Great Britain: Success for coast-to-coast horse rider

By Mark Dowie

Published: 20/05/2008

Angus endurance horse rider John Thomson has successfully completed his 200-mile, east-to-west journey – raising about £2,000 for Ninewells Hospital’s acute stroke unit in Dundee.

Mr Thomson and his mount, pure-bred Arabian Prince Omar, arrived at Ardnamurchan lighthouse, the UK mainland’s most westerly point, at midday on Friday.

Mr Thomson, 57, of Parklea, Park Road, Brechin, left from Scurdie Ness lighthouse, near Montrose, on Thursday, May 8. He plotted a route which had never before been attempted on horseback.

He decided to embark on the journey after suffering a stroke two years ago. He took up horse-riding as part of his rehabilitation at the Dundee unit.

He became so enthusiastic about the sport that he trained in endurance riding. He is now a member of the Scottish Endurance Riding Club.

Mr Thomson’s intention to complete the journey by Thursday last week foundered when Omar cast a shoe while crossing Rannoch Moor.

“It was thanks to Neil Chalmers, the Blairgowrie-based farrier, that we managed to get Omar re-shod,” he said.

“Neil raced up the A9 to meet us in the early morning at the Killiecrankie Visitor Centre car park, after we had backtracked the 45 miles from the middle of Rannoch Moor where we had managed to remove the damaged shoe.”

Mr Thomson’s route, which passed through some of the country’s most spectacular scenery, took him via Killin, Tyndrum and back across the moor to the West Highland Way.

One other incident caused a delay, when Omar slipped while crossing a wooden bridge on the West Highland Way. The animal’s injury required attention from a vet at Fort William before he could continue.

After spending the night at Kinlochleven, Mr Thomson crossed on to the Ardnamurchan peninsula on Thursday and made his way to the lighthouse via single-track roads.

Although Mr Thomson trained and planned over 12 months for the trip, the journey proved to be physically demanding for horse and rider over sometimes challenging terrain.

After spending up to eight hours a day in the saddle, Mr Thomson said it is a challenge he does not intend to undertake again soon.

“It was an experience and the weather and scenery were fantastic, but I won’t be repeating it, although I have thought about taking Omar to California next year to compete in the Tevis Cup, which is 100 miles in 24 hours.”

Although the exact amount raised for Ninewells has yet to be finalised, Mr Thomson expected the total to be about £2,000.

The Press and Journal

Italy: Events - Assisi Endurance Lifestyle 2008

Assissi, Italy

Assisi (Pg) This year’s edition of the Assisi Endurance Lifestyle will run from June 11th to 15th.

The rich programme of this unique equestrian event is intended to promote the concepts of environment and our relation to it, as implied by its name. Riders from all over the world will be converging on Assisi to compete in the 160-kilometre long endurance ride around the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site of Mount Subasio.

The hub of the Assisi Endurance Lifestyle 2008 will be the Hospitality Village, covering an area of roughly 30,000 square metres between Assisi and Santa Maria degli Angeli. The Village will host athletes and a number of events.

Among the events that have been scheduled for this year’s edition there is an international forum on Tourism and Opportunity, focussing on the business opportunities between Umbria, Dubai and the Gulf States.

Shows and entertainment featuring leading performing artists have also been scheduled.

Info: 075 5288245, Fax 075 5287189, e-mail info@sistemaeventi.it.

First Foal of Pieraz-Cryozootech-Stallion

5 May 2008

Pierazade du Vialaret, the first foal of the cloned stallion Pieraz-Cryozootech-Stallion, has been born in France from the mare Dziupla. The mare and foal are owned by Audrey Genieys of Le Vialaret in Campagnac, France.

"The story begins in April 2007," says Audrey, "when we decided to have a foal of the double world champion. We tried with 3 mares, but only Dziupla worked. Then, it was a normal pregnancy, nothing else to do. The birth was the 5th of May at a quarter past midnight. Everything was OK, the foal was lively and magnificent, filled well."

Pieraz-Cryozootech-Stallion was born in 2005 in Italy, and now stands at stud in France. He was cloned from the gray gelding Pieraz, winner of the World Endurance Championship in 1994 at The Hague with Valerie Kanavy, and the World Endurance Championship in Fort Riley in 1996 Valerie's daughter Danielle Kanavy. In total Pieraz won 12 160-km races.

Dziupla is a granddaughter of Probat, the leading progenitor of the Comet line in Poland, and major sire of champions in Poland, Scandinavia and the USA. Dziupla has produced Djedda du Vialaret and Devine du Vialaret, both qualified endurance horses on a top 10 at 119 km, and both owned by Audrey Genieys.

FEI: Proposed Rule Changes for Endurance

The FEI has requested commentary from the National Federations with regard to the Proposed Endurance Rule Changes which will be effective January 1, 2009.

FEI Task Force Version

http://www.usef.org/documents/disciplines/endurance/TaskForceProposalMay2008.pdf


FEI Technical Committee Comments


http://www.usef.org/documents/disciplines/endurance/FEITechCommitteeOverview.pdf

Three-Time World Champion Named as Chef d’Equipe for the U.S. Endurance Squad

Usef.org

Release: May 13 2008

By Joanie Morris

Lexington, KY - After an extensive search, the USEF has named three-time World Endurance Champion and 1990 AHSA/Hertz Equestrian of the Year, Becky Hart, as Chef d'Equipe for the U.S. Endurance riders.

An Endurance veteran, Hart was inducted into the American Endurance Ride Conference Hall of Fame in 1992 and is also a Centered Riding instructor.

"It is an exciting time for the US Endurance team," said Hart about her new role. "We are developing new strategies to strengthen our performance and have some very strong horse and rider combinations. Some of our riders have a great deal of experience in international competition. Others, emerging through the ranks, bring enthusiasm and dedication to the team concept."

The first task for Hart is to prepare horse/rider combinations for the 2008 World Endurance Championship to be held in Terengganu, Malaysia in November 6 -9, 2008.

Hart will serve as Chef d'Equipe through the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in 2010.

For more information about the sport of Endurance, please contact USEF Director of Endurance, Vonita Bowers at vbowers @ usef.org.

2008 FEI World Endurance Championship

Malaysia is set to host the 2008 FEI World Endurance Championship in Terengganu, November 6-9.

The Malaysia WEC Website has been updated, including an Organizing Committee page for Federations, Registrations and general information

A brief account of the WEC in Malaysia:

His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Dipertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan (King of Malaysia), an endurance riding enthusiast himself, went to France in 2005 with the Equestrian Association of Malaysia (EAM) to bid for the FEI World Endurance Championship to be held in Malaysia.

Despite bidding against other better established endurance nations, Malaysia was conditionally granted the opportunity to host the FEI World Endurance Championship 2008.

Following this sanction, two trial events were arranged to evaluate the feasibility of holding the World Championship in a country of a tropical climate for the first time ever. The first trial was held in 2006 for Malaysian horses and the second in 2007 for international horses. The precondition for the trials was a minimum completion rate of 40%.

In 2006 and 2007, encouraging completion rates of 56% and 67% were achieved for each respective year.

The 2008 World Championship promises to be an exciting and competitive event.

Many esteemed international Endurance riders will be competing in the WEC in Terengganu this year along with top Malaysian Riders.

Some of the expected participating Countries are;

1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Bahrain
4. Belgium
5. Brazil
6. Canada
7. Chile
8. Colombia
9. Czech Republic
10. Denmark
11. France
12. Great Britain
13. Greece
14. Guatemala
15. Holland
16. Hungary
17. Italy
18. Japan
19. Kazakhstan
20. Kuwait
21. Luxemburg
22. Malaysia
23. New Zealand
24. Norway
25. Oman
26. Poland
27. Portugal
28. Qatar
29. Russia
30. Saudi Arabia
31. Spain
32. Sweden
33. United Arab Emirates (UAE)
34. Uruguay
35. USA

FEI Endurance Rankings - May 12 2008

Rank	Rider Name	NF	Points
1	BIN HUZAIM Abdulla Thani	UAE	624
2	SUBOSE Mohd Ahmed Ali Al	UAE	614
3	AL KHALIFA HH Sh Nasser Bin Hamad	BRN	582
4	MAHMOOD Raed	BRN	573
5	AL MUHAIRI Thani Mohd	UAE	549
6	AL MUHAIRI Ali Mohammed	UAE	543
7	AL TAHER Yousif Ali	BHR	534
8	ALHAZZA Ahmed Abdulla	BHR	509
9	MOHD AL DOSERI Ghazi	BHR	503
10	AL MAKTOUM Sh Rashid Dalmook	UAE	483
11	BLOUSHI Omair Husain Abdulla Al	UAE	462
12	SUBOSE Mohd Rashed Saeed Khamis Al	UAE	459
13	AL AHBABI Hamad Mohd	UAE	438
13	KHAN Mohd Aslam Hidayat	UAE	438
15	DHAHI Dhahi Abdulla Khamis Al	UAE	429
16	PUNTI DACHS Jaume	ESP	421
17	HIGGINS Alison	NZL	394
18	SUBOSE Ahmed Salem Ali Sultan Al	UAE	384
19	HAMMADI Yousif Abdullah Al	UAE	372
20	SMITH Kayleigh	UAE	360
21	AL QASIMI Sh. Abdullah bin Faisal	UAE	357
22	BIN GHADAYER Salem Rashed	UAE	336
23	BURGER Gerda Petronella	UAE	335
24	AL KHALIFA HH Sh Khalid Bin Hamad	BRN	318
24	AJTABI Yahya Sughayer Kanoon Al	UAE	318
24	AL HASSAN Mohammed Abdul Aziz	BRN	318
24	GOACHET Julien	FRA	318
28	AL MAKTOUM Juma Dalmook	UAE	309
29	JACQUET Geraldine	UAE	306
30	RAPOSO Joao	POR	294
31	AL NUAIMI Buti Ali Saif Ali	UAE	291
31	AL MARRI Ali Ghanim	UAE	291
33	SABRI Majed Mohd Salman Al	UAE	282
34	AL SAAD ABDULRAHMAN MOHAMMED	BRN	268
35	BUCKLEY Allison Jane	GBR	267
36	ALVAREZ PONTON Maria	ESP	264
36	HAQUE Iqbal Karim Ikramul	UAE	264
38	ALZAED AbdulRahman Mohammed	BRN	261
39	INDA Bheru Singh	UAE	255
40	PERON Karine	FRA	253
41	AL BUZIRI Abdulla Essa Mohd Ali	UAE	246
42	AL BUZIRI Abdulla Essa Mohd Ali	UAE	240