Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE) files an appeal

FEI News

29/04/2006 - Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE) files an appeal

The FEI has received notice that Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE) has filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which had disqualified him as the winner of the 2005 World Endurance Championship.


Note to the editor :
On 10 March 2006, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued its decision in the matter of the appeal concerning the winner of the 2005 FEI Endurance World Championship, Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE). The rider was disqualified after his horse Hachim tested positive to the prohibited substance Methylprednisolone.

The FEI Judicial Committee had dismissed the positive medication case concerning Hachim, due to an irregularity in the usual legal procedure, whereby Sheikh Hazza was denied the possibility to send a witness to the laboratory to attend the confirmatory analysis.

In this case, the CAS panel was faced with determining where the delicate balance should lie between the strict liability afforded to riders by the FEI?s medication control rules and the due process rights of athletes. The FEI Judicial Committee panel that initially considered the matter decided on the basis of the facts and law before them that under the circumstances, Sheikh Hazza?s procedural rights prevailed. After considering very substantial briefs as well as new written and oral testimony from all parties, the CAS panel decided that the balance rather lies in favour of the rules enacted by the FEI General Assembly to ensure a level playing field.

The decision of the Judicial Committee is published on the Legal section of the FEI website www.horsesport.org. The decision concerning the appeal will be published in due course on the CAS website: www.tas-cas.org.

Competitive trail riding trotting to popularity

BRIGHTON -- When Sandra Wright started participating in competitive trail rides with her horse, Skky, two years ago, she knew she was taking up the right hobby.

Her first 15-mile ride on the trails in Brighton was so enjoyable, Wright logged 240 miles in her first year of entering competitions. She said she could feel a change in her horse's attitude and behavior when they got on the trail.

"Three miles into the ride I realized this was what my horse wanted to do," said Wright, a Howell resident. "He was so happy. It just felt like that was what he was made to do."
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Famed Lord Fauntleroy is put out to pasture

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

When I first heard about Lord Fauntleroy I thought, that?s a pretty fancy name for a mule. But Leroy (as most of his fan base called him) was a pretty impressive mule. And many in the New Almaden area say his death last month at 37-years-old marked the end of era.
With still a lot of race to go, (left) Leroy, Virl Norton and Lady Eloise pose for a photo. Photos courtesy of Quicksilver Endurance Riders

So who was Lord Fauntleroy?

Maryben Stover, president of the Quicksilver Endurance Riders, cared for Leroy the past 11 years of his life.

?Leroy was one of the real pioneers of modern endurance riding,? said Stover. ?He finished Tevis many times. In 1976, he won the Great American Horse Race from New York to Sacramento. In those days, you trailered your horse to the starting point from California to New York. The GAHR is the longest legitimate horse race ever.?

In 1974, Lord Fauntleroy finished in 58th place at Tevis. Since 1955, the Tevis Cup Ride is the oldest modern day endurance ride. The goal of the trail ride is to complete the 100-mile course from Tahoe to Auburn in 24 hours. In 1975, Leroy took 40th place with a time of 19 hours and three minutes. He finished the endurance race again in 1977 and in 1978.

Stover recently shared the story of another run at Tevis that he would have finished if it wasn't for his rider.

?They changed the course that year and Leroy did not want to go what he knew was the wrong way after 80 miles,? said Stover. ?So being a mule and smarter than the rider he simply refused to go down what he knew was the wrong trail. His rider had been bopping him with a crop the whole way and refused to give it up when the crew told her to do so. She finally gave up fighting him. He simply refused to budge. She would not go the right way, and Leroy would not go the new way. I am told they rescued her the next morning.?

Before Stover cared for Leroy, he was owned by Virl Norton who was known as a cowboy?s cowboy. He lived in the New Almaden area since the mid-l970?s caring and training his beloved horses, mules and even zebras. Leroy was one of the equines. And at 16 hands high the half thoroughbred donkey mix was big for a mule.

But probably Leroy?s most crowning achievement was winning the 1976 Great American Horse Race [GAHR] from New York to Sacramento. With no Federal Express or Jet Pet, Leroy and Lady Eloise were transported by horse trailer with Norton and his crew: 16-year-old son Pierce.

The GAHR is the longest legitimate horse race. In 1976, there were 105 riders from 32 states and eight foreign countries entering 14 different breeds of horses and eight mules. Only 53 finished the endurance race through the country?s mountains, plains and deserts.

With Norton at the reins, the two mules traveled across country, a 3,200-mile journey. Riders were allowed two mounts at the start of the race. When the racers entered Red Cloud, Neb. only 58 riders and 80 horses remained. Norton held the lead longer than any other rider with his two mules and rode Leroy much of the time. They were first at Kankakee, Ill., Hannibal, Mo. and Cheyenne, Colo. They were never lower than third place at any time during the race after the second week.

Norton alternated mules until Lady Eloise became lame at Winnemucca, Nev. Leroy was the mule who brought Norton to the finish line of the Cal-Expo State Fair in Sacramento and won the coveted first prize of $25,000. There was even a book written about the event, "The Great American Horse Race of 1976." The GAHR broke the world record and still is the longest legitimate horse race. And the record still stands today.
Lord Fauntleroy relaxes in retirement at Maryben Stover?s pasture. Circa 2003.

Norton was known as ?the Mule Man? at GAHR. He expected to win and explained how he would.

?Watch the mules,? said Norton in one of the many interviews during the cross country GAHR. ?They?re tougher and can take tough terrain and blacktop better than a horse.?

Since the GAHR, Norton rode the Tevis eight times, three times on a horse but five times on Leroy. When Norton died in 1995, Stover promised her friend that Leroy would have a pasture for the rest of his life. Leroy spent the last 11 years on Stover?s pasture surrounded by other horses and a mule off McKean Road.

?We are only a mile away or so from Virl?s old place so Leroy was very happy,? said Stover. ?I?d turn him loose in the yard and he?d run and buck and take off to where he used to live. He was very smart. I sometimes have flights of fancy that Virl knows that Leroy is happy and healthy.?

Sadly, Leroy died in March. He was old, colicky, missing many teeth and at 37 not a candidate for surgery. Stover says ?his body just gave out.?

?When the vet came, Leroy knew he was there and with one last effort got to his feet and walked out of the barn,? said Stover. ?We laid him on the grass in the yard. He just knew it was his time.?

Equestrian panel for FEI meet

A DELEGATION from the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation left yesterday for Malaysia to attend the International Equestrian Federation's (FEI) general assembly meetings.

The delegation consists of federation's second vice-president Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa and director Haider Al Zo'bi. The meetings will conclude on Tuesday.

At the meeting, a new FEI president will be announced from a list of three officials representing Jordan, Greece and Denmark.

The schedule of the World Showjumping Champion-ship is also to be confirmed at the meeting. Two Arab riders - Saudi Arabian duo Ramzi Al Duhami and Abdulla Al Sharbatli - have already booked berths in this prestigious event after taking the top two positions in the Arab League qualifier.

Bahrain is one of many countries interested to host the next year's general assembly meeting of the FEI which has around 120 countries taking part in its programmes.

North America Loses PanAm Championship

( by Endurance.net)

Mary Lutz, Director of Endurance for the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), has verified that recent changes in FEI policies have led to the cancelation of the scheduled 2007 Pan American Endurance Championship.

In the past, FEI has viewed the United States as being composed of 5 Zones and Canada as composed of 2 Zones. Each of these zones has been treated as a "country" with respect to entry into the Continental (North American) and Intercontinental (Pan American) Endurance Championships.

The recent FEI policy change results in United States and Canadian representation in Intercontinental (Pan American) Endurance Championships being limited to 6 individual participants, one team, from each participating National Federation - plus 6 additional individual participants from the hosting federation.

This effectively means that Pan American Championship events, when held in North America, will have a smaller field of competitors. (a total field of 18 individual riders, two teams, from United States and Canada).

In addition, each Central or South American country that participates may field 6 individuals, one team, - but given the expense and logists of competing in North America, South American participation is usually minimal.

This effect has led the Organizing Committee for the 2007 Pan American Championship in Manitoba to withdraw their bid. They are concerned that they would not be able to cover the expenses of hosting a Pan American Championship with a greatly reduced number of ride entries.

FEI is currently negotiating with Brazil as a possible alternative to the Canadian venue for the event.

North American Federations are considering hosting a North American Endurance Championship in 2007 instead of a Pan American Endurance Championship. (the FEI policy limiting entries to 6 per non-host Federation do not apply to Continental Championships).

Further information will be forthcoming from FEI and National Federations of the effected countries.

Tall (and long) in the saddle

By Don Sapatkin
Inquirer Staff Writer


Photo by David M Warren/Inquirer. Song (left) and Danika watch as Melody Blittersdorf, of Jeffersonville, Vt., prepares food and supplements for them between the second and third loops of an endurance race in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Blittersdorf's daughter, Krista Alderdice, rode Danika, who won the award for best condition.


Links: Endurance riding info and a photo slide show

Nancy Botella poured Log Cabin Syrup into Ruby's bucketful of oat, beet pulp and electrolyte mush.

"You've got to eat, lady, eat some grains!"

The tactic might have worked earlier that Sunday morning, but with 31 trail miles behind her and 19 to go, the horse nibbled with the enthusiasm of a novice marathoner offered pancakes at the two-thirds mark.

Endurance riding is the equestrian equivalent of long-distance running.

Riders, like runners, often enter the high-mileage events with a goal of simply finishing. Overall conditioning, pacing, and the common sense not to do anything stupid are as important as pure athleticism.

And distance riders get the bonus of working as a team.

"Ten. OK, up and back," directed veterinarian Meg Sleeper, calling out Ruby's 15-second pulse before a 250-foot round-trip trot. Medical safeguards are built into endurance events, and a recheck one minute later found Ruby's pulse unchanged at the equivalent of 40 beats per minute, a good rate of cardiac recovery.

The vet moved around the horse, pinching (a dehydration measure), listening (to gut activity), looking (for fatigue or injury). An assistant marked Sleeper's findings on a card that resembled a rental car no-ding diagram with a horse.

Ruby refused to open her mouth for the doctor.

"It's because she was abused," explained Botella, her face sunburned after two of the day's three loops of trail in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. "She was terrified when I got her."

Botella, who has had horses since she was a child in Glen Mills, knows nothing of Ruby's past, except that she was "rescued from a slaughterhouse herd" 12 years ago and is of mixed ancestry. (Endurance is dominated by Arabians.)

"I love going out on the trail," said Botella, 47. "You have a partnership with your horse."

Three weeks ago, she drove Ruby, 14, to the Pinelands for their second endurance ride, a 50-miler.

Horses, trailers, and women in tights filled the campsite behind the Kowboy Korral in Maxwell (north of Green Bank and south of Jenkins). For reasons that no one seems to understand, in America nearly all endurance riders are women. They were 28 of 31 starters that day.

"You can set your own goals is the reason I like it," said Patti Pizzo, who organized the three-day event (riders entered any one, two or all three).

Pizzo, who is 55 and partway through a move from the Doylestown area to Upper Black Eddy, devises a new course each year while riding the sandy trails over the winter. She was tickled this time to send riders past a Christmas tree 50 feet off the trail that someone decorated two years ago.

Pizzo got her first horse, a $50 gift from her father-in-law, a few years after graduating from Cheltenham High School in 1967. Endurance was barely beginning, out west.

A governing body formed in 1972. Endurance became the U.S. Equestrian Team's fifth discipline in 1993. Relatively unknown because it is not a spectator sport, the American export is the fastest-growing equestrian category worldwide.

While Botella pleaded with Ruby to eat her syrup-laced electrolytes, a mother-daughter team from Vermont organized their mandatory rest between trail loops like a seasoned pit crew: ice boots on the front legs; protective boots on the rear; baby food, electrolytes, apples, carrots and amino acids in the buckets.

They endured together and tied for first place with a riding time of 5 hours, 23 minutes. Botella clocked in at a respectable 7:37, ranking 16th among 24 finishers; seven starters had been taken out by vets along the way.

The award for best condition went to Danika, the 13-year-old half-Arab ridden by Krista Alderdice, 29, of Jericho, Vt.

Mother and daughter might have faced tougher competition if Sleeper, 38, had been riding Shyrocco Troilus instead of playing doctor that day.

She bred Troy 15 years ago, choosing a name that reflected his Anglo Arabian ancestry and her love of Chaucer. He carried the University of Pennsylvania veterinary cardiologist from her farm near Frenchtown, N.J., to the last world competition, in Dubai. She's hoping to qualify for the next one, in Germany.

Most endurance riders aren't that focused. An advice site on the Web asks first-timers what they've learned. Posted on top:

"That fat old ladies could participate."

Going the Distance With a Horse

The main disciplines for equestrian distance riding test the conditioning of horse and rider as a team.

Endurance riding

Goal: In a competition against others, fastest time wins - if the horse meets post-finish line criteria for soundness and recovery.

Standards: Governed by the American Endurance Ride Conference and Fédération Équestre Internationale.

Distances: Between 50 and 100 miles in one day, up to 150 over three days - sometimes more. Point-to-point rides may cover historic trails.

Safeguards: Several veterinary checks and rests are mandated. Stressed horses are routinely disqualified during the event. The vets' "best condition" award is coveted.

Breeds: Any "horse, mule, pony, donkey, or even a zebra, should anyone choose to ride one," says the AERC handbook.

Competition: Serious athletes compete in weight classes for points (always on the same horse) at sanctioned events. The Northeast circuit starts and ends in the Pine Barrens.

Variations: "Limited distance" rides are similar to endurance (and governed by the AERC) but only 25 to 35 miles long.

Competitive trail riding

Goals: Riders compete against themselves. Finishing within a narrow time window, they are scored based on veterinary measures of the horse's condition after the event vs. before.

Standards: Governing bodies are regional. The Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association (ECTRA) sanctions competitive trail as well as endurance rides (following AERC rules).

Distances: Between 25 and 40 miles in one day, up to 100 over three days. (Time window for 25 miles is 4:10 to 4:40, including a mandatory 20-minute rest.)

Safeguards: Similar to endurance. Vets' judgments go beyond disqualification/"fit to continue" decisions to actual scoring.

Breeds: All equines.

Competition: Similar to endurance but lacking national and international levels.

Variations: "Competitive trail driving" is similar to riding but with the driver (and sometimes a passenger) in a cart. The ECTRA sanctions both, and they may be run together.

For more information

Details for all the above are at http://go.philly.com/horses

Tall (and long) in the saddle

By Don Sapatkin
Inquirer Staff Writer


Photo by David M Warren/Inquirer. Song (left) and Danika watch as Melody Blittersdorf, of Jeffersonville, Vt., prepares food and supplements for them between the second and third loops of an endurance race in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Blittersdorf's daughter, Krista Alderdice, rode Danika, who won the award for best condition.

Links: Endurance riding info and a photo slide show

Nancy Botella poured Log Cabin Syrup into Ruby's bucketful of oat, beet pulp and electrolyte mush.

"You've got to eat, lady, eat some grains!"

The tactic might have worked earlier that Sunday morning, but with 31 trail miles behind her and 19 to go, the horse nibbled with the enthusiasm of a novice marathoner offered pancakes at the two-thirds mark.

Endurance riding is the equestrian equivalent of long-distance running.

Riders, like runners, often enter the high-mileage events with a goal of simply finishing. Overall conditioning, pacing, and the common sense not to do anything stupid are as important as pure athleticism.

And distance riders get the bonus of working as a team.

"Ten. OK, up and back," directed veterinarian Meg Sleeper, calling out Ruby's 15-second pulse before a 250-foot round-trip trot. Medical safeguards are built into endurance events, and a recheck one minute later found Ruby's pulse unchanged at the equivalent of 40 beats per minute, a good rate of cardiac recovery.

The vet moved around the horse, pinching (a dehydration measure), listening (to gut activity), looking (for fatigue or injury). An assistant marked Sleeper's findings on a card that resembled a rental car no-ding diagram with a horse.

Ruby refused to open her mouth for the doctor.

"It's because she was abused," explained Botella, her face sunburned after two of the day's three loops of trail in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. "She was terrified when I got her."

Botella, who has had horses since she was a child in Glen Mills, knows nothing of Ruby's past, except that she was "rescued from a slaughterhouse herd" 12 years ago and is of mixed ancestry. (Endurance is dominated by Arabians.)

"I love going out on the trail," said Botella, 47. "You have a partnership with your horse."

Three weeks ago, she drove Ruby, 14, to the Pinelands for their second endurance ride, a 50-miler.

Horses, trailers, and women in tights filled the campsite behind the Kowboy Korral in Maxwell (north of Green Bank and south of Jenkins). For reasons that no one seems to understand, in America nearly all endurance riders are women. They were 28 of 31 starters that day.

"You can set your own goals is the reason I like it," said Patti Pizzo, who organized the three-day event (riders entered any one, two or all three).

Pizzo, who is 55 and partway through a move from the Doylestown area to Upper Black Eddy, devises a new course each year while riding the sandy trails over the winter. She was tickled this time to send riders past a Christmas tree 50 feet off the trail that someone decorated two years ago.

Pizzo got her first horse, a $50 gift from her father-in-law, a few years after graduating from Cheltenham High School in 1967. Endurance was barely beginning, out west.

A governing body formed in 1972. Endurance became the U.S. Equestrian Team's fifth discipline in 1993. Relatively unknown because it is not a spectator sport, the American export is the fastest-growing equestrian category worldwide.

While Botella pleaded with Ruby to eat her syrup-laced electrolytes, a mother-daughter team from Vermont organized their mandatory rest between trail loops like a seasoned pit crew: ice boots on the front legs; protective boots on the rear; baby food, electrolytes, apples, carrots and amino acids in the buckets.

They endured together and tied for first place with a riding time of 5 hours, 23 minutes. Botella clocked in at a respectable 7:37, ranking 16th among 24 finishers; seven starters had been taken out by vets along the way.

The award for best condition went to Danika, the 13-year-old half-Arab ridden by Krista Alderdice, 29, of Jericho, Vt.

Mother and daughter might have faced tougher competition if Sleeper, 38, had been riding Shyrocco Troilus instead of playing doctor that day.

She bred Troy 15 years ago, choosing a name that reflected his Anglo Arabian ancestry and her love of Chaucer. He carried the University of Pennsylvania veterinary cardiologist from her farm near Frenchtown, N.J., to the last world competition, in Dubai. She's hoping to qualify for the next one, in Germany.

Most endurance riders aren't that focused. An advice site on the Web asks first-timers what they've learned. Posted on top:

"That fat old ladies could participate."

Going the Distance With a Horse

The main disciplines for equestrian distance riding test the conditioning of horse and rider as a team.

Endurance riding

Goal: In a competition against others, fastest time wins - if the horse meets post-finish line criteria for soundness and recovery.

Standards: Governed by the American Endurance Ride Conference and Fédération Équestre Internationale.

Distances: Between 50 and 100 miles in one day, up to 150 over three days - sometimes more. Point-to-point rides may cover historic trails.

Safeguards: Several veterinary checks and rests are mandated. Stressed horses are routinely disqualified during the event. The vets' "best condition" award is coveted.

Breeds: Any "horse, mule, pony, donkey, or even a zebra, should anyone choose to ride one," says the AERC handbook.

Competition: Serious athletes compete in weight classes for points (always on the same horse) at sanctioned events. The Northeast circuit starts and ends in the Pine Barrens.

Variations: "Limited distance" rides are similar to endurance (and governed by the AERC) but only 25 to 35 miles long.

Competitive trail riding

Goals: Riders compete against themselves. Finishing within a narrow time window, they are scored based on veterinary measures of the horse's condition after the event vs. before.

Standards: Governing bodies are regional. The Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association (ECTRA) sanctions competitive trail as well as endurance rides (following AERC rules).

Distances: Between 25 and 40 miles in one day, up to 100 over three days. (Time window for 25 miles is 4:10 to 4:40, including a mandatory 20-minute rest.)

Safeguards: Similar to endurance. Vets' judgments go beyond disqualification/"fit to continue" decisions to actual scoring.

Breeds: All equines.

Competition: Similar to endurance but lacking national and international levels.

Variations: "Competitive trail driving" is similar to riding but with the driver (and sometimes a passenger) in a cart. The ECTRA sanctions both, and they may be run together.

For more information

Details for all the above are at http://go.philly.com/horses