La Baule 2004

La Baule CEIO*** Event Coverage
Pamela Burton



Premier riders from 12 nations including Australia, Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, and the UAE are expected to arrive for the May 8 Super League endurance ride at La Baule, France.

The endurance venue, which begins at 8:30 AM beach-side in this lovely Atlantic Coastal town, will travel inland through 6 stages and several small villages before returning to the beach for the before-dark expected finale. Sixty riders are expected at this years ride, twice the amount of entrants in 2003, the 1st CEIO at La Baule.

I will be covering the La Baule ride for EnduranceWorld.Net....tough assignment, but someone had to do it. France is very organized in it's Equestrian competitions, more-so than many countries, as it is totally underwritten (read morally and financially) by its National Federation.

EnduranceWorld.Net will explore this lovely coastal area of France and take you along on the competition trails that will travel some of the medieval backroads of Brittany.

This event is the CEIO for France for 2004. The designation is given to one country for one competition per year. In order to obtain this label, the event must be of the highest quality. This top quality event will give endurance riders a venue to further hone their skills, looking forward to the World Endurance Championship in January 2005.

The UAE will surely maintain the challenge to duplicate the individual first place last year of Shk. Rashid bin Mohammed Al Maktom, while the French team, who won the first CEIO at La Baule in 2003, will be looking to repeat their Gold Medal win.

The International teams will look forward to two other CEIO events, Newmarket in Great Britain on June 27, and Gubbio, in Italy on September 17-19 in this Competition series .

In France, Endurance is the second largest equestrian discipline by number of licensed participants, after jumping.

In 2003, a crowd estimated at 3,000-4,000 people watched the finish of the competitors, who had begun their ride at 7 am. The 2004 ride will still start at the beach site at low tide at 8:30 am, and will travel through many of small and medieval cities in the area. Some ride modifications have been made to reduce road travel, and the trail is slightly more difficult in technicality as a result.

A la prochaine, Pamela

Event Coverage Site

Intercontinental newsletter: 07/04

Intercontinental Newsletter
NEWS & MESSAGES
07/04

In this letter you’ll find:

• Important Message from Manoj Jalan, India
  
• Canter into Europe”: Central European Endurance Cup 2004
  
• Message from Suzanne Dollinger: Answer to Ian William’s letter (15th April 2004) concerning the message of Sergio Tommasi published in newsletter 06/ 04
  
• Gulf News: Several riders qualified for Senior World Championship 2005
  

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FEI General Assembly. Paris, 16-22 April 2004

FEDERATION EQUESTRE INTERNATIONALE
FEI PRESS NEWS
FEI GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Paris, 16-22 April 2004

A record number of National Federations took part in the 2004 FEI General
Assembly hosted by the French Equestrian Federation. The six days of
meetings (16 through 21 April) were held in a cooperative and friendly
atmosphere.

In connection with the General Assembly, both the Bureau and the Executive
Board met twice. A total of 26 different meetings took place throughout the
week, which represents the highest number of meetings ever organised in the
framework of an FEI General Assembly.

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FEI Endurance: US Federation and FEI Debate

US National Federation and FEI Correspondence
FEI Certificate of Capability, Qualifications, World Rankings, Welfare of the Horse

To National Federations: "As you will be aware, a recent review of the Endurance 4* qualification criteria has shown that the existing wording is not as clear as first thought and may be in need of further consideration and review... "

and [More...]

Egypt: Riding the dunes

Riding the dunes
by AL-AHRAM

The fourth Al-Ahram Al-Arabi Endurance Ride took place in the desert overlooking the Pyramids. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab followed the pack with photographer Mahmoud Moussa

From top: Sheikh Hazza, centre, and celeberating with teammates by waving the UAE flag; Ragab and Mahmoud; Hazza and the Saqqara Pyramid in the background

Once again this year I found myself in the desert, surrounded by a sea of dunes, of shifting sands, and of the rhythmic pounding of hooves. From dawn until dusk, 52 horses and their riders explored the Sahara sands.

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USEF: An Open Letter to the FEI.

An Open Letter to the FEI.

Arthur W. Priesz, Jr., Esq.
USEF Vice President of Endurance

It is with a deep sadness and regret that this letter is drafted. However, too often issues within the Endurance Discipline are dealt with out of simple expediency or, worse, in the self-interest of those involved. This has been especially true Internationally, and occurs too much at home as well. Unfortunately, when it happens Internationally, it is displayed on a much broader and more visible stage. This must stop. We need debate, not to determine a “majority” position, but to determine what is “right” in keeping the Horse first.



Representatives of the United States Equestrian Federation attending the FEI General Assembly in Paris in April will be prepared to publicly debate these issues, and others. However, this open letter to you will also be distributed to other Endurance Nations to encourage debate and consensus regarding these issues. This is another unfortunate moment for this discipline, especially following the Paris Endurance Forum of only 13 months ago and the preceding disasters at Jerez.

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USEF Comments on proposed FEI Rules Changes:

http://www.enduranceworld.net/countries/us/FEIIssues/sid0001.htm

Brazil: 2004 Haras Endurance International Coverage

8 Apr 2004
Steph Teeter


It was truly an adventure. I had to keep the concentration up constantly, as the course had a lot of different trail, changing and turning frequently, through the woods, around fields, along lakes, through villages. A challenge even under normal circumstances. No daydreaming. I really enjoyed it though, Luis is a wonderful man and told me many stories, and many things about his native country.

We got to the first vet check fine, were met at the ingate by Henrique and crew, fast efficient, horses pulsed down quickly and vetted through fine. The second loop was more difficult - much hillier, and a lot of hardpack clay road. And the horses were less than enthusiastic about going back out after the 40 min hold (neither horse had done more than 40km before... what´s the deal?) We squeezed and pushed them out the gate, past the stable area (Luis´s horse tried more than once to turn back into his pen) and through the feed barn past bags of grain, dogs, tractors and men. We finally got them out and going well again, but it was tough going, and IMO too much hardpack and rock and hill to keep the same pace as before... ´Luis.... slow down... come back!..´

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