Australia: WEC Endurance Team Announced

Strong Team Selected for World Equestrian Games Endurance Race


Australian is sending perhaps its strongest ever team to take on the best in the world at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen Germany , August 2006.
The team announced this week includes Australia?s best performed combinations.
With a history of world class performances this will be a powerful team indeed.

The team :

Chef D?equipe: Dr. Patricia McKay-Annetts
Team Veterinarian: Dr. Anne Barnes
Assistant Chef D?Equipe Kerry Spratt
Assistant Veterinarians Dr. Pat Hodgetts and Dr Robyn Mather
Crew Manager and Team Co-ordinator John Simpson
Equine Therapist Emma Kirby

Horses and Riders :

Meg Wade and China Doll :
This combination have recently completed their Aachen preparation with a top ten placing at the 2006 Tom Quilty Gold Cup ,Australia?s National Championship ride .
Meg had a good run with this horse under European conditions last year , placing a gutsy 5th over the WEG track at the European championships in 2005.

Penny Toft and Bremervale Justice :
Our most experienced combination , Penny with many miles of desert and continental racing experience , and Justice the wonder horse, arguably the most successful endurance horse ever , with many placings and team medals in International competitions.

Peter Toft and the incredible Electra BBP Murdoch :
Affectionately known the world over as the ?lil ?ol appy? , this appaloosa arab cross gelding has carried his heavyweight rider to complete and compete on four continents . Most notable are Two tevis USA top ten completions , and a 17th overall and Team Silver Medal in the 2005 World Endurance Championships.

Brooke Sample and La Mancha Archduke :
Brooke is a household name in Australia with a reputation as a determined and talented rider , he has won the Australian National Championship Tom Quilty Gold Cup five times . Brooke and his WEG mount , La Mancha Archduke won the recent CEI*** 160k Trans Tasman Challenge and just yesterday , a few days before flying to Aachen , they were equal second at a tough local 80km ride.

Jennifer Gilbertson and Bramall Jazzmin :
Jennifer and Jazz were a part of out Silver medal winning team at the 2005 Dubai World Endurance Championship. Jazzmin is owned by Toft Endurance.

Joyce Corbett and Reeflex
Joyce is a new face on the International stage , although well known to the Australian endurance community . With her purebred Arabian Mare Reeflex , Joyce was the co-winner of the 2004 Australian National Championship Tom Quilty Gold Cup held in South Australia.

Donna Wiesman and Hirstglen Fargo :
Donna is an experienced rider . This combination have completed 2 x160km rides for a second and a third placing

Danielle O?Loughlin and Pravado :
Danielle is steadily working her way up into the top ranks of Australian endurance riders.
With Pravado , Danielle has completed 3 x 160k rides including a second place and best conditioned middleweight at the 2005 Queensland State Championships

Please note that the AERA has also announced the inclusion of four Reserve Horses :

Wybalena Lodge Shuska as a reserve for Meg Wade . ( Shuska is already in Europe )

Harriet as a reserve for Penny Toft ( Harriet is already in Europe )

Carnarvon Cavalier as a reserve for Brooke Sample

Tora Blar Zay , owned by Toft Endurance , will travel to Europe at the owners discretion as an uncommitted reserve horse

Kristie McGaffin will be In Europe for the event and has been included as a reserve rider


AERA Web Site

Bahrain Riders set for Endurance Test

The Bahrain Royal Endurance team are set to participate in the Saint Galmeir race which will start tomorrow in Paris, with the leader of Al Khaldiya Stables team Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa leading the team.

The race will be held during France's celebration of their national day.

This will be the fourth event for Bahrain in Europe in their preparations to gear up for the World Endurance Race to be held in Germany.

Shaikh Khalid will lead the team on behalf of Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who will not take part in this race because of studies. Bahrain's Yousif Taher and Khalid Al Ruwaie will also take part in this race.

The race which will cover a distance of 160km and consists of six stages. The first stage will be over 36km, the second 30km, the third 29km, the fourth 20km, the fifth 30km and the last stage 29km.

Arab riders from the UAE and Syria along with Bahrain will take part in this race where the temperatures reached 32 in Paris yesterday.

Endurance rider found dead near Georgetown

Endurance rider found dead near Georgetown
Doctors perform autopsy on the Vacaville woman

By: Penne Usher, Journal Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 9:51 PM PDT

An autopsy was being conducted Tuesday on a Vacaville woman who was found dead on the Dru Barner trail Saturday during the Gold Country Endurance Ride near Georgetown.

Pamela Page Briles, 59, was participating in the endurance ride at Dru Barner Equestrian Park and was found lying on the trail by other riders.

Cherryl Holbrook, ride manager, said Tuesday that about 29 miles into the 30/50 mile ride two doctors on horseback found the body.

"A couple riders, both physicians, came up upon her," she said. "They were going to give her CPR, but turned her over and determined that she was already dead."

Emergency crews from El Dorado County responded, but were unable to revive Briles.
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Lt. Marc Adams of the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday that a preliminary autopsy report indicates the rider most likely died from an existing medical condition.

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USA: Tevis horse plunges ...

A rattlesnake spooked a Roseville woman's horse Sunday as she was training for the upcoming Tevis Cup race sending both horse and rider over an embankment.

Rebel, a 13-year old Arabian, is feared dead after plunging more than 200 feet from the Western States Trail near Deadwood into the American River Canyon below.
Nicole Wiere, a veteran horsewoman, was out for a ride with friend and fellow equestrian Shawn Bowling Sunday afternoon when a rattlesnake on the trail, one-and-a-half miles from the Deadwood Cemetery, spooked Bowling's mule and Rebel.


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Endurance test for riders

The Bahrain Royal Endurance team, lead by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Fredration president Shaikh Nasser bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and Al Khaldiya Stables team captain Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, will race today in the Thatford Endurance Challenge in England.

This race is part of the Bahrain team's preparations for the upcoming World Endurance Race which will be held in August in Germany, and also for the World Youth Endurance Race in September this year.

The Thatford event will consist of three races - the first one will be a 160km race which will start at 5am, the second will be an open race over 120km starting at 6am, while the third will be for the youth category and over 120km starting at 6.15am.

This will be the second race for Shaikh Nasser, who took part in a race last month to get prepared with his teammates for the World Endurance Race in Germany next month.

Shaikh Nasser, riding Jassim, will take part in the 160km race along with Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa on Hazali.

Shaikh Khalid will take part in the 120km open race, riding Karemba, and Salem Al Otaibi riding Jaleel and Sa'ad Al Yami riding Sandeena will also take part in this race.

Shaikha Najla bint Salman bin Sager Al Khalifa will be taking part in the youth category riding Lelek, while her teammates Mohammed Abdulaziz riding Batar, Mohammed Abdulsamad on Silver Diamond and Jaffar Merza riding Jallad will all be taking part in this race.

CHAMPIONNAT DE FRANCE OPEN D'ENDURANCE EQUESTRE

Pour un coup d?essai, la "grande semaine de l?endurance" 2005 à Saint Galmier fut une grande réussite. L?édition 2006 élève son niveau pour rentrer dans le groupe 1 et accueillir le Championnat de France CEI*** 160 km et la CEN* 90 km sélective pour le championnat du monde des 7 et 8 ans à Compiègne.
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Les Deux Jours de Montcuq

AROUND THE WORLD IN 30 YEARS

The internationally known, prestigious endurance race, "Les Deux Jours de Montcuq" is embarking on its 30th year of existence. During those 30 years the founder, Pierre Passemard traveled around the world observing and participating in other endurance races, gaining a lot of experience and contacts. This enabled him to be able to bring together, here in the South West of France, international riders of the highest caliber, forging it into one of the preeminent races of its kind.

While many races have come and gone over the years, historically "Les Deux Jours de Montcuq is one of the oldest sustaining endurance races in the world. With few alterations, the course has remained the same, mapped over some of the most outstanding, unspoiled, rugged countryside of France relentlessly challenging some of the finest riders from all over the globe.

With this in mind, the officials of the "Deux Jours de Montcuq" wish to invite you to enter the premier classic endurance race of France, to compete with some of the world's best riders and horses in the beautifully unique venue of the "Quercy Blanc" on the 30th anniversary of its running.

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