USA: Crandell/Heraldic First to Finish in CEI*** Championship

John Crandell, riding Heraldic, repeated their 2006 feat by finishing first in the 2007 AERC National Championship 100 Mile race. The event, held in the Owyhee Country of Southern Idaho, highlighted a 5 day Festival of Endurance in North America. Reason To Believe, ridden by Cheryl Dell, was awarded Best Condition for the 100 mile event.

The 55 Mile distance was won by BoB Steller riding Majestic Star. Best Condition for the 55 was awarded to HCR Jotyr ridden by Heather Reynolds. The Thursday running of the 55 provided insights to the 100 milers who shared that same 55 mile course on Saturday. Many of those riders crewed and volunteered during the 55 mile event, sharing the day and the insights of those on the trail.

Educational sessions in Competition, Management, and Training were also provided to all who attended the event. The APEX clinic and Moving On Up clinics were very well received. Endurance Riding/Racing in North America were showcased for all!

Complete Event Coverage

Australia: Ban came too late to stop spread

Sydney Morning Herald

Natasha Wallace and Bellinda Kontominas
August 27, 2007

THOUSANDS of people were either unaware of the equine flu outbreak or thought it affected only the racing industry and were moving horses around the state, possibly spreading the disease, by the time authorities issued a nationwide ban on movement.

On Saturday, Federal and state governments declared an emergency standstill of all horses after 11 cases of the highly contagious equestrian influenza were detected at Centennial Park, and one at Eastern Creek in a stallion which had travelled from Japan.

By yesterday afternoon, the State Disease Control Headquarters had traced infected horses to Parkes, Moombi (near Tamworth), Broughton Vale (near Berry), Wilberforce, Cattai and Wyong.

The ban applies to all equine animals, products and trucks and prohibits any gathering for recreation or competition, including markets, fairs and race meetings.

But horse trucks and floats had hit the road on Friday night - when a possible outbreak was detected - and early on Saturday - before the alerts were issued.

Even as late as yesterday, there were reports of horse floats on the roads, according to Judy Fasher, who is on the board of the NSW Branch of the Equestrian Federation of Australia.

An outbreak, if established, would have a large effect on the horse industry, she said. Australia's horse population is highly susceptible as the disease has never hit the country before.

"The implications are enormous," said Ms Fasher, who is also the co-ordinator of the elite equestrian program at the NSW Institute of Sport.

"The question is, who is taking responsibility for this so the horse floats that are on the road … with horses on them are being stopped?"

She added: "At the time when [the alert] needed to go out, which was basically Friday night, it was not and also people got the impression that it was the racing industry only."

She had seen people riding in her neighbourhood of Wilberforce, near Windsor, "well after the announcement" on Saturday.

"People don't understand the implications of it and they just think, oh well, that's the horse racing industry, and not us,"

she said.

Ms Fasher said all NSW equestrian events had been cancelled until further notice.

News of the lockdown did not come soon enough for about 80 people who were expecting to compete in the annual Shahzada endurance test - a week-long riding event at St Albans, north-west of Sydney.

An organiser, Ross Mudie, said the first news of the outbreak had come mid-morning on Saturday.

Malaysia: 25 Foreign Riders Vying For Sultan's Cup

Bernama.com

August 16, 2007 18:07 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- Twenty-five professional riders from 15 countries have confirmed participation in the fourth edition of the Sultan's Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge 2007 at the Terengganu International Endurance Park in Setiu on November 9-11.

The 15 Malaysian riders will be led by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, who is the patron of the event.

"The Sultan's Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge will be the official trial event for the FEI (International Equestrian Federation) World Endurance Championship next year.

"The fourth edition will be our second trial event. The first trial was in November last year, where we first organised the 160km race. It was one of the most successful rides with a completion rate of 57 percent," vice-chairman of the Sultan Mizan Royal Foundation, Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Mohd Nor said Thursday.

He was speaking to reporters after the championship official launch which was graced by Tuanku Mizan here today. Also present was Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah.

"To qualify for this endurance ride, a rider must complete a 160km race sanctioned by the FEI at least once. This is not an open championship as the riders are here on invitation.

"We received applications from various parties but we have to reject them as we have to determine that they have FEI qualification," said Dr Salleh.

The Sultan's Cup comprises of seven loops with a total distance of 160km. Each of the competing horse must meet the veterinary assessment before the horse is allowed to proceed to the next loop.

Besides Malaysia, the other participating countries are Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

Malaysia on track to host world equestrian meet

Thestar.com.my
By ERIC SAMUEL

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is set to host the FEI World Equestrian Championship (WEC) for the first time.

The event would be held at the Terengganu International Endurance Park (TIEP) in Setiu next year.

With the inaugural Sultan's Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge at Lembah Bidong last year under their belt, event organisers Yayasan DiRaja Sultan Mizan are confident that they would meet the technical requirements of the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) in hosting the WEC.

The Sultan's Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge 2006 and 2007 were official trial events for the WEC.

Yayasan DiRaja Sultan Mizan vice-chairman Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Mohd Nor said that to get the licence to host the WEC, they needed to host two trial events with a minimum completion rate of 40% of the participating field.

"We had a completion rate of 57% in last year's competition and we are confident of surpassing the mark this year," Dr Salleh said at a press conference after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin launched the second Sultan's Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge at the Palace of the Golden Horses Thursday.

Some 40 local and international riders from 16 participating countries will be competing in the second Sultan's Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge 2007, which will be held at the newly upgraded TIEP in Setiu from Nov 9-11 this year.

Participating countries are Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Holland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States.

Endurance horses primed for challenge of European Open

Gulf News

photo: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, defending individual champion, will be leading the UAE's campaign along with his brothers Shaikh Rashid, Shaikh Ahmad, Shaikh Mayed in the European Open, to be held in Portugal on September 8."

By M. Satya Narayan, Staff Reporter
Published: August 13, 2007, 22:48

Abu Dhabi: With His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, having named a strong team of UAE riders for the European Open Endurance Championship, the horses too are being primed for the prestigious championship.

Speaking to Gulf News from Newmarket, Esmaeel Mohammad, trainer of endurance horses for Shaikh Mohammad, said 12 horses have been nominated to partner the champion UAE riders, who are a dominant force in the sport of endurance, at the European Open Championship to be held in Portugal on September 8.

"We have entered 12 horses, though we had quite a few more horses that had qualified for the championship," Ismaeel said.

"Out of these 12 six runners and a spare horse will be named a week before the championship.

Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Shaikh Mayed Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Shaikh Abdullah Al Qasimi, Sultan Bin Sulayem, Mohammad Al Sabousi and Mubarak Bin Shafya are the eight riders who have been selected by Shaikh Mohammad, who has himself won the European gold four times.

Shaikh Rashid is the current Asian Games gold medallist, while Shaikh Hamdan is the defending champion and Shaikh Ahmad a former world champion.

Together with Shaikh Mayed they also won the Asian Games team gold and quite a few other international rides. Shaikh Abdullah Al Qasimi finished third in the World Junior Championship, while Sultan Bin Sulayem won the bronze medal in the Asian Games in Qatar.

Strong contenders

Four riders will make it as the team members, while a further two will take a shot at individual honours.

The UAE will be starting off as strong contenders, though other Gulf riders from Qatar and Bahrain - along with the traditional European endurance powers France, Spain, Italy and hosts Portugal - will all pose a strong challenge.

"We moved most of our horses immediately after the UAE season ended in April and we have been training them here at our Newmarket base for over four months," said Esmaeel, who has trained most of the UAE horses that have won at international rides.

"The horses have taken part in three rides here in the UK and we will be moving the championship horses to Portugal about five days before the event," added Esmaeel.

GER: A Race in Krueth

Saturday August 11 2007 KREUTH RIDE

A cool gray misty morning greeted 21 riders on the 160 km at 5 AM, and 18 senior riders and 28 Junior riders on the 120 km at 6 AM, 23 riders on the 80 km (3 Juniors) at 7 AM, 11 riders on the 60 km at 8 AM, and also 12 riders on a 39 km ride ? enough to keep any of the veterinarians and stewards very busy!

Despite the fact that the German Championships were held just 2 weeks earlier, it was a large turnout of riders for the Kreuth Endurance ride, part of the 10th Show and Sportevent for Arabian Horses, put on by the ZSAA, the German National Breeding Association. Riders from 13 countries, and multiple champions from many countries showed up for the rides, including Italian Fausto Fiorucci (2001 European Champion), Frenchwoman Barbara Lissarague (2005 World Champion), Netherlands rider Carmen Romer (2007 Junior European Champion), Netherlands rider Yvonne Van Der Velde (2007 Dutch Champion), German Klaudia Al Samarraie (2007 German Endurance Champion, and wife of organizer Achmed Al Samarraie), and multiple German Junior Champion Annette Schwartze. (And I expect I probably left some champions out!)


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GER: Kreuth CEIO, CEIOYR CEI**** 160km

Merri Meldi
EnduranceEurope.net
It's a truly international collection of riders, from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Oman, Slovakia, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemborg, Poland, Italy, France, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Great Britain.

Some riders to watch on Saturday include three Omanis riding horses from Jutta Schultheis's stable: Prince Loay bin Ghalib Al Said in the 160 km, his younger brother Prince Khalid bin Ghalib Al Said in the 120 km Jr ride, and Prince Ahmed bin Ghalib Al Said in the 60 km. Not because they are Princes, but because Prince Loay is riding one stunner of an Anglo Arabian horse, a gelding named Hedgard.

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