Fieldbrook native Jenn Laidlaw heads to Mongolia for ‘longest and toughest horse race on Earth’

Times-Standard.com - Full Article

By Robert Schaulis July 23, 2025

Next month, Humboldt County’s Jenn Laidlaw is slated to be the first Lost Coast local ever to compete in the Mongol Derby.

A 1,000-kilometer (more-than-600-mile) journey across the Mongolian steppe, the Mongol Derby is billed as “the longest and toughest horse race on Earth.” Riders mount semi-feral horses each day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and traverse contours of the country that messengers in the employ of Genghis Khan rode nearly 900 years ago.

“There’s no marked course, no packed lunches, no beds to sleep in,” the event’s website reads. “That’s the whole point. It’s just you, your team of horses and a thousand kilometers of Mongolian wilderness. The course consists of horse stations (morin urtuu in Mongolian) at 35-kilometer intervals where you swap your horse and refuel. You change horses at every station and deliver your mounts to the next in great health. How you navigate between them is where your adventure begins.”

The course-sponsoring organization, the Equestrianists, says it hopes to “deliver the greatest equine adventure in the world: high passes, huge valleys, wooded hills, river crossings, wetland, dunes and of course open steppe.”

It’s a far cry from Fieldbrook, the community just northeast of McKinleyville...

Read more here:
https://www.times-standard.com/2025/07/23/fieldbrook-native-jenn-laidlaw-heads-to-mongolia-for-longest-and-toughest-horse-race-on-earth/

Wyoming Rider embarks on toughest horse race in world

JHNewsandguide.com - Full Article

By Kyle Leverone / Sports Editor Jul 16, 2025

Two years ago Haley Fitzgerald signed up for next month’s Mongol Derby while lying in bed.

She had just experienced a horse riding accident and suffered a number of back, head and leg injuries rendering her non-weight bearing for four months. And in her immoble state she decided that she needed to set a goal to get her mind and body back to full form.

Now, she is 18 days away from setting out on the world’s longest and toughest horse race, traveling across 1,000 kilometers of Mongolia.

Fitzgerald grew up riding horses in Virginia but has been living in Jackson for 11 years. She has eight horses and owns Spruced Plume, a business where she sells accessories made of the byproducts — feathers and hides — of her hunts.

Early in her equestrian career, she became proficient in English-style riding but has learned more of the Western way since moving to Wyoming. Fitzgerald spends much of her time on horseback hunting big game in the fall and frequently going on multi-day trips with her horses.

In three weeks, she’ll embark on the multi-day trip of her life...

Read more here:
https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/sports/outdoors/rider-embarks-on-toughest-horse-race-in-world/article_1baad5fa-de70-4b46-8470-2a13eca62cb5.html

Australia: Riding into endurance record books

NoosaToday.com.au - Full Article

20/07/2025
Erle Levey

We’re not in Kansas anymore … it’s the famous line from The Wizard of OZ in which Dorothy explains to her dog Toto where they have ended up after a tornado transports them from their home in Kansas to the magical land of Oz.

The same could be said of Widgee endurance horse rider and trainer Gayle Holmes.

At Imbil on the weekend Gayle passed the 30,000km mark in her recorded rides with Australian Endurance Riders Association (AERA).

That’s about 10 times the distance from London to Athens. … and three times the distance from Queensland to Kansas – the site of one of her most memorable rides.

Gayle has been riding since 1990 and only four others have achieved the 30,000km milestone in Australia – Meg Wade, Kristie Taprell, Allan Caslick and Jennifer Gilbertson...

Read more here:
https://noosatoday.com.au/news/20-07-2025/riding-into-endurance-record-books/

USA Endurance Secures Individual Podium Finish in Junior/Young Rider Championship at 2025 FEI Endurance Pan American Championships

USEF.org

by Isabelle Whiteside/US Equestrian Communications Dept. | Jul 19, 2025, 9:23 AM

Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil - The U.S. Endurance Team successfully finished three horse-and-athlete combinations through the 120km ride at the 2025 FEI Endurance Pan American Championship hosted at Haras Albar, in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. The U.S. Endurance Team was led by Team Chef d’Equipe Lisanne Dorion and supported by Team Veterinarian Dr. Olivia Rudolphi, and Team Leader Nicole Zerbee.

“Across varying terrain and excellent conditions, the U.S. athletes performed in line with expectations,” said Lisanne Dorian, USA Endurance Chef d'Equipe.

Avery Betz-Conway (Kingsland, Ga.) finished as the highest placed U.S. combination individually, taking third overall in the Young Rider Championships with her mount Zendaya Rach, a 2015 Arabian mare owned by Rach Stud Agropecuaria. The pair earned the first medal for U.S. Endurance at a Pan American or World Championship since 2011.

The 120km championship trail consisted of four loops, ranging from 20km to 36.5km, featuring undulating terrain across the Brazilian country, designed to challenge both the endurance, stamina, and horsemanship of the competing horse-and-athlete combinations. At the conclusion of each loop, the horses were inspected and checked by the official competition veterinarians to ensure peak physical condition before returning to the rest of the trail.

“Zendaya Rach knew her job all day long and performed like a true professional,” said Betz-Conway. “We have been training together for the last two months and she gave me 200% every step of the way. I’m so grateful for her and the huge support system we had around us. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Heather Davis (The Plains, Va.) and HM Kaiser Tesla, a 2016 Anglo-Arabian gelding owned by Haras Paso Manzanero, finished inside the top ten individually in the Senior Championship, taking ninth place overall, marking their first top ten finish at the championship level. Thomas Rajala (Hillsborough, N.C.) and Valente Heb, a 2009 Arabian gelding owned by Fernando De Mello Mattos Haaland, finished eleventh overall.

See results and more at:
https://www.usef.org/media/press-releases/usa-endurance-secures-individual-podium-finish-in

Costanza Laliscia: the young Italian equestrian endurance champion

Sport.quotidiano.net - Full Article

Costanza Laliscia, endurance champion, talks about her passion for horses and the sacrifices she makes for success.

di FRANCESCA MENCACCI
18 giugno 2025

Costanza Laliscia has always collected titles. The list of successes is very long, as is the list of sacrifices made to be at the highest levels. "But I would do it all again, I can't imagine myself without sport", she says. Daughter of art, she inherited from her father Gianluca, world champion in 2005, the passion for horses and endurance, a discipline that requires rigor, effort but that develops great sensitivity. European Endurance Champion in 2019, in 2016, Costanza, at just 16 years old, became the youngest Italian Absolute Champion in the history of equestrian endurance. In total, she has won 10 Italian championships and many top-prestige international competitions in a truly rare list of achievements. Costanza has already worn the jersey of the Italian National Team 10 times and today, at 25 years old, she is the most prominent young woman in the panorama of the discipline, inside and outside Europe. "I was born among horses – she explains – I come from a family where sport is our daily bread, for us it is a lifestyle. Competitions make me feel alive, present, they give me the motivation to work hard every day"...

Read more here:
https://sport.quotidiano.net/altri-sport/costanza-laliscia-la-giovane-campionessa-5b479ebb

Australia: A remarkable life

NoosaToday.com.au - Full Article

05/07/2025
Erle Levey

The word legend can often be easily bandied about, but in Bob Sample’s case it reflects what he has done in life – particularly in endurance horse-riding circles.

Yet there is so much more to Bob and his legacy.

It reminds you that through the years you can regularly deal with people, but it is only when you set aside time to really talk with them, and listen, that you discover the full depth of their life.

Even now, in his 80s, Bob has been surprised at how little he knows about the early lives of mates … friendships built up over years in various sporting arenas and careers.

From jackaroo to board chairman, from working with dairy cattle to horses, he has led a full life.

Sitting on the deck at Stirling’s Crossing Endurance Centre at Imbil, Bob and I were watching the riders come in from an event.

There was that far-away look in his eyes as he recalled past rides...

Read more here:
https://noosatoday.com.au/news/05-07-2025/a-remarkable-life/