Italy: Opening Ceremonies and Trot-Outs for European Championship Open in Assisi

www.endurance.net/international/Italy/2009Assisi

25 September 2009

Leonard Liesens reports from Assisi, Italy on the Opening Ceremonies and the vetting in of the horses for the 2009 European Endurance Championship Open.

Full coverage at www.endurance.net/international/Italy/2009Assisi

Lindsay Graham and Monk Capture Top Honors at the American Endurance Ride Conference National Championship Ride

USEF Press Release
Release: September 24 2009
By Troy Smith

The premiere event of the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC), the annual National Championship ride, proved to be a weekend of celebration in Northern California on September 11 and 13. At the site of the annual Patriot’s Day ride in Greenville, CA, competitors arrived from all over the western U.S. and Canada to compete for AERC’s top prizes.

The 100-mile championship ride, held Friday, was won handily by Lindsay Graham, a fourth-year veterinary student at the University of California at Davis. Riding Chris Martin’s seven-year-old chestnut Arabian gelding, Monk, Graham finished the technical course in nine hours and 58 minutes, 35 minutes ahead of second-place finisher Brad Green of Auburn, CA, riding Pawnee, his 10-year old Arabian-cross gelding.

“I was planning on just finishing in the required FEI COC time,” said Graham, referring to the International Equestrian Federation’s certificate of capability time of 12 hours and 20 minutes. “We passed people in the vet checks as Monk pulsed down immediately at every check.

“I kept a very steady pace all day. People always passed me downhill, but I passed them uphill, and let him canter on the flats,” said Graham. “He has a very easy big canter and his heart rate drops significantly.”

The win came as a surprise to the 27-year-old with 2,275 AERC miles to her credit. “The day just came together the way people dream of,” she said. “The ‘Monk man’ never slowed down. He gave me an incredible ride.”

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Italy: All Horses have Arrived in Assisi for the European Championship

Reporter Extraordinaire Leonard Liesens sends his first report from Assisi, home to the 2009 European Endurance Championship Open

Thursday 24 September 2009

All horses have now arrived at the venue. An amazing venue of several huge tents accommodating the restaurants, the place for holding events, the commercial stands. Then of course also the VIP tents and the tents installed for Malaysia, Bahrain, and UAE.

The venue is installed on a plain, surrounded by hills. On one hill, the medieval city of Assisi (World Heritage) that will probably intensively be used by photograph as background.

The trail has been described as "tricky" by all teams who pre-rode it. A lot of asphalt roads, some dangerous parts to be ridden on the first loop in the dark.
Among the favorites : Maria Alvarez and Nobby, reigning World Champions, HE Sh Nasser from Bahrain on board Khandela des Vialettes (this horse is one of the best of the world, but the question is "how will he perform on this technical going"), current European Champion Jean-Philippe Frances on Hanaba du Bois.

There will be two vetgates, one at the venue and one abroad that will be used for all loops except the last one.

This evening, the opening ceremony with the presentation of the teams (on the central square of Assisi), then the gala dinner. Tomorrow the real things will start with the trotting of the horses, the chef d’equipe meeting and the preparation work of the crews.

Later,

Leonard Liesens, www.endurance-belgium.com

Great Britain: Adventurer completes world's toughest horse race

Thisislocallondon.co.uk - Full Article

24th September 2009

By Robert Fisk »


FOUR falls, six stitches and a wolf could be the start of a bad joke.

But instead they are the injuries sustained and the foe encountered by Paul Chew when he took part in the world’s toughest horse race.

The intrepid adventurer is recovering at his home in Southfield Road, Shortlands, after coming fourth in the Mongol Derby.

Over the eight days it took him to complete the 1,000km race across Mongolia he kept a diary of his experiences.

Day 1: The Start

After the initial weigh where I officially became the heaviest person in the race at 84.5kgs.

More...

Italy: Bahrain set for endurance test

Gulf-daily-news.com

Thursday, September 24, 2009

ROYAL Endurance Horse ride team captain Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa will arrive in Italy today to lead the Bahraini squad at the European Championship 2009.

Shaikh Nasser, the Bahrain Olympic Committee president, will be accompanied by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president and captain of Al Khaldiya Stables Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Shaikh Nasser will be riding Kheopsy Du Pilat while Shaikh Khalid will compete on Khandela Des Vialette in this prestigious competition which will be flagged off on Saturday at 6am (Bahrain time).

The two lead some of the finest Bahraini riders in this event which has attracted entries from 26 countries.

Other Bahraini riders are Yousef Taher, Ghazi Al Doseri, Ahmed Abdulla Al Hazza, Abdulrahman Al Saa'd, Raed Mahmood and Jaffer Mirza.

A maximum of six riders from each country are allowed to take part. Besides Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid, the final line-up for the Bahraini team includes Al Saad who will be riding Zirkonia, Al Hazza will take part on Ganda Koy, Mirza on Mexico and Al Doseri on Khyber.

Countries in the fray include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, UK, Hungary, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, the US and Uruguay,

The race will be sponsored by Dubai Racing Club and will be held over 160kms divided into six stages. An opening ceremony will be held today at the Assisi's municipal square. The championship will be shown live on Bahrain Sports Channel following directives from Shaikh Nasser.

After today's opening ceremony, the horses will be subjected to veterinary examination at the endurance village.

The weight of each horse taking part should not exceed 75 kgs while maximum pulse rate at the veterinary gate after each stage should be 64 beats per minute within 20 minutes.

An International Veterinary Symposium is also set for today at the conference room of the Grand Hotel Assisi.

Canada: Rocking good time for riders

Hope Standard
Published: September 21, 2009 4:00 PM

Endurance Riders Association of British Columbia held its last endurance ride of the season on Saturday, Sept 12th in Westbank. The Westbank Rocker, as it is called, was attended by 70 riders, with three of them hailing from Hope.

Local riders Shelly Taylor, daughter Danielle and fellow rider Denise Pascucci, saddled up for the 22 mile ride through the telemark skiing trails of Crystal Mountain. Although billed as a 22 mile, the trails ended up amounting to 25 miles in total. After getting the all clear from the vets on Friday, all three horses settled in nicely for the night to prepare for the long haul the next day.

The first loop consisted of 16 miles of up and down terrain, a few good mud holes and some spectacular scenery overlooking Westbank and Okanagan Lake. With an 8 a.m. start, the trio completed the first loop by 10:15 a.m., vetted in to make sure all was well with the horses, had their mandatory 45 minute break, then headed out again at 11:35 a.m. The second loop of nine miles proved much more gruelling and technical, having to follow small trails, going through lots of mud and enduring several climbs.

Danielle Taylor, at the young age of 13, maneuvered her horse Sierra, like a seasoned pro, through the ever-changing terrain. The trio returned to base camp at 13:21 having completed the race in 4 hrs, 46 mins. With the final vet in, giving all three horses the clear, the race was complete, the horses unsaddled, fed and groomed and the riders happy with their results. Danielle placed 19th out of 32 riders and 6th place in the junior category, while mom, Shelly, placed 20th and Denise placed 18th overall.

Bahrain: Riders ready for European Open

Gulf-daily-news.com

September 23, 2009

BAHRAIN'S national endurance horse ride team arrived in Assisi, Italy, yesterday ahead of the European Championship Open 2009, which gets underway tomorrow.

The team, being led by Royal Endurance Team captain Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, reached the venue via Amsterdam after spending a night in Rome.

Upon their arrival in Assisi, the team began training to acclimatise themselves to the location prior to the championship. Their horses had already been shipped.

In this weekend's event, which is regarded as one of the world's most challenging championships, the Bahrainis will be looking to conclude their annual camp in Europe on a high note.

Shaikh Nasser spurred the squad to a number of great results in their previous races in Europe this year. The team's first appearance in European competition was in the Compiegne Ride in France where the they successfully took a place on the podium.

That was followed by a first-place finish in the team category of the Thetford Ride in the UK and then they maintained their momentum to claim victory in the 160km Open Championship in Germany.

In this event, Shaikh Nasser will be accompanied by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa and some of Bahrain's most prominent riders.

It will be the second time for the team to compete in Italy, having participated in the World Junior Championship in 2003 in Rome where Shaikh Nasser led a group of Bahrainis to their maiden appearance in such an event.

Shaikh Nasser confirmed that the team had reached a good level of fitness and were now set to compete with the continent's best riders, adding that both the horses and riders had been well-prepared during their summer camp in Europe.

The Bahrain Olympic Committee president said he was confident that the team would again clinch a place on the podium after successfully taking an overall third-place finish in the previous edition of the championship in Portugal two years ago.

Morale

Shaikh Nasser confirmed that the team's recent impressive participation in European races would certainly lift the team's morale prior to the prestigious Italian championship.

However, this weekend's event will also be part of the Bahraini team's World Equestrian Games which is set to take place in Kentucky, the US, from September 25 to October 10 next year.

The natural scenario of Assisi has been chosen to host the European Endurance Championship Open 2009, the most important event of the year for this discipline.

The championship takes place every two years, on a distance of 160 km, and involves - like its name suggests - European nations as well as nations around the world, after the decision of the FEI in 2001 to add 'Open' in the event's title given the growing importance of the discipline.

The last edition took place in Portugal with 88 riders from 20 different countries attending the event.

At tomorrow's opening ceremony, which takes place at Assisi's municipal square instead of in the stadium, each nation will pass by in procession with its own flag in a mediaeval atmosphere and setting.

The highlight of the event will be on Saturday when the best world riders will compete against one another, among them the official national teams of the countries of the Gulf region.