EnduranceGB novice champions achieve highest score possible

Equestrian Today

It's the best yet for Jeni and Flurrie

An endurance rider from Equestrian Post country has topped off a great season with a wealth of wins at the Endurance Great Britain awards night.

In 2002, this column recorded the success of Jeni Gilbert and her Connemara gelding Flurrie when they became Endurance Great Britain novice champions with the highest score possible.

In the following years, Jeni, a member of the Endurance Great Britain West Riding Group, has enjoyed nurturing her horse through the Endurance GB system, gaining experience and knowledge along the way.

Flurrie is not an easy horse in many ways and finding the right path for him has been a learning curve for Jeni and her crew.

In 2006, Jeni targeted the rides and distances which she knew Flurrie enjoyed and her efforts were rewarded when, at the Endurance GB awards dinner, Jeni was presented with The Regent Trophy for highpoint unregistered horse.

She also collected The Jasper Trophy for the highest points in their best three competitive rides, third place in the National Senior Championship and a prestigious third place in The Manar Trophy, which is the ultimate goal of the serious rider – The National Highpoint Championship.

Val Swan, chair of the EGB West Riding Group said : "Members of our group who attended the awards ceremony went a little wild when Jeni was awarded her rosettes as they have watched her many successes with a knowing eye. This year has been their best yet with even more to come we think.

"Flurrie has wonderful potential as a top endurance horse and is living proof that you don't need an Arab to shine at endurance."

If you would like information on endurance riding in the West Riding, contact Val Swann, chair EGB West Riding Group, 24, Ascot Avenue, Horton Bank Top, Bradford, BD7 4PA.


[More ...]

UAE: Seventh edition of National Day Cup

Gulf Daily News
By M. Satya Narayan

Abu Dhabi: Over 100 riders are expected to battle it out for a slice of the Dh400,000 on offer in the Nakheel-sponsored National Day Cup 120-km endurance ride on Saturday.

Announcing details of the ride, Adnan Sultan Al Nuaimi, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club said most of the top riders in the UAE will be lining up for the prestigious event.

"It is a FEI CEI Three-star event and will be run in five stages of 32kms, 30kms, 24kms, 18kms and 16kms," said Adnan.

The ride will get off to a mass start at 6.00 am on Saturday, December 16, at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba.

Walid Al Jaziri, General Manager of Sales at Nakheel, the sponsors of the ride said they were very keen to lend their name to the National Day Cup. "We recently supported the race meeting here in Abu Dhabi and supporting endurance ride is part of our responsibility towards society," said Al Jaziri.

Happy links

"Endurance is a sport of our forefathers and with the number of UAE riders taking to the sport we are very happy to be part of this event," he said

[More ...]

Sultan Mizan, Among Youngest Ruler To Be King

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 (Bernama)

Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, who became the youngest Malay ruler when he ascended the Terengganu throne at the age of 36 in 1998, will also be among the youngest to be proclaimed Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Wednesday.

Under the five-year rotation system, Sultan Mizan will be proclaimed the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, succeeding Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail, who ascended the throne on Dec 13, 2001.

Sultan Mizan 44, will be the second youngest Yang di-Pertuan Agong after Tuanku Syed Putra Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail of Perlis who took office as King on Jan 4, 1961 at the age of 41.

A ruler concerned about the welfare of his subjects, Sultan Mizan makes efforts to go to all mosques in Terengganu for Friday prayers to be with the people and also continues with the practice of giving alms to orphans and the poor every Friday as done by his late father, Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah.

During his younger days, Sultan Mizan was like any other boys his age and liked to play football.

Sultan Mizan's concern for the well-being of his Terengganu subjects prompted him to set up the Sultan Mizan Royal Foundation, launched on July 19, 2005, in conjunction with his 43rd birthday, to organise and finance various programmes, including in research, forestry, science, technology and innovation, agriculture, fishery and community projects.

Sultan Mizan is also active in sports like football, golf, taekwondo and scuba-diving but due to his busy schedule, is only able to concentrate on equestrian sports.

The Sultan likes horse riding and has formed the Royal Terengganu Endurance Stable (RTES) to prepare the state for participation in equestrian sports locally and abroad.

His skills in horse riding is reflected in him winning the Wilga 80km Endurance Ride, Wilga Australia, and in a competition at Harris River Ride, Perth, Australia in 2004.

He was also selected to represent Malaysia at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, but had to withdraw his participation as the event coincides with the proclamation ceremony.

It is also through Sultan Mizan's dedication and initiative that Malaysia is selected to host the World Endurance Championship at Lembah Bidong, Terengganu, next year.


[More ...]

Rider hot on the trail of success for Aussie team

2.12.2006
RIDING long distances and racing the clock is all in a day’s work for Finch Hatton endurance rider Melissa Longhurst. She has been chosen in a four-member Australian senior team to compete at the Trans Tasman Series Endurance Ride, to be held at Nelson, New Zealand, on January 2.

Australia will also send a four-person junior team to contest the same race.

The race is over 120km, to be completed in one day, traversing mountainous country and flat sections before coming back to base, when the horses must pass stringent veterinary checks before being allowed to continue on.

She heads off on Boxing Day with strapper and fellow Sarina endurance enthusiast Juanita Lamb, but will not compete until January 2.
[More ...]

Horse in dramatic stunt at Asian Games opening ceremony

December 4, 2006

A horse took centre stage at the Opening Ceremony of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006. For the first time in the history of the Games, a horse was involved in the act of lighting the cauldron. Final torchbearer Sheik Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani cantered up a steep ramp the height of the stadium to light the flame.

The horse, with specially adapted shoes for extra grip, slowed momentarily halfway up the ramp, but continued on to complete the stunt.

The horse may have been temporarily blinded by the hundreds of camera flashes from the spellbound spectators.

Al Thani is the coach of the Qatar Endurance team. The purebred brown Arabian horse he chose for his well documented ride was trained in Australia by Steven Jeffery, who starred as the Lone Rider at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Three horses were trained in Australia for the stunt over an eight-month period, and the sheik chose his mount only a day before the opening ceremony.

Horses play a vital part in Arabian traditions and that was beautifully demonstrated in front of 50,000 spectators and millions of TV viewers all around the globe in a choreography called "Tribute to the Desert Horsemen". Riders in white traditional vestments and 64 horses did their freestyle.

Growing Asian interest in equestrian is evident in Doha where the number of participating teams in Dressage and Jumping has nearly doubled from previous events. With Endurance included for the first time, medals will now be decided in four disciplines. Eventing, the oldest discipline at the Asian Games, started in 1982, but Doha is the first Arabian location to host a cross country competition.
Horsetalk Website

Qatar stages magnificent opening ceremony for the Games

DOHA: Arabian horses galloped against a shimmering backdrop of thousands of neon-lit pearls as the 15th and biggest Asian Games opened with a multi-million dollar sensory feast on Friday.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani declared open Asia's biggest ever celebration of sport during a spectacular display of fireworks, twinkling lights and traditional Asian dancing, played to the sound of 40,000 beating drums.

The climax of a lavish ceremony came when the Emir's son Mohammad, the Qatari endurance team captain, charged up the steps of the Khalifa Stadium on a pure-bred Arab gelding to light the 50m cauldron that will burn throughout the Games.
[More ...]

Kiwis successful in Endurance World Champs Trial

The 2008 FEI World Endurance Championship Trial run was held last weekend at Terengganu, on the East coast of Malaysia. The Championship had been provisionally granted to the Malaysian Equestrian Federation subject to there being a number of successful trial runs held in 2006 and 2007.

HRH Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin invited several of the world's top riders to participate in the event to demonstrate the quality of the venue for the pending 2008 World Endurance Championship. The International riders were to ride horses of the Royal Terengganu Endurance Stable, and were to draw on their skill and experience to test the suitability of a tropical venue for a World Championship event.

New Zealand riders Kevin James and Paul Jeffrey were among the International competitors. James successfully completed the 160km CEI*** event on a horse from the Royal Terengganu Endurance Stable. He was among the 13 competitors who completed the 160km course, resulting in a 57% completion rate for the event, and finish times far faster than had been anticipated.

Jeffrey navigated the 7 yr old gelding Jakim Zane to a 1st place finish and Best Condition award, setting a Malaysian record for fastest finish time on an 80km course. Australian rider Brook Sample also tested the 160km course but his horse, also from the Royal Stable, was eliminated for back soreness at the 120km point.

Three senior FEI Endurance Officials attended the event: Dr Hallvard Sommerseth (NOR), Chairman of the FEI Endurance Technical Committee; Dr Jim Bryant (CAN) and Mr John Robertson (GBR).

The Malaysian Equestrian Federation, together with the Organising Committee (OC) - the State Government of Terengganu and Yayasan Kebajikan Perkasa Alam Terengganu, invited a number of leading Malaysian riders as well as riders from America, Europe and Australsia.

A detailed report is being produced; it will be submitted to the FEI Endurance Techncial Committee for further consideration but Dr Hallvard Sommerseth expressed his appreciation for the commitment made by the organizers in producing a very successful trial run.

The FEI Endurance Committee had required the trial run to be held at the proposed venue on a date to match the date of the 2008 Championship and for there to be a minimum completion rate of 40% and a maximum riding time of 16 hours for the 160km distance.

A total of 23 horses were presented at the start of the event and 60% completed the full distance well within the maximum ride time allowed. All of the horses performed well with no heat and humidity related problems.

Dr Jim Bryant confirmed that the horses had competed well under the conditions which had been relatively cool because of the timing of the event within the monsoon period. He commented that all of the riders had taken great care to compete using all of their horsemanship skills. Dr Bryant linked the performances of the riders and horses to a time within Endurance when events were less about speed and more about the combination of rider and horse working in close harmony together to overcome the challenges presented.

Mr John Robertson felt that there were certain areas which needed to be reviewed in relation to the overall management of the event. He confirmed that the OC was aware of these issues but he was confident that the OC would be able to solve them ahead of the Championship.

Dr Sommerseth confirmed that the next trial event, scheduled to take place in the first half of 2007, would involve the use of overseas based horses who would travel to Malaysia to test out the facilities and also to fully evaluate the timing required to allow overseas horse to acclimatise properly ahead of competition.

A team from FEI Television attended the event and will produce a short documentary to be shown at the planned FEI World Endurance Forum planned for March 2007.

160km Top Four Finishers
Nik Sabarudin Bin Daud AS Shiffa Kassan (stallion) - BC 12:38:43 12.65 km/hr
Faizal Ismail Azreal 12:53:26 12.41
Y. Bhg. Dato' Abdulla Bin Taib Blue Moon 12:49:45 12.47 km/hr
Norlaily Buniyamain Bremervale Jessie James 13:36:04 11.76 km/hr

80km Top Four Finishers
Paul Jeffrey Jakim Zane - BC 5:32:35 14.03 km/hr
Amal Nadiah Bt. Tajudin Rayyan 6:02:50 13.23 km/hr
Stephanie Teeter Jakim Murphy 6:20:48 12.60 km/hr
Nazalisamri Bin Nasaah Nagawangsa 6:29:55 12.31 km/hr