South Africa: Local equestrians excel at 200km endurance ride

Informant.co.za

August 12 2009

Despite the icy-cold weather and the extremely difficult terrain, nine horse riders from the Capricorn Endurance Club participated in the Fauresmith 200km Endurance Race held in the Free State recently.

The race of 210kms gets completed over three gruelling days and only three out of nine local riders could endure until the end. Out of the 429 entries to the ride, only 225 managed to complete the endurance ride successfully. With the ride’s motto being "To finish is to win" it became understandable how so many riders fell out before the end of the race.

The locals who finished the race were Christo Scheepers (18th place standard weight category) on his horse Bouwman Quimram and Johann Jordaan (27th place in the heavyweight division) on Skarbek Mas'ud. Last but certainly not least was Louise Jordaan who finished fourth overall and took a third place in the junior division. Her horse Al Mu'barak also received the floating trophy for purest Arab horse to complete the ride in the shortest time.

Jordaan is currently in matric at Hoerskool Pietersburg and says it is a great honour to represent her school in competitions, especially with such a dedicated horse and support team at her side. - Keshia Jansens van Rensburg