Kiwi contingent eyes World Games success

August 4
The New Zealand team for WEG comprises six eventers, five endurance horses, one show jumper, and a vaulter. The cost of sending horses to Europe from New Zealand is so prohibitive that riders are not selected unless they are deemed competitive. As a result, a number of riders base themselves overseas to gain experience and measure themselves against international competition.

Endurance:

Having won team gold in Dubai in 1998 when the horses' costs were met by the organizers, endurance has been fired with determination to compete internationally ever since, and not just across the Tasman in Australia, where the Tom Quilty Ride is the gold standard.

Paulette Stannard battled to fund her horse, Zephyr, to The Hague in 1994, to compete as an individual, the first New Zealand-based Kiwi to have competed outside of Australasia. She entered the stadium in bronze medal position, but was vetted out, having twice been sent the wrong way, and covering extra distance as a result.

Zephyr was fine next morning, and bought by an American family who invited Paulette to go with the horse and settle him in. Following her showing at The Hague, Paulette was sure it was worth having a WEG team in the future, convinced the horses were up to it.

The other Kiwi competitor at WEG that year was Australian based Howard Harris, who is a member of this year's team. At 60 years old, he is vastly experienced, having competed internationally since 1988. His horse, Harmere Turfan, a 12-year-old old home-bred Arabian gelding, placed second in the Tom Quilty Ride earlier this year. Howard and his horse traveled to Christchurch in the South Island to meet up with the rest of the team before flying out to Germany on July 24.

Brian Tiffen, a 47-year-old farmer from Fairlie in the South Island, who was the best performing Kiwi in the extremely wet weather at Jerez four years ago, will be hoping for better conditions at Aachen this year. Tiffen, who started endurance riding as a teenager, was a member of the NZ team at the endurance world championships in Dubai last year on his team horse Sonny, a 13-year-old home-bred Anglo-Arab.

Shane Dougan, a 55-year-old farmer from Eketahuna in the North Island, played polo-crosse prior to taking up endurance. He holds the NZ record over 160 kilometres, riding his 10-year-old Arabian stallion Vigar Riffal, on which he was a member of the winning Trans-Tasman team in Australia last year.

Philip Graham, a 51-year-old farmer from Cheviot in the South Island, was also a member of the same Trans-Tasman. His 11-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding, Wolfgang Amadeus, is a consistent performer, bred by the late Leo Nisbett.

The rookie in the team is 20-year-old Kylie Avery, from Marlborough, who has been competing in open company for three years. She was a member of the 2004 NZ Trans-Tasman team, and was runner-up for the 2006 Horse and Rider of the Year. Her horse, Silands Jasark, a nine-year-old part-Arab stallion, was also bred by Leo Nisbett.
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Tevis: Barbara White goes for # 26!

After 27 100-mile rides, Scotts Valley woman on her way to becoming Tevis Cup nobility -
By JULIE JAG - Sentinel Staff Writer - August 3, 2006

According to legend, White spent years helping her mother complete several editions of the Tevis Cup ? a 100-mile trek considered the granddaddy of endurance horse racing. Yet White didn't show any interest in riding in the race herself until 1967, when she heard a rumor that Baroness Margit Bessenyey, the granddaughter of Copper King Marcus Daly, would be among the entrants. As the story goes, White, then 19, was wooed by the chance to ride with nobility and signed up.

In the Tevis' 52-year history, only five riders have surpassed the 20 completion mark. Behind White and Hall is Julie Suhr of Scotts Valley ? White's mother and an endurance riding legend in her own right ? with 22.

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Uncommon poise in the saddle

Months after graduating high school, Duncan looks to shine on at Tevis Cup

By: Todd Mordhorst, Journal Sports Editor
Tuesday, August 1, 2006 8:35 AM PDT

photo: Akim AGinsky/Auburn Journal Tosha Duncan will again be atop Rambo, a full-bred Arabian, at Saturday's Tevis Cup. A Bear River High grad who will study journalism this fall at the University of Nevada, the 18-year-old rode the horse to victory at a race outside Nevada City earlier this year.

Chris Martin's full-bred Arabian horse hasn't been on the race track in more than eight years. But at the conclusion of the Wild West Ride in May, the horse must have felt like he was on the oval again.

Tosha Duncan was in the saddle, making sure Rambo didn't burn out too early. She paced the horse to victory in the three-day, 150-mile ride at Skillman Flat, outside of Nevada City. The finish also gave the 18-year-old Duncan a ticket to Saturday's Tevis Cup endurance ride. She needed 300 miles in competition to qualify for the 100-mile ride from Truckee to Auburn.

"I made the promise to her that if she wanted to get the mileage, put in the effort, that she could ride Tevis and that's where we're at," said Martin, who owns a ranch in Penn Valley.

Tevis Cup is the centerpiece of a hectic summer for Duncan, who graduated from Bear River High in June. She's preparing to head off to the University of Nevada in the fall, where she plans to study journalism.

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Trail can be treacherous for Tevis riders

Auburn Journal

Rocky terrain, drop-offs, steep paths, intense heat are among the challenges

By: Penne Usher, Journal Staff Writer
Sunday, July 30, 2006 10:55 PM PDT

Editor's Note: This is part two in a series leading up to the 52nd Tevis Cup ride.

The 52nd Tevis Cup, to be held Aug. 5, will pit horse and rider against 100 miles of rocky terrain and treacherous trails that have already claimed the life of one horse this year.

The one-day ride begins at Robie Park, northeast of Squaw Valley and ends at the Auburn dam overlook.

Hannah Heuseveldt, 23, of Weimar, attempted the ride in 2004, but due to illness was unable to complete the grueling course. She said there are plenty of spots along the trail that pose risk to both horse and rider.

"There are different dangers at different portions of the trail," she said. "The first 36 miles are over the mountains and there are drop-offs and it's real rocky. It's the more technical part of the trail."

She said by the middle of the day, as the heat sets in, riders are usually along the steep side of the American River canyon.
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AERC National Championship Challenges Riders on the Old Dominion Trail

July 2006 Article # 7330

Endurance riders from around the country will face the test of time and terrain when they compete for national titles at the 2006 American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) National Championship in October. The championship, sponsored by Gulf Coast 4 Star Trailers, will be held October 20-22 in Fort Valley, Virginia, on the trails of the historic Old Dominion Endurance Ride. The Old Dominion, first held in 1973, is considered by many to be the most prestigious endurance competition in the eastern United States.

The 100-mile national championship will take place on October 20 and the 50-mile championship will be held on October 22. Competitors qualify for the championship by completing a minimum of 300 miles in AERC competition with their horse and earning a top-five placing in their weight division or by having 1,000 or more miles together as a team.

Riders will follow a course that is rich in both scenery and history as they climb over the beautiful Blue Ridge and Massanutten Mountains during the height of fall foliage along trails that wind through the Shenandoah National Park.

AERC President Stagg Newman of Candler, North Carolina, considers the trails to be the ultimate challenge for endurance riders.

"The 2006 AERC National Championship will combine the challenge of a tough course with awesome scenery over historic trails," said Newman, who has won the Old Dominion Endurance Ride three times. "Completing the 100 miles of tough, rocky Old Dominion trail requires the highest degree of horsemanship, which is the essence of what endurance riding is all about. It's not about speed, it's about pace and heads-up riding."

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FEI Aachen Endurance Update

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The first discipline featured in the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games Newservice is Endurance as it will be the opening contest of the Games.

The start will be given at 6h00 on Monday 21 August. The estimated number of competitors is 168 from over 40 countries, which is a significant increase compared to the previous editions: 81 riders from 19 countries competed in Stockholm in 1990; 99 riders from 23 countries competed in The Hague in 1994; 150 riders from 36 countries competed in Jerez de la Frontera.

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New Zealand Endurance Team to WEG Named

The team to represent Endurance NZ at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany during August has been named.
The team features two stallions and a wide mix of ages, experience and geographic locations. Three of the riders have already competed at 4* level - Howard Harris has ridden at four World Championships and seven Continental Championships, Denise Hill rode at the World Championships in Dubai last year, and Brian Tiffen rode at WEG in Jerez and again at the World Championships in Dubai last year.

Shane Dougan was in the victorious Trans Tasman team in October last year and this will be 20-year-old Kylie Avery's first competition overseas.

Team (in alphabetical order):
Kylie Avery & Silands Jasark (Marlborough)
Shane Dougan & Vigar Riffal (Eketahuna)
Howard Harris & Harmere Turfan (Australia)
Denise Hill & Delahaye Micah (Taumarunui)
Brian Tiffen & Sonny (Timaru)

Reserves:
Philip Graham & Wolfgang Amadeus (Cheviot)
Sarah Hamer & Rosewood Tahir (Oamaru)
Kevin James & SS Nassada (Oamaru)
Chris King & Aquila Al Nasir (Canterbury)
Garry Walker & Vigar Alzena (Kimbolton)

The number of Endurance riders has been reduced by the WEG organising committee, and there is now only one individual per country, with 4 riders making up the team. The team and individual rider will not be named until just prior to the event.

New Zealand Equestrian Federation Website