Kentucky Horse Park to host Arabian horse art exhibition in 2010

Examiner.com - Full Article

December 15, 2009 | Equestrian Examiner | Linda Ann Nickerson

Beginning in May 2010, the Kentucky Horse Park (in Lexington, Kentucky) will feature a major Arabian horse art exhibition, with sponsorship by the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation.

The 9,000-square-foot exhibition, titled "A Gift from the Desert: The Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse," will include more than 300 artifacts and artworks representing collections from the Near East, Europe and America. Among these items will be the Standard of Ur (a 4,000-year-old equestrian driving artifact) and the Kikkuli Tablet (an ancient Hittite horse care manual).

A Gift from the Desert will focus on the important impact of equines on Near Eastern civilization, looking at development of the Arabian horse in particular.

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Chile: Last 2009 race of the Enduro Equestrian in Santo Domingo

The final 2009 endurance ride of Endurance Ecuestre was held on December 19 2009 in Santo Domingo, Chile.

Alicia Gonzalez, riding Pinta, won the 160 km ride in the time of 11:36.27; Hans Buckel riding Satanas won the 120 km in the time of 8:30.57; and Lucas Buckel riding Turbante won the Junior 120 km in the time of 8:00.18.

Read the Press Release

Asociacion Chilena de Enduro Ecuestre

India: Arosha completes 81km horse race

DailyMirror
Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Rider Arosha Jayasundara completed the 81km with her horse, cantering across the finish line at the end of a 9 hour ride in good condition as dawn and dust met in the cold Rajastani desert of India at the second consecutive International Invitational 81km Endurance National Indigenous Horse Show Championship organised by the Marwari Indigenous Horse Society of India, on December 12.

Riders Arosha Jayasundara, Suranjith Premadasa and Prameesha Abeysekera, participating on borrowed Marwari horses from the Dundlod Stables of Ragvendra Singh Dundlod, represented Sri Lanka at this FEI qualifier.

Prameesha led the team at the beginning with the condition of her horse Suki till the 60 km Vet Gate where she did not qualify to continue.

Suranjith on his horse Anjalie completed the first leg of the race at 20.25km before being withdrawn due to missing the time restriction at Vet Gate.

The culminating race of this 6-day event, the International invitational drew representatives from India, Sri Lanka, America, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Russia to line up at the start line in a test of endurance and skill at this One Star FEI (Federation International Equestre) event.

The 81 km was split into 4 parts with the horses being checked by veterinarians every 20.25km.

The horse’s condition, stamina and heart rate are examined before being allowed to continue with the race placing a great importance on the care and condition of the horse during the event.

The Sri Lanka Equestrian Association proudly to acknowledge the efforts of the riders and thanked the organisers and sponsors at this event for helping these riders take Sri Lanka to the international equestrian stage.

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Bahrain: Mirza lifts National Day endurance title

Gulf-daily-news.com

December 20, 2009


ROYAL Endurance Team rider Jaffar Mirza won the 120-kilometre National Day Endurance Ride Championship yesterday at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir.

Riding Mexico, Mirza outlasted the 46 other participants who competed in the gruelling five-stage seniors race. Mirza clocked a winning time of five hours 38 minutes 27 seconds.

The event was organised by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) in celebration of the kingdom's National Day and the 10th anniversary of His Majesty King Hamad's accession to the throne.

Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Breef president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa also took part in the ride, but both Royal Endurance Team stars were forced to pull out after the fourth stage due to injuries to their respective horses. Shaikh Nasser was riding The Destroyer while Shaikh Khalid was astride LM Bikosam.

The championship was also attended by National Guard chief Major General Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa.

The seniors race saw strong competition as the riders not only had to fight against fatigue but also to tackle the difficult terrain which had been hugely affected by heavy rainfall in Bahrain in the past week.

After the race was flagged off at 6am, Mirza set the early pace and was among the leading bunch at the end of the first 30km stage which he completed in 1:19:11.

He continued his steady stride through the 30km second stage, the 25km third and the 20km penultimate leg, at the end of which he fell to third place behind new leader and fellow-Bahraini Durg Singh Bhanwar and Indian Sang Singh Bhati.

Determined

But a determined showing in the final 15km stage helped him finish strong and steal victory. He completed the last leg in 42 minutes 30 seconds - nearly 10 minutes faster than anyone else.

Bhanwar was left to settle for the runner-up spot as he finished the race with a total time of 5:45:00, which was close to eight minutes behind Mirza. Bhati was not far behind in third in 5:45:30.

Saudi Arabia's Fayez Al Turkomani finished fourth in 5:57:58 on his horse Dodge. Abdulrahman Al Zaeed, another Royal Endurance Team rider, finished fifth overall on Blythswood Akabar in 6:14:36.

Meanwhile, Al Muqheerat Stable's Nasser Ahmed Awad, riding Al Fahd, won the juniors ride in 6:03:55. Royal Endurance Team's Ahmed Adel Al Gaoud on Jassem was the runner-up in 6:20:40, while Abdulla Hilal Al Khatri on Faras Kaoma from Al Asayel Stable came third in 6:38:59.


Click here for photos by Osama Mohammed

Use of NSAIDs to Be Put to Vote at 2010 General Assembly

HorsesInTheSouth.com
Friday, December 18th, 2009

Lausanne (SUI), 18 December 2009 – The policy choice of whether the restricted use of a small number of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) should be permitted in competition will be put to the vote at the 2010 FEI General Assembly, following a resolution passed by the Bureau today.

In line with the Bureau’s earlier decision, the present Equine Prohibited List and its accompanying Rules and Veterinary Regulations will remain in effect until 4 April 2010. As of 5 April 2010, the FEI will implement the 20 October Prohibited Substances List, a more detailed version of the present Equine Prohibited List which received no specific objections during the four-week pre-General Assembly consultation period. The new Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMRs) and revised Veterinary Regulations, which both received strong support at the General Assembly, will also be implemented on 5 April 2010.

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The drugs vote that rained on the FEI's parade

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

December 17, 2009

by Neil Clarkson
Special to Horsetalk.co.nz

A grey winter gloom descended over Copenhagen as delegates from member nations of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) began arriving in November for its annual General Assembly.

The outlook was rather sunnier in the world of equestrian sport. The international governing body must have been upbeat as delegates from more than 100 nations prepared to meet at the Marriott Hotel, a large red-brick high-rise that stands beside one of the Danish capital's canals.

And why shouldn't the Lausanne-based organisation have been upbeat? Equestrian sport was poised to put the doping embarrassment of the 2008 Beijing Olympics behind it. It rightly anticipated strong support for its ground-breaking Clean Sport initiative, the result of two commissions of inquiry and an investment of some 1.8 million Euros.

Delegates were also to vote on a new streamlined structure to replace the large and, some would say, unwieldy 22-strong governing FEI Bureau, substituting it with a much leaner skills-based seven-strong team.

It had all the hallmarks of a new beginning and it seemed little would stand in its way.

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Mongol Derby 2010

December 18 2009
http://www.mongolderby.com

The world’s longest, toughest horse race, The Mongol Derby, returns for a second year

After the triumphant inaugural edition of the 2009 Mongol Derby, the epic 1000km multi-horse race across Mongolia returns for a second time in August 2010. With 35 places available and a more gruelling course being planned, this second Derby is set to be even tougher than last year.

The 2010 Derby will start on August 7 and officially end on August 18, giving riders 12 days to complete the 1000km course. Last year’s winners, Charles van Wyck (South Africa) and Shiravsamboo Galbadrakh (Mongolia) completed the course in eight days.

The 1000 km race is based on the postal system of Chinggis Khan, which could relay messages thousands of miles in a matter of days. Like the ancient postal system the Mongol Derby relies on a network of horse stations. These are being built at 40km or under intervals stretching along the course. With the rider’s changing steed at each horse station, the Derby is not a test of the horses’ speed, but of the rider’s skill and endurance.

The Mongol Derby is one of the most ambitious equestrian events on the planet with over 1000 Mongolian horses selected and trained for the event. Animal welfare is once again the top priority of the organisers. All the horses will be subject to a series of rigorous veterinary checks before, during and after the race. In 2009 less than 2% of the horses required any first aid and they were all minor.

The 35 selected riders will attend a three day pre-race training session in the Mongolian steppe before taking on the 1000km course. The session will be taken by Maggie Pattinson, Chef d'Equipe of the British Home International Endurance Team since 2007 and endurance expert extraordinnaire. The session will also include medical training from Prometheus Medical.

As with all The Adventurists’ events, the Mongol Derby is not only about having an amazing adventure, it's also about raising lots of cash for charity. Each rider will raise a minimum of £1000 so the second Derby is set to raise at least £35,000 for the official charity. The 2009 Mongol Derby raised a fantastic £71,000; £41,000 of this for Mercy Corps and a further £30,000 for the riders’ chosen charities.

For more information on the Derby and how to apply for one of the coveted 35 places please visit http://www.mongolderby.com. Applications will be open until January 22 2010.


- Ends –

For more information, hi-res photos, or to arrange interviews with the founder of the Mongol Derby and The Adventurists Tom Morgan, please contact:

Dan Wedgwood / Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent
The Adventurists Press Office
+44(0)7966 911 917
+44(0)117 329 0884
media@theadventurists.com

Official website of the Adventurists Mongol Derby:
http://www.mongolderby.com



Notes to Editors:

About The Mongol Derby
Hosted in a country where the horse is part of the fabric of the nation, the inaugural Derby will take endurance horse racing to a new level. The innovative model of staging posts to ensure the horses only travel distances of 40km each will allow riders to race across a course with a gargantuan scale that hasn’t been seen for decades.

The welfare of the horses will be paramount to the race organisers and riders. Semi-wild and smaller than the racing horses the public are used to on television; they will be looked after every step of the way, from months before the race begins, until long after the riders’ buttocks have recovered. In total over 1000 horses will be used to stage this audacious race.

The cost will be $9,500 per rider and all the details and further general information can be found on the official website:

http://www.mongolderby.com


About The Adventurists
The Adventurists is run by the League of Adventurists International Ltd, an award winning company based in the UK with gangly tentacles that stretch around the world. They organise unusual and difficult adventures that raise money for charity. To date participants on their adventures have raised well over 1 million pounds for great causes around the world.

http://www.theadventurists.com

About Tengri Group, Mongolia
Tengri Group are one of the biggest companies in Mongolia, with interests in tourism and hospitality, agriculture, property management, IT and energy. For more see http://www.tengrigroup.com

About Maggie Pattinson
Maggie Pattinson is Chef d'Equipe of the British Home International Endurance Team and endurance expert extraordinnaire. Maggie has more feathers in her endurance bow than you could shake a stick at. She has trained, ridden and crewed at International Level and as well as her esteemed position as Chef d'Equipe she runs her own endurance training company On the Hoof and trains a number of high profile individuals. One of her protégé, Chris Baker, became the highest placed British rider ever in the 2009 Tevis Cup. With On the Hoof Maggie trains all levels of riders in every aspect of the sport from pacing to fitness and map reading.