The trip to La Baule

Pamela Burton
May 7


Though sunny today, it is still cool here on the Atlantic Coast of
France, with a stiff breeze. If the weather is like this tomorrow,
the day of the ride, it should make for excellent riding conditions.

Friday afternoon - on to the Vet-In...I had to to pass on the
fresh oysters they were serving in the press room (lack of time) and
head to the trot -out paddock, which happens to be a nearrby lovely
park among the surrounding houses, I immediately run into Dr. Dane
Frazier from the US. He was extremely genial as is his habit, and
very complimentary of his treatment by the highly organized,
Organizing Committee. Dr. Frazier is here as one of the 9
veterinarians from as many countries, as a line vet...he said,
"his favorite job".

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Coverage Site

[RC] Time to start talkin' bout Biltmore

Ridecame: 06May04
Angie McGhee


WOW! 81 starters in the 100. That's HUGE!!! I'll be heading up to Biltmore EARLY Friday morning and will be posting back to you guys any way we find to get it here. I've got my whole family lined up to work Friday and between Bill photographing, me with the tape recorder, laptop, pen and pencil and cell phone and Bonnie & Josie acting as runners (drivers) to hopefully take my disk to the nearest internet access. The mountains are steep and close in at Biltmore so John may be hearing a whole lot of "Can you hear me NOW?"

I've entered 11 rides on the Biltmore course and have 9 completions. Kaboot got thumps back in 97 after I tried some old non-endurance electrolytes (was running 4th at the 40 mile mark), then pulled "rider option" in 02 the year that it rained so hard the night before that they dropped the 100 down to 80 and it rained buckets all day. My horse was good at 40 miles but the trail and conditions weren't so I decided to option out when the nominated horses did. I've top tenned twice in the 50, and completed 3 100's...the fastest in 13:27. So, there's my resume' for commentary. I may not be the person to ask how to win the ride, but I've got a pretty good idea how to get through it and what the challenges are. Since I'm having to be an "at home" armchair commentator right now, I just thought I'd describe what it's like if you're a first timer. If you're looking for commentary on this year's entries that'll be coming later.

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Coverage Site

La Baule: Starters List

EnduranceWorld.net


The starters list for the 2004 LaBaule CEIO*** event provides an opportunity to review the endurance teams from 5 countries as well as the depth of the endurance community in France. There will be 47 starters from 8 countries. We will see the teams from Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, and the UAE compete for team honors.

The event is also a part of the honeymoon for the newly betrothed His Highness Shiekh Mohammad Rashid Al Maktoum and Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of the United Arab Emirates and Jordan respectively. Competing in a 160km endurance race on one's honeymoon is certainly one of the marks of enthusiastic endurance family.

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EnduranceWorld.net Coverage

Biltmore: Starters List

EnduranceWorld.net
by John Teeter

The tentative starters list for the 2004 Biltmore Estate Challenge is available. There are 81 starters in the AERC Open 100, 45 FEI CEI***(100M) starters, 117 AERC Open 50, and 3 CEI**(50M) starters. The weather is changing from wet/cool to clear/hot (humid??) for Saturday with thunder storms forecast for Sunday.

All 10 USEF National Endurance Team members will be riding in the 100, although not all in the FEI division. Riders from 8 countries will be taking the Challenge.

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Starters List

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EnduranceWorld.net Coverage Site

Endurance Stars of France: Persik

Persik, foundation sire: 1969-2001
by Pamela Burton - EnduranceWorld.net


Persik, who stood in France from 1975 until 2001, is considered by many to be one of the best producers of endurance horses, able to pass his numerous good qualities to his famous get. These include endurance greats, Kid, Loustik, Makonia, Tex, Outlaw Persik, Varoussa, Dynamik, SyI?ne of Dr?mme, Melfenik, and Krempolis, to name a few.

Persik was imported from the Russian racing stud, Piaygiorsk, at Tiersk, by Jean Cougul along with two mares. In 1972, equestrian tourism was on the rise in the south of France, and riders and park rangers needed horses. According to historians, the stallion Persik, was a stand-out. The 15.3 h, grey was from the Skowronek line, with Nasseen on the paternal side and Arax on the maternal side. Dikarka, great-grandmother to Persik, is the mother of famous Padron in the USA.

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France: Pierre Cazes - The Heart of French Endurance

Pamela Burton
30Apr04

Born in 1950, married with 2 children -
A veterinarian, Pierre Cazes has been in charge of the Selection process for the French National Endurance team since 1991. He was named National trainer in 1994 and continues in that position to this day.

Under his leadership, French riders have accumulated 26 medals for European and World Championships, 9 of which were Gold medals. These medals include:

1992, Barcelona, Team Gold, Silver Individual

1994, The Hague, Team Gold / Silver & Bronze Individual

5 horses in the first 6 places

1997 Rome, Championship of Europe ? 5 top placces and Team Gold

2000 Compiegne, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Individual

2002 Jerez, Team Gold, Bronze Individual

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2004 La Baule CEIO*** Coverage


In a training course in 1998, these were some of his points of recommendation, in translation, of course, for choosing the endurance horse.

“For the endurance horse, one is not necessarily looking for the traditional gates as in more structured disciplines. You do not need a trot with action or a rounded and collected gallop, which use too much energy. The good paces of endurance are horizontal, relaxed and slow. We can see these paces develop the more the horse is worked. However, if it is the horses’ natural inclination to be collected in it’s gates, it will be difficult to dissuade the horse from his natural inclination. As far as cardiac, a powerful horse has a good recovery. Certain horses have this naturally but it is primarily a question of work and one cannot give measurable criterion on a horse that is not in condition. There will be some indices of the cardiac quality of recovery only after the first months of work. The heart rate at rest is not a good index. As far as the mental aspect of the horse, champions are relaxed and educated and work well with their riders, but they may not be horses that may be ridden by everyone. They all have a great force of character and each one has its characteristic of behavior, its small touch of madness.

Much can be found out by observing the arrivals from a race. No horse is perfect, and even the best have their weak points. The significant thing is to know your horse and to be able to manage the weak points as well as possible. When one buys a horse for endurance, the surest solution is obviously to look at its record in endurance. It should be known that the best horses were bought by chance before they were ever run for reasons as simple as color or looks, or because nobody wanted it, or the stockbreeder sold it in a batch. Finally let us not forget the genetic references: certain lines prove to be stable in their quality for the endurance.”



A la prochaine fois, Pamela








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Brazil: Santa Catarina CEI***/**/* - 8 May

Cidinha Franzão and John Teeter
30 Apr 04

EnduranceBrazil and EnduranceWorld.net will provide coverage of the CEI***/**/* (thanks mainly to the efforts of Cidinha and EnduranceBrazil!!). We hope to introduce the endurance riders of the world to this unique venue - 7' above sea level with Heat and Humidity - a true test of endurance riding!

Our coverage starts today and will continue through next week. Enjoy!!!

johnt and Cidinha!!



EnduranceWorld.net Coverage Site

EnduranceBrazil Coverage Site