, after wrestling with a wayward 2-year-old Thoroughbred that has bolted on you for a mile, you finally pull him up–with legs, arms and back screaming in pain–and the first thought to cross your mind is, ‘that was a great workout!’…you may be meant for the Mongol Derby.

I don’t know what exactly possesses around 40 riders from across the world each year to take up the challenge of riding half-broke horses across the outer Mongolian steppe for 1000 kilometres (4,960 furlongs), but I have a much better idea after learning recently about the 42 riders from 13 different countries that I’ll be saddling up (and likely, on a few occasions crashing down) with come August.

Reasons for taking on the world’s longest and toughest horse race?...

Read more here:
http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/road-to-the-mongol-derby-why-the-derby/