UAE: Al Kamda brothers eyeing top prize at endurance race

Gulfnews.com

By M. Satya Narayan
March 06, 2009

Dubai: Over 90 riders, all UAE nationals who are either individual owners or riders who represent the smaller private stables in the UAE, will start in today's Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge II ride to be held at the Dubai International Endurance City.

The 100km ride is a National ride and will be run in four stages of 32km, 29km, 27km and 12 km.

Brothers Rashed Saeed Al Kamda and Ahmad Saeed Al Kamda, Layla Abdul Aziz Al Redha and a few other consistent performers in this series of national rides will all be eyeing the top prize which is a Nissan Patrol 4-wheel-drive vehicle.

Organised by the Dubai Equestrian Club, the second and third placed riders will receive Dh50,000 and Dh45,000 respectively, while all others who finish between 4th and 20th positions will also receive cash prizes.

"We thank Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, for his support to endurance events in the UAE. These National rides encourage UAE riders who are trying to improve and equip themselves to take on the more established riders from the bigger stables," said Ali Mousa Al Khamiri, General Manager of DEC.

"By restricting this event to private stables and individuals, this ride gives a chance for more UAE riders to take part and compete in a field that is a level playing field," said Ali Mousa.

Riders from the Al Ain Stables, Al Ahli Riding Club, Al Giyad Stables, Al Neyadi Stables, Al Rawahel Stables, Al Sila Stables, and Emirates Desert Stables among others will be taking part in the ride which gets off to a mass start at 6.30am.

France: Sommant en Morvan - First ride of 2009 Season

Results and Images from 2009 Sommant en Morvan from 20 to 90 Km

Bahrain: His Majesty Endurance Cup set

Gulf Daily News
PREPARATIONS are underway for His Majesty King Hamad's Endurance Horseride Championship, the biggest event of the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation's (Breef) calendar to be held on March 14.

The Marsa Al Seef-sponsored event, to be held at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir, is expected to see top riders from Bahrain, the GCC and Arab region competing over 120km.

This prestigious championship will follow the remarkable achievement of Breef president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa who finished second overall in the first-ever Endurance Grand Prix series held recently in Dubai.

Shaikh Nasser said His Majesty's race is regarded as one of the most exciting competitions in the season due to the number of riders taking part with valuable prizes to be given away to the winners.

Prominent riders from all over the region are keen to take part in the championship.

The Breef chief said the federation started to prepare for the championship last month.

He thanked the organising committee members for their efforts in preparing the village and to sponsors Marsa Al Seef for backing the event.

Shaikh Nasser also extended his appreciation to His Majesty for his continued support to equestrian sports, in general, and to endurance races, in particular.

His Majesty King Hamad's Championship was originally scheduled for Saturday, but has been postponed till March 14.

The race was rescheduled to give all stables and riders the opportunity to prepare for this prestigious event.

Horses are the kings at Guatemala's Mayan Adventure Ride

Original Article: Guatemala Times

Guatemala's Mayan Adventure Ride, Ingenio Magdalena 2nd Edition
Guatemala. Preparations for Mayan Adventure Ride 2009, Ingenio Magdalena 2nd Edition, are going full speed. Only few more days to the start of the action at the beautiful base camp, Platinum Sponsor "Ingenio Magdalena". The horses will be arriving at base camp on Friday the 6th, for the veterinary inspection. It is a very important moment for the participants; the veterinarians are going to determine if the horses are fit to participate. If everything is OK they are going to be kept in quarantine inside portable boxes until the start of the race Saturday 4:00 PM. All the strict rules of the FEI have to be complied with, this is an international event certified by the FEI. The participating riders and horses will be able to qualify for national credits, for the Pan American games 2009 and the World Endurance Championship 2010 USA.

The event starts in the evening, 4:00 pm. The heath of Guatemala's south coast at the start of the race is going to turn fresh during the night and the sun light is going to be replaced by a nearly full moon with a sky full of stars. Some riders are going to use headlamps whilst others are going to trust their horse's night vision across the routes between sugar cane plantations.

Approximate time that the participants of the different categories are going to be riding:
Distance Start Finish hours
40 km 4:00 PM between 7:10 PM and 8:40 PM
60 km 4:00 PM between 8:25 PM and 10:40 PM
80 km 4:00 PM between 10:40 PM and 1:00 AM
120 km 4:00 PM between 2:40 AM and 6:20 AM
160 km 4:00 PM between 5:00 AM and 9:00 AM

The horses have to be in top shape and need a lot of "goodies" to have energy for the long difficult race. They are getting vitamins, food supplements, and special food: alfalfa and oats, to improve their performance and stamina for this challenge. This week the horses get only light workouts to help them accumulate glycogen in their liver and muscles, that way their energy storage will be full. Other reason to avoid vigorous exercise before the race is of course to prevent the horse from getting lame. The horse training began several months before the competition.

In these last days some riders will clip their horse's hair to help them to cool faster, because the sweat evaporates faster and the fresh air by convection helps to take the heat from the skin with the horse movement.



Janio Johnston is a Veterinarian and also a participant of The Mayan Adventure Ride: Ingenio Magdalena 2nd Edition.

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Endurance.Net Coverage of the Event

Virginia Rider Leads Virtual Endurance Race

Virginia rider Flora Hillman, winner of the 2008 Very Virtual March Maddness Endurance Race, pulls into a narrow lead in the first week-end of the race. Riding in a driving snow storm, Flora holds a 6 mile lead in the event over two riders from sunny Arizona.

"My poor pony must have thought I was insane - riding out in 25 degrees with high winds blowing snow sideways and a wind chill of 10 degrees. But I so wanted to try out my extreme weather gear -- and am delighted to say I was warmer than a polar bear in Florida in July!

Only problem was my expedition parka's hood wouldn't allow me to turn my head, and since I was riding on the gravel roads (to avoid the snowy fields) and the wind was howling so that I couldn't hear anything else, it became a bit of a safety issue. So we only did 7 miles, but...I was deliciously toasty warm (verging on hot!!) from tips of toes to the top of my head."

More than 50 intrepid endurance riders from around the world are participating. The event runs for the entire month of March and can be found at:

My-Endurance.Net and Endurance.Net

Ride Far - Ride Well!!


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Only for the tough guys, Guatemala's Mayan Adventure Ride 09

Original Article - Guatemala Times
Guatemala's Mayan Adventure Ride 09, Ingenio Magdalena Challenge 2nd Edition

Photo by Ignacio de Wit

Guatemala City - The event will start the 7th of March at 4:00 pm at the Ingenio Magdalena. The Sugar Mill Magdalena is located in La Gomera Escuintla, Guatemala. This is the second year that Ingenio Magdalena has provided their gigantic installations to host this prestigious international event.

In the middle of the night, you are startled when off in the distance you see a thundering herd of horses galloping across a moonlit sugar cane field. But wait, they are not randomly running, they are single file, going from one glowing corner to another. Then you say to yourself, "just another 160 km endurance ride," and go on with your business.

[More ...]

Event Coverage on Endurance.Net

UAE: Al Naqbi clinches W'rsan Trophy in Al Khatem in sandstorm

Gulfnews.com
photo: Abdullah Rashid Mohammad Saeed Al Naqbi wins the 120kmendurance ride.
Published: March 01, 2009, 23:02

Abu Dhabi: Schoolboy Abdullah Rashid Mohammad Saeed Al Naqbi and Abdul Rahman Mohammad Karam Shirouh gave W'rsan Stables a one-two finish in the W'rsan International Trophy Endurance ride at the Boudtheib Endurance Village in Al Khatem on Sunday.

Only three of the 15 riders who started in the 120 kilometres event completed it as the sandstorm made it very difficult for the horses and riders.

Al Naqbi, a promising junior rider who had finished second in the President's Cup for juniors held here earlier in the season, won on eight-year-old gelding CAL Puelche.

He completed the distance in five hours 34 minutes and 40 seconds while the second-placed Shirouh took 6 hours 13 minutes and 50 seconds on eight-year-old gelding WN Peronek.

Hassan Mohammad Al Hammadi, riding 16-year-old mare Fatima Del Saul from Emirates Heritage Club (EHC) finished third with a time of 6:25.29.

The ride was run in five stages of 30 kilometres, 30 kilometres, 24 kilometres, 20 kilometres and 16 kilometres.

"This is my first win in the open category and I am very, very happy. Conditions were really tough and the sandstorm made it very difficult," said Al Naqbi, a grade nine student of Abu Dhabi High School.

The ride was held under the patronage of Shaikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the president of the Emirates Heritage Club.