Kazakhstan: FEI approves 2009 Asian Championship date

The 2009 Asian Championship will be held 16-17 May, in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Almaty is the former capitol of Kazakhstan, located near the border with China. Previous Endurance events in Kazakhstan include the Championship ride.

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Source, Equestrian Federation of Kazakhstan:

On October 18, 2008 in territory of a horse farm "Altyn SuTek" the competitions of Endurance Championship of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held.
The competitions have passed at a distance 30, 60 and 120 kilometers.

The national champion at a 120-kilometer distance became representative of Ust Kamenogorsk (club "Titan") Yuliya Starikova on Russian trotter Poligon.

At a distance of 60 kms a victory Natalya Dolgikh with Batiy have gained. They represent Almaty club "Altyn-Tay".

Kamilla Djumasaeva and Pinochet also representing "Altyn-Tay" have won at the shortest distance of the Championship.

Results

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Geographically Kazakhstan is a part of Central Asia, Kazakhstan is more than twice as big as the four other Central Asian republics put together and is roughly half the size of mainland USA. The landscape of Kazakhstan is diverse. The northern forest-steppe turns into steppe, half-deserts and deserts in the South. Kazakhstan is mineral rich. Enterprises involved in extraction and processing of coal, oil, gas, non-ferrous and ferrous metals play a leading role in the national economy. The Republic is a multinational state inhabited with representatives of more than 120 nationalities. The main religions are Islam and Orthodox Christianity, but religious tolerant is the norm. In recent years lots of mosques and churches are under construction and the number of religious people is growing. But Kazakhstan is not as religious as other republics of Central Asia, and as a heritage of the Soviet Union a great number of people are not religious at all.

Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and the former capital of the Republic. The population of the city is over 1.300.000 people. Almaty is a multinational city where various Nationalities are represented as follows Kazaks 51%, Russians 37%, other nationalities 12%. People of Almaty communicate in Russian, Kazakh, or their native languages. Sudden exposure to the outside world has turned Almaty into Central Asia's most cosmopolitan city with shops, restaurants, hotels and casinos that would make the place unrecognizable to anyone who had been away since 1990. Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan till December 1997. The city has long straight avenues and low-rise architecture. The Zailijski Alatau Mountains rise like a wall along Almaty's southern fringe and form a superb backdrop. There are lots of parks, space and greenery.

More info on Kazakhstan

Bahrain: Endurance qualifying race, schedule

Gulf Daily News

REGISTRATION has opened for the 90km Endurance Horseride Qualifying Ride scheduled for Saturday, commencing at 5am at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir.

Registration opened under the directives of the Bahrain Equestrian and Endurance Federation president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

This qualifying race, which follows the Bahrain Endurance Team's impressive third-place in the World Championship in Malaysia, is a warm-up event for the new season.

Shaikh Nasser said the race would be divided into four stages, starting with 30km for the first, 25km for the second, 20km for the third and 15km for the fourth.

The Breef chief added that cash prizes would be given away to the top riders.

Improve

Shaikh Nasser also added that invitations were being sent to riders from European and Asian countries to take part in this season's races as part of a plan to improve the level of local riders.

The judges committee is led by Ghalib Al Alawi and includes Abdulsamad Al Busta, Mahdi Al Kelaiti and Ali Ghuloom.

Mahmood Abdulsahab was named official commissioner of the event and will be assisted by Fahad Al Rumaihi. Mohammed Abdulla will be the official technical commissioner.

The veterinary committee is headed by Dr Khalid Ahmed Hassan and consists of Dr mohammed Al Hammad of Saudi Arabia, Jordan's Dr Ibrahim Al Hassan, DCV Neringan of India, Dr George Pandlo of Argentina and Bahrain's Dr Ibrahim Yousif, Dr Khalid Ahmed, Dr Subah Al Kaabi.

The federation earlier announced the schedule for this year's competitions. The first main event of the season will be a 120km race on December 13.

That will be followed by the 120km Open Championship on January 10 and then the Breef Open Women's Championship on January 31 which will also be over 120km.

The next event on the Breef calendar will be a 100km and 160km races on February 7 and this will be followed by His Majesty King Hamad Championship scheduled for March.

The season's first night race will be held on April 3 and is for the Crown Prince Cup covering a total distance of 120km. It will be followed by the final event of the season - a 100km senior championship in the first week of May which will also be held at night.

Endurance Seminar in Buenos Aires, November 24,25

EnduroOnline.com

François Atger: Breeding horses for Endurance
(La cría de caballos para endurance en Francia)

Leonard Liesens: Training horses for Endurance
(Entrenamiento de caballos de endurance)

Full info and registration details at EnduroOnline.com

France: Basse Normandie, Official Candidate to Host the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games

FEI Press Release
photo: Christian Paillot, Vice President of the French Equestrian Federation, presents
the Candidature Book to the FEI President, HRH Princess Haya.
(c) Sandra Azar / FEI

Representatives of the French Equestrian Federation formally presented to the FEI President, HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the Candidacy Book outlining the bid of the French region of Basse Normandie, Northern France, to host the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games.

“The Basse Normandie region has put forward a very serious bid which has the support of the President of the French Republic and the French government,” said Mr Christian Paillot, Vice President of the French Equestrian Federation. “It is a safe choice as we already have in existence excellent venues as well as a balanced budget.”

The bid will now be circulated to the FEI Bureau and FEI Headquarters for evaluation. The official presentation by the bid committee will take place during the FEI Bureau Meeting in April 2009 when the allocation will be made.

2014 will see the eighth edition of FEI’s biggest event after the inaugural event was organised in Stockholm (SWE) in 1990.

Abu Dhabi: Al Beloushi wins Sorouh Challenge

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

By M. Satya Narayan, Senior Reporter
Published: November 15, 2008, 23:41

Abu Dhabi: Omair Hussain Abdullah Al Beloushi revealed why he holds the world record for the fastest time when he won the 120km Sorouh Challenge.

Riding Silversprings Kabir Arwa, he turned up the heat on two gold medallists from last week's World Endurance Championship in Malaysia to win Saturday's race.

Mohammad Ahmad Ali Al Subose, a member of the gold medal winning UAE team in Malaysia, and Maria Alvarez Ponton of Spain, who won the world champion, could not match Omair's speed.

The pair had to be content with the second and third places respectively.

More...

Abu Dhabi: 110 Riders to Vie for Honours in FEI 120-km Sourouh Cup Endurance Championship

Khaleejtimes.com

(KT Report)

15 November 2008

ABU DHABI -The stage is set for the FEI 120-km Sorouh Cup Endurance ride which will be held at the Emirates International Endurance Village at Al Wathba on Saturday.

Over 110 riders will take part in the event.

“We thank Sorouh Real Estate who are supporting this event for the second year and we are expecting all the top riders to take part on Saturday,” said Adnan Sultan, Director General of Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club.

“A total prize money of Dh 300,000 and a car for the winner will be up for grabs in the ride which will be held in five stages,” said Adnan.

“We have also instituted two awards for the best rider and the best trainer for all the rides to be held here at Al Wathba.”

Mohammad Al Marzouqi, HR and Administrative Director of Sorouh, said: “We would like to place on record our gratitude to Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, for giving us another opportunity to support equestrian sport.

“This is the second year that we are supporting this event and what makes it all the more important is that Saturday’s Sorouh Cup will kick start the Open competition in the UAE’s 2008-09 endurance season,” he said.

“Endurance riding is so closely linked to the community, which has a deep-rooted affinity with horses, which is why Sorouh is keen to support and promote this equestrian sport.”

Lara Sawaya, Managing Director of Tasweeq Management, said the Sorouh Cup would see that start of a promotional campaign for the breeding stables of Shaikh Mansour.

“This is the first in a promotional campaign which will see Sorouh and other companies involved in promoting the breeding stables of Shaikh Mansour.

“The campaign will also include organising seven races around the world for Purebred Arabian horses.”

The Sorouh Cup trophies have been designed specially by a top company in Los Angeles, according to Sawaya.

2008 FEI World Endurance Championship- A final story

I think that this event represented the maturity of our sport at the International level. It was a very tight race - a tightly contested race. I'm not sure how much more advantage can be gained in future events by 'getting better' at any single aspect of competition. With more things being equal (training, nutrition, crewing, strategy) we are beginning to see the true brilliance and athletic ability of the horse and the skill and horsemanship of the rider prevail.

I have written many many words about this event, about Malaysia as host, about the efforts behind a WEC. This link will take you there -

WEC wrap up - Steph's view

Congratulations to all who endeavored and to all who succeeded!

Steph Teeter
Endurance.net