Vets talk of challenges in identifying horses as lame during Endurance competitions

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

November 30, 2019
Horsetalk.co.nz

Official veterinarians at FEI Endurance rides have confirmed to researchers how difficult it can be to detect subtle lameness in horses during evaluations in competition.

Elimination rates in Endurance competitions are high, especially so in higher-level competitions in which FEI-accredited veterinarians are required to make the call over lameness.

Such decisions can affect the race outcome and commonly draw objections from competitors.

Monica de Mira, from the University of Évora in Portugal, and her colleagues from Portugal, Australia and Britain, set out in a study to assess the views of FEI official endurance veterinarians around the challenges in assessing lameness.

They also wanted to learn about the occurrence of confrontations with riders when horses are eliminated because of lameness, and to get their thoughts on the use of user-friendly technology to help detect lameness...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/11/30/vets-challenges-horses-lame-endurance/

New Zealand: A first as South hosts endurance event

ODT.co.nz - Full Article

27 November 2019

April 2020 will be the first time the New Zealand Endurance and Competitive Trail Riding Championships will be hosted further south than Christchurch.

Organised by champion endurance rider Susie Latta and a small committee of volunteers, the championships will take place over Easter weekend next year across four properties in the Nenthorn Valley in Eastern Otago.

Competitive endurance riding and competitive trail riding covers various distances on horseback. The longest distance in endurance is 160km, shorter distances are also offered. The winner is first over the line.

Competitive trail riding has a different set of rules. Riders are given time to complete a marked course and penalty points are given for arriving at the finish earlier or later than the optimum time.

The horse’s heart rate is taken upon crossing the finish line and then up to 30 minutes later once the heart rate has dropped to as low as the rider thinks it will. These heart rates are added to any time faults from finishing early or late to produce a final score. Lowest score wins.

The championship had never been south of Christchurch because getting venues was quite difficult, Mrs Latta said...

Read more here:
https://www.odt.co.nz/rural-life/rural-events/first-south-hosts-endurance-event

‘My period wasn’t my top concern’: Lara Prior-Palmer on bleeding on the saddle during world's longest horse race win

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Story

By Molly McElwee
25 NOVEMBER 2019

here is a paragraph in Rough Magic, Lara Prior-Palmer’s memoir on becoming the first female, and youngest, winner of the Mongol Derby, the longest horse race in the world, that any woman can relate to – the unexpected, wholly inconvenient arrival of her period.

“As of this morning, I’ve been bleeding onto the saddle,” she writes. “I forgot to take the pills that keep my period away. Its ­arrival strikes me as odd, ­perhaps because I feel the Derby has suspended ordinary life’s monthly cycles.”

Prior-Palmer had not been the best prepared for the six-day 1,000 -kilometre race across the Mongolian Steppe, riding around 25 wild ponies along a route based on the horse-messenger system developed by Genghis Khan in 1224. She had signed up seven weeks before the start, about 10 months after every other competitor, and was ignorant of the most basic practicalities. From forgetting to pack toilet roll and naively asking the organisers, “Will anyone be waking us up in the mornings?”, tampons and the contraceptive pill fell pretty low on her agenda...

Read more here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/womens-sport/2019/11/25/period-wasnt-top-concern-lara-prior-palmer-bleeding-saddle-worlds/

FEI Votes for Changes Affecting Safety, Welfare

Thehorse.com - Full Article

Mandatory headgear, bitless bridle ban, imposed endurance rider weights, and frangible devices for eventing jumps are among new FEI rules.

Posted by Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA | Nov 21, 2019

Safety and welfare were the top priorities discussed at the 2019 General Assembly of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) held Nov. 16-19 in Moscow. Delegates of national federations from 91 member nations convened Tuesday to vote on proposed rule changes affecting the international governing body’s broad base of equestrian disciplines. The policy revisions aimed toward making international equestrian sport safer, fairer, and more respectful of the horse, said FEI leaders.
“I would like to reiterate that we cannot compromise on horse welfare, and we have to be held accountable for our actions as decision-makers,” said FEI president Ingmar de Vos as he opened the floor Tuesday morning. “We have the responsibility to uphold the values of our sport. … The decisions we make here today will have lasting repercussions in the equestrian world and those connected to our sport.”

Here are highlights of this week’s decisions:...

Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/181766/fei-votes-for-changes-affecting-safety-welfare/

FEI Drops High Profile (UAE) Steroids Case After Two-Year Legal Wrangle

HorseSport.com - Full Article

The FEI has dropped a steroids case against a top UAE endurance trainer Ali Khalfan al Jahouri, after a two-year legal battle. Find out why.

By: Pippa Cuckson | November 20 2019

The FEI has dropped a steroids case against a top endurance trainer after two years of wrangling over a legal point that potentially exposed the FEI to a damages claim.

Ali Khalfan al Jahouri, 44, long-time trainer at Al Wathba stables in Abu Dhabi, had been scheduled to appear before the FEI’s independent Tribunal in January 2019. Three endurance horses in his care – the former President’s Cup winner 8 Minute, plus HLP Gadafi and JLB Noche – tested positive to various banned substances at the end of 2017.

Under the Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMRs) the “Person or Persons Responsible” are strictly liable for the presence of a banned substance in a horse, even if someone else admits fault.

8 Minute had tested positive to three steroids, nandrolene, stanozolol and EA-ESTRANE-3B,17A-DIOL and Al Jahouri might normally have faced two years suspension.

But the 8 Minute case alone was prosecuted under the clause of EADCMRs Article 2.2, which covers “Use or Attempted Use of a Banned Substance or a Banned Method.” Proof of “intent” is required in an “attempted use” charge; after Al Jahouri produced witness statements about management practices at Al Wathba FEI legal conceded there was “insufficient evidence that Mr Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri was actually involved in the doping violation or used Nandrolone on the horse in this specific case” and dropped the 8 Minute charges...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/fei-drops-high-profile-steroids-case-two-year-legal-wrangle/

National delegates give green light to revamped Endurance rules

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

November 20 2019
Horsetalk.co.nz

Thunderous applause greeted the passage of the new Endurance rules at the FEI’s annual General Assembly, in what could well prove to be the last roll of the dice in a bid to straighten out the discipline.

In a separate vote, the key elements of the rules package will be implemented on January 1, in an indication that a majority of national federations are keen to have to them in place as soon as possible.

The new Endurance Rules were passed by a strong majority, with 94 national federations in favour and 19 against, with no abstentions.

The new rules are the result of more than a year of work by the Endurance Temporary Committee. It was appointed in an effort to find solutions to ongoing welfare issues and reputational damage to the discipline, much of it arising from the fast-style desert racing centred on the Gulf region...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/11/20/national-delegates-green-light-endurance-rules/

Clean Endurance hopeful for real change as National Federations approve 2020 FEI Endurance Rules

19 November 2019
Immediate Release

Clean Endurance is relieved a large majority of National Federations represented at the 2019 FEI General Assembly in Moscow today chose to approve the full 2020 Endurance Rules proposal. Although 7 articles were amended to reflect certain National Federations’ desire for a loosening of the new rules, the overall rules package should nonetheless be effective enough to have a real impact on horse welfare in Endurance.

2 weeks prior to the FEI 2019 General Assembly, Clean Endurance had written to all 134 National Federations, urging them to vote in favour of the 2020 Endurance Rules Proposals in order to ensure the survival of Endurance as a FEI discipline.

They told the National Federation Secretary Generals that their letter was a last resort to try and convey to them the absolute emergency situation Endurance is in today, and that a positive vote was of the utmost importance.

Given that for the past several years attempts at improving the Endurance Rules failed due to commercial or political interests prevailing over horse welfare, Clean Endurance is hopeful that today marked a turning point in Endurance history. It is particularly pleased with the increase in qualifying criteria for moving up competition levels, with the introduction of qualifying as a combination for CEI 3* (160 km) and Championships, and with the introduction of minimum rider weights for all distances. Minimum weights aim to slow horses down and/or eliminate them from the competition before they suffer Catastrophic Injuries.

It is the FEI Board’s mandate to now decide on implementation dates in either January or July for each 2020 new rule provision. Clean Endurance is confident that since all of the new 2020 rules are centered around horse welfare, the FEI Board will do everything in its power to avoid any unnecessary delays and thus demonstrate that horse welfare is indeed the number 1 priority of the FEI.


Clean Endurance is a global collective which aims to restore the traditional values of their sport. It combats fraud, doping and abuse in collaboration with the FEI, National Federations and numerous other stakeholders.

Clean Endurance is happy to supply links for further reading, including coverage in bona fide news media.

Clean Endurance also welcomes comments and suggestions.

Find them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cleanendurance and contact them through the message button, or email contact.cleanendurance@gmail.com

FEI General Assembly delegates focus on change at the dedicated Rules sessions

Inside.FEI.org

Nov 18, 2019

Discussions on the proposed Rules revisions for Endurance, the future of Reining as an FEI discipline and a general Rules session were the key focus for debate at the FEI General Assembly in Moscow (RUS) today.

FEI Vice President Mark Samuel, who has acted as FEI Board liaison on the Endurance Temporary Committee (ETC) charged with a full review of the discipline’s Rules, was moderator for the dedicated Endurance session and was uncompromising in his message to delegates on the critical importance of the ETC’s work and tomorrow’s vote.

“This journey has been a sacred trust”, he said in his opening. “The status quo was clearly unacceptable. It is the time now for action rather than more words. Our partner, the horse is counting on us.”

Along with the feedback received as part of the consultation process, there was further input from National Federations at yesterday’s Regional Group meetings. As a result, the ETC made additional revisions to the proposed Rules which will be voted on at the General Assembly tomorrow, and these were explained in detail by Committee Chair Dr Sarah Coombs.

She too stressed the importance of horse welfare and the level playing field: “The welfare of the horse is our number one priority: not competition, not commercial or business interests and not administrative convenience. Every one of us is bound by the Code of Conduct for the welfare of the horse. This requires that we respect the horse during and outside competition, above all else.

“The use of illicit drugs is an abuse of the welfare of the horse. Clean Sport is a fundamental aspect of the contract to participate in FEI competitions. Where the use of banned substances and controlled medication and in particular the widespread use of nerve desensitisation has come into our sport it must be rigorously dealt with.”

Multiple topics were raised on the proposed amendments during the session, which was allowed to exceed its allotted three-hour slot to allow for all points of view to be aired. Minimum athlete weight, qualifications, ride distances, novice rides, rotation of Officials, change of trainers and the date of implementation should the Rules be approved were all debated at length.

Tomorrow’s vote on the overall approval of the Endurance Rules, which will include the date of implementation in 2020, and with the option to vote on individual provisions separately, will only be taken once the additional proposed amendments have been voted on...

More at:
https://inside.fei.org/content/fei-general-assembly-delegates-focus-change-dedicated-rules-sessions

Endurance: No Gain Without Pain, But Who Will Make the Sacrifice?

HorseSport.com - Full Article

The FEI’s Endurance Temporary Committee has worked for a year to come up with rule change proposals to ensure the safety of the sport’s horses

By: Cuckson Report // Pippa Cuckson

I have been writing about the woes of desert endurance for over seven years. I didn’t want to feel a sense of “déjà vu” when the latest beefed-up FEI rule proposals were published a few days ago, but read them – or more accurately, the response to them – with more weariness and exasperation.

The FEI’s Endurance Temporary Committee (ETC) has worked tirelessly for a year, going further than any of its predecessors dared to with reforms to rescue endurance’s social licence to exist. The elected athletes’ representative Tarek Taher, in particular, has been harassed on social media by anonymous cowards so blatantly in thrall to Dubai. Yet the ETC has pressed on, when others would have walked away.

The ETC undertook unprecedented consultation, listening to all territories, geographies and cultures. It has published the observations of all national federations (NFs); even the incoherent ones, and those of South Africa, Libya, Lebanon and Sudan who simply cut and pasted bumph circulated by the UAE earlier this summer opposing most of the proposals.

The ETC has carefully explained why NF suggestions have been adopted or not. No other discipline has ever reached out to its global community in this way (though no other is in such a mess that it needs to.)

But inevitably the ballsy rhetoric at the FEI Sports Forum in April has been watered-down prior to the FEI General Assembly in Moscow next month, because any rules package has to get past the national federations.

The most obvious casualty of rule reform is Valerie Kanavy’s qualifying/upgrading system, which aimed to reduce fracture-risking high speeds and encourage tactical riding. The speed merchants were always going to oppose it, but it had unintended consequences for countries practising traditional endurance, and who resent having to compromise because of the excesses spread by one region...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report/endurance-no-gain-without-pain-but-who-will-make-the-sacrifice/

FEI World Championships, World Cup Finals cities announced

HorseSport.com

Host cities for the FEI World Championships 2022 and other major events up to 2023/2024 have been allocated by the FEI Board in Moscow.

By: FEI Communications | November 17 2019

Host cities for the FEI World Championships 2022 and other major events up to 2023/2024 were allocated today by the FEI Board at its in-person meeting in the Russian capital Moscow.

FEI World Championships in four disciplines: Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage and Vaulting will be staged in Herning (DEN) in August 2022. The Danish city, which runs a qualifier for the FEI Dressage World Cup™ annually, previously hosted a multi-discipline equestrian event in 2013 when it staged the FEI European Championships for Jumping, Dressage and Para-Dressage.

Pratoni del Vivaro (ITA), venue for the Eventing discipline at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games, will host FEI World Championships for Eventing and Driving in September 2022. The Italian venue, located 35 kilometres south of Rome, is no stranger to hosting high-level equestrian events and FEI Championships. It was the site for the cross country competition at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 1998 and hosted the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles in 2006 and 2010.

“When we opened the process for the FEI World Championships 2022 to single and multi-discipline bids, our intention was to have events that were more manageable and sustainable at proven venues,” FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said. “By allocating these multi-discipline Championships to Herning and Pratoni del Vivaro we’re working with hosts that already have the necessary experience and required infrastructure in place to organise world-class equestrian championships.

“We received some truly excellent bids and unfortunately we don’t have enough FEI World Championships to allocate to everyone, but we very much hope that these excellent organisers will bid again in the future to host championships at their venues.”

The World Championships 2022 in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines of Jumping, Eventing, Dressage and Para Dressage, will serve as qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The FEI Board agreed unanimously that any decision on the FEI World Championships in Endurance and Reining should be postponed pending the outcome of discussions about both disciplines on 18 November and voting on 19 November.

The FEI Board also allocated FEI World Cup™ Finals for 2022 to 2024, with Leipzig (GER) once again hosting four FEI World Cup™ Finals under one roof from 6-10 April 2022. The German city previously hosted the same four disciplines – Jumping, Dressage, Driving and Vaulting – in 2011.

The FEI World Cup™ Finals for Jumping and Dressage will return to Omaha (USA) in 2023 (12-16 April), and the FEI World Cup™ Finals 2024 for Jumping and Dressage were allocated to Riyadh (KSA). Dates for the FEI World Cup™ Finals 2024 in Riyadh will be confirmed. Bordeaux (FRA) will host the FEI Driving World Cup™ Finals in both 2023 (2-5 February) and 2024 (1-4 February).

The bidding process for the FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Finals 2023 and 2024 will be reopened.

In addition, the Board allocated qualifiers for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ series, FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth 2020 and FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ 2020, FEI Jumping Ponies Trophy™ 2020 qualifiers and Finals and other Championships.

The list of key allocations is below (a complete list will be included in the detailed report of today’s in-person FEI Board meeting):

FEI World Championships 2022
Multi-discipline

FEI World Championships (Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage & Vaulting) – Herning (DEN), 6 – 14 August

FEI Eventing World Championship – Pratoni del Vivaro (ITA), 14-18 September

FEI Driving World Championship – Pratoni del Vivaro (ITA), 21-25 September

FEI World Cup™ Finals 2022

FEI World Cup™ Finals (Jumping, Driving, Vaulting & Dressage) – Leipzig (GER), 6-10 April

2023

FEI World Cup™ Finals (Jumping & Dressage) – Omaha (USA), 12-16 April

FEI Driving World Cup™ Final – Bordeaux (FRA), 2-5 February

2024

FEI World Cup™ Finals (Jumping & Dressage) – Riyadh (KSA), 4-9 March or 15-20 April

FEI Driving World Cup™ Final – Bordeaux (FRA), 1-4 February

Australia: Growing success for the Matar Stables Bullio Cup

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

Race Report made with the assistance of the Canobolas Endurance Riders Club Inc
18 November 2019

Orange, Central West of NSW, Australia. Sunday 3 November 2019. When the Canobolas Endurance Riders Club was formed in 2018, its aim was to host an endurance event that showcased Australian endurance riding.

Matar Endurance Stables Dubai came on board with this fledging club and gave great support and confidence to move forward and host another event in 2019.

Consequently, the Club went one step further this year and staged a 120km 2* and domestic 120km ride in conjunction with the 80km 1* and 80km domestic event. Incorporated into the weekend was an intermediate 40km ride plus an introductory component of a 20km and 10-5km ride where young children were able to ride out on the course with elite riders and enjoy being a part of the sport of endurance riding.

Riders came from all over Australia, as well as New Zealand, Dubai, France, the UK, China and Hong Kong. The 139 endurance riders taking part in the senior categories have been forthcoming with high praise of the event. Even those who were not successful on the day have stated they will be coming back to try for a completion buckle at next year’s Matar Stables Bullio Cup...

Read more here:
https://endurance-world.com/growing-success-for-the-matar-stables-bullio-cup/

Belgium: Cooling gel saw Endurance horse fail two drug tests; rider not at fault

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

November 14, 2019
Horsetalk.co.nz

A Belgium-registered rider whose horse tested positive for an anti-inflammatory medication after two Endurance rides bore no fault for the breaches, the FEI Tribunal has ruled.

Jacques Sabeau was not fined or suspended over the breaches, which involved harpagoside, an anti-inflammatory drug with pain-killing effects.

He competed the horse Eaunoire Cookies in a CEI1* 100km Endurance contest in Bullange, Belgium, on June 30 last year, and in a CEI2* event in Wimmenau, France, in early September last year.

Urine samples taken from each event returned positive results for harpagoside, which is listed as a controlled medication under the FEI’s anti-doping rules...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/11/14/cooling-gel-endurance-horse/

UAE: Fine, suspension for Endurance rider over positive drugs test in horse

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

November 13, 2019 Horsetalk.co.nz

A young Endurance rider from the United Arab Emirates has been fined 7500 Swiss francs and suspended for two years after his UAE-registered horse tested positive for muscle-building compounds.

Khalifa Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri, who was aged 19 at the time of the drugs breach in September 2017, had competed the horse 8 Minute, who was not trained by him, in a 120km event for junior and young riders in Valeggio sul Mincio, Italy.

Samples taken from the horse confirmed the presence of nandrolone and stanozolol, which are listed as banned substances under the FEI’s anti-doping rules...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/11/13/fine-suspension-endurance-horse/

Endurance riding in Ukraine on the rise

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

10 November 2019
Race Report made with the assistance of Lesia Gordiienko

Shchilin Endurance Equestrian Club, Iatski, Kyiv region. Sunday 6 October 2019.

Endurance riding in Ukraine is becoming more and more popular throughout recent years.

Due to the great enthusiasm of the famous endurance rider and Shchilin Endurance equestrian club owner Mr Czhou Zhuisi, who organizes FEI rides every autumn.

The rides of CEI2* 120k and CEI1* 80k were organized for both senior and young riders. Three loops of 12, 20 and 34km involved a mix of long plane field roads, moderate hills, forest paths and picturesque countryside. The track was rather technical and challenging with long speedy stretches and slopes to walk down...

Read more here:
https://endurance-world.com/endurance-riding-in-ukraine-on-the-rise/

Survival of Endurance rests on crucial vote, says advocacy group

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

November 6, 2019
Horsetalk.co.nz

The very survival of Endurance as an FEI discipline is at stake when national delegates vote on new rules for the sport at the upcoming FEI General Assembly, a respected advocacy group says.

Clean Endurance is urging all national federations to approve the 2020 FEI Endurance Rules during the annual gathering, being held in Moscow in mid-November.

The group, a global collective which combats fraud and doping in Endurance, and seeks to restore the traditional values of the discipline, says it has written to all 134 national federations ahead of the Moscow meeting.

It is asking them to vote in favour of the rules in order to ensure the survival of Endurance as an FEI discipline.

They told secretary generals around the world that their letter was a last resort to try to convey the emergency faced by Endurance, saying that a positive vote was of the utmost importance...

Read more here
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/11/06/survival-endurance-vote/

UAE: Former endurance rider Ana Mendez revels in new role as a flat-racing trainer

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Argentine scores a double at Sharjah Racecourse’s first meeting of the new season

Published: November 02, 2019 18:54
Leslie Wilson Jr, Racing & Special Features Writer

Dubai: Former endurance rider Ana Mendez is revelling in her new role as a flat-racing handler where she is in charge of the Al Wathba Stables owned by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

The Argentine horsewoman, who only took out an ERA’s training license two months ago, matched reigning champion Ernst Oertel win-for-win at the Sharjah Equestrian Club’s first meeting of the 2019-2020 UAE racing season on Saturday.

Mendez did not waste time to get off the mark at Abu Dhabi last week when she sent out Saarookh to secure a career-first victory that will always remain very close to her heart.

As the action turned to Sharjah, Mendez began the afternoon in fine style when Rawaa ran out a comfortable winner of the opening Sharjah Sports Maiden.

She then doubled the score with Fandim in the Longines Conquest VHP Maiden.

Mendez, a regular on the endurance scene, has for the past five years been honing her flat-racing skills that are essentially focused on Purebred Arabians, as an assistant trainer...

Read more here:
https://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/former-endurance-rider-ana-mendez-revels-in-new-role-as-a-flat-racing-trainer-1.67564907

Australia: Endurance riders raise funds to support drought relief

CowraGuardian.com.au - Full Article

October 31 2019

The Lachlan Endurance Riders Club has donated $4000 to drought relief efforts in NSW, following through on a commitment made earlier in the year.

The club decided to contribute to attempts to alleviate the drought's effects earlier in the year, and after careful consideration, decided to do so through Lions International, who have more than 600 volunteers donating thousands of hours of their time servicing Central NSW.

There are several steps in the Lions International aid process, which made it clear that it was the right organisation for us to direct our energy towards assisting.

First and foremost, it is co-ordinated through the Geurie Lions Club, and with assistance from Wellington Lions, all money donated is used to purchase hay direct from farmers, as well as stock lick blocks, while delivering both items to communities in need...

Read more here:
https://www.cowraguardian.com.au/story/6468398/endurance-riders-raise-funds-to-support-drought-relief/?cs=594

Clean Endurance urges National Federations to approve 2020 FEI Endurance Rules

5 November 2019
Immediate Release

Clean Endurance has written to all 134 National Federations invited to the FEI General Assembly in Moscow on November 19th 2019, asking them to vote in favour of the 2020 Endurance Rules Proposals in order to ensure the survival of Endurance as a FEI discipline.

They told the National Federation Secretary Generals that their letter was a last resort to try and convey to them the absolute emergency situation Endurance is in today, and that a positive vote was of the utmost importance.

Clean Endurance sketched the dire straits Endurance is in as follows:

‘Back in 2014, the FEI created the Endurance Strategic Planning Group (ESPG) which concluded that emergency measures were needed to reduce the numbers of doped, injured and dying horses at Endurance competitions. Only a few of their 41 recommendations were implemented and no improvement was seen.

In fact, the situation kept getting worse and worse, with ever increasing Catastrophic Injuries and the FEI Tribunal overwhelmed with doping and abuse cases. Currently, two thirds of all suspensions are for Endurance riders and trainers, over half of the Administrative Sanctions for doping involve Endurance horses ( and the winter season is only just beginning), over half of all doping cases treated by the FEI Tribunal in 2019 were Endurance related, and 80% of horse abuse sanctions imposed by the Tribunal this year were for Endurance. Numerous other abuse cases involving Endurance horses are queuing up to be heard by the Tribunal. An ever-increasing number of horses are collapsing and dying during Endurance competitions all over the world. This endangers ALL horse sports including the Olympic disciplines by bringing them into disrepute.

The continuing problems led the FEI to create the Endurance Temporary Committee in 2018 which was charged with creating rule proposals to protect the horses by putting them first, and thus ensuring Endurance could survive as a FEI discipline.’

Clean Endurance than pointed out that prior attempts at improving the Endurance Rules (in 2017 for example) failed, but that this time, commercial or political interests could not be allowed to prime over horse welfare, nor could a lack of involvement from those National Federations not actively participating in Endurance. They also mentioned that National Federations had no doubt, as was the case in 2017, received presentations from those National Federations who prefer to continue with racing horses at high speeds over very long distances and who will have tried to persuade them that this is the future. But that instead, they should ask themselves why the career span of a young horse sold to take part in these races is less than two years, and why the rate of positives to prohibited substances in that region is 12% - nearly 10 times greater than any other horse sport in any other country.

Clean Endurance went on to quote FEI President Ingmar de Vos from his opening speech at the 2019 FEI Sports Forum:

“Regardless of all actions undertaken, all the decisions, and all the resources made available we still have the same issues: horse welfare and the integrity of the sport remain huge concerns in Endurance. There are still too many injuries and fatalities, and I can only talk about those that we know of. We collectively hold our breaths when the season in the Middle East starts again. After Tryon, the FEI board unanimously agreed this had to stop. We need to bring horsemanship back to the heart of Endurance. It is our responsibility AND THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE. Endurance has great potential for the future, but NOT AS IT CURRENTLY EXISTS”.

Ingmar de Vos also stressed the fact that “We need to be courageous to make the right decisions in November”.

Clean Endurance wrote that ‘regardless of whether you as a National Federation are actively involved in Endurance or not, we urge you to vote a resounding YES to ALL the Endurance rule propositions the FEI submits to you. These proposals are not perfect, but an important steppingstone to finally get Endurance under control and build a sustainable future for it, within the FEI’.

They concluded their letter by stating they trust that the National Federations will support the FEI in its efforts for clean and fair sport.

Clean Endurance is a global collective which aims to restore the traditional values of their sport. It combats fraud, doping and abuse in collaboration with the FEI, National Federations and numerous other stakeholders.

Clean Endurance is happy to supply links for further reading, including coverage in bona fide news media.


Clean Endurance also welcomes comments and suggestions.

Find them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cleanendurance and contact them through the message button, or email contact.cleanendurance@gmail.com

Advice from a 70-Year-Old Endurance Champ

FEI.org - Full Story

31 October 2019
Words by Noelle Maxwell

70-year-old Bob Long reveals how preparation helped turn him from western rider to Endurance champion!

When it comes to Endurance, longevity is clearly an advantage.

That’s certainly the case for Bob Long, the 70-year-old American who – like his horses – just keeps on going!

Bob, of Boise, Idaho, just recently became the oldest ever winner of the 2019 Mongol Derby. That’s a 650-mile trek through the wilderness of the East Asian country.

As with all Endurance athletes, Bob puts his success down to readiness. “Age is just a number – preparation trumps youth,” he said recently.

We found out more about how Bob's preparations took him from long-distance novice to champion!

Read more here:
https://www.fei.org/stories/endurance-bob-long