India: Dundlod Rajasthan

Skayinbandhavgarh.blogspot.com - Story and Photos

After spending two days in Jaipur we moved to Dundlod. Dundlod is a small town in Jhunjhnu district about 170 km from Jaipur. Road is good not unlike other states where after 5 hours of road journey tourists look for the bed and painkiller tablet. We stayed in Dundlod Fort as a guest of Kr Raghuvendra singh ji who runs horse safaris at Dundlod. He is a pioneer in adding this adventure in tourism itinerary successfully. Today it has became one of the major tourism adventure sport in Rajasthan. I am not sure whether this is recognised as an adventure sport or not!

We were there on invitation to photograph the International Invitational 81 Km Endurance organised by Indigenous Horse Society of India with collaboration of Rajasthan Equestrian Association. This was the first Equestrian Federation of India's qualifying race at Dundlod. Two Endurance were organised one 40 Km and second 81 Km Endurance in which major International teams participated.

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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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