Namibia: Otjivero endurance club hosts Independence Ride

Namibian.com.na

By: STAFF REPORTER

THE Independence Ride will be hosted by the Otjivero Endurance Club this Friday and Saturday at Gobabis.

The horse riding competition received approximately 50 entries from across the country and will consist of different distance categories, which are 30 km, 60 km, 80 km, 100 km, 120 km and 160 km.

Bank Windhoek announced their support towards the competition.

“This is not the first time that Bank Windhoek supports a horse riding competition, a sophisticated sport, which requires skills, training and continuous practice.

Bank Windhoek believes that with hard work and dedication you will reach your goal and is therefore proud to be a sponsor of a competition that is based on the same principles”, said Riaan van Rooyen, Head of Corporate Communications and Social Investment at Bank Windhoek.

Without the support of Bank Windhoek to host competitions, such as the Independence Ride, growth of the sport will be limited, said Bennie Venter, chairperson of the Otjivero Endurance Club.

“Horseback riding is a popular sport, however it is also expensive and without support it would be impossible to develop the sport further. Therefore, we are very grateful to Bank Windhoek for the continued support over the past few years.”

The Otjivero Endurance Club is the largest of seven competitive horse riding clubs in the country and has 80 members.

All the clubs fall under the umbrella body, the Namibia Endurance Riding Association (NERA).

The Otjivero Endurance Club has been the national horse riding champion for the past three years and recently was awarded the best performing club by NERA.

The current title holder of best rider, a member of the Otjivero Endurance club, is 14-year-old Bredell Wessels.

Tickets for Finals Rounds Going Fast for Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games

LEXINGTON, KY - Tickets to the eight world championships of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games are selling quickly, with many sessions, particularly finals sessions, approaching sell-outs.

The 2010 Games will be held at Lexington’s Kentucky Horse Park from September 25-October10.

Tickets for compulsory and finals rounds of competition in all eight sports are still available throughout the 16 days of the Games, and can be purchased at www.alltechfeigames.com/tickets, at www.ticketmaster.com, through the Ticketmaster hotline at 1-800-745-3000, or at your local Ticketmaster outlet.

The Dressage Individual Freestyle and the Reining Individual Finals could be the first to reach full capacity. Less than 1,000 Level A tickets are available for the Dressage Freestyle on October 1 in the outdoor stadium. Only 400 tickets remain for the Reining Individual Finals on September 30 at the indoor arena.

Finals rounds are in highest demand across all sports. Eventing and Driving finals are already 75 percent sold, and only a third of the seats for the Jumping Top Four remain. Just over 100 tickets remain in the Finals Round for Para Dressage, and both the Freestyle and Team Finals in Vaulting are more than halfway sold.

Grounds Pass tickets, which allow general admission to the Kentucky Horse Park, are also available and are on sale at a special promotional price of $20 until May 31. Find out more about this ticketing program on the Grounds Pass page of the Games web site.

For those waiting to purchase their tickets, you are strongly encouraged to buy now before the seats are gone!

Malaysia: Switch pays off for Haris

NST.com.my - Full Article

2010/05/14


FORMER endurance rider Haris Zulhkiple boosted his chances of winning a dressage gold at the Malaysia Games in Malacca by clinching the Class 7 preliminary Group A 1C title at the Premier Cup Series 1 at Taman Ekuestrian Putrajaya yesterday.

Haris, winner of the endurance gold at the 2008 Malaysia Games in Terengganu when representing Federal Territory, hopes to win the dressage gold as well, since he will be competing in both events.

"I started competing in dressage events by chance because there was a shortage of riders and I was asked to try the event by my coach. Slowly I got hooked to it and now I have started winning.

"This win will be a confidence booster for the Games," said Haris who together with his younger brothers, Adam and Danial, make up the Federal Territory Malaysia Games team.

"In Terengganu, I won a gold in endurance and a silver in dressage. Hopefully, this time around, I will come back with two gold medals."

Haris, 20, who will leave for Sydney after the Games, to continue his studies, is no stranger to the sport as his mother, Norlaily Buniyamin, is also a national endurance rider.

Norlaily was the sole women endurance rider in the Malaysian team during the 2008 FEI World Endurance Championship at the Terengganu Endurance Park.

Read more here:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/qxqsx/Article/index_html

Great Britain: H&H editor to ride in Golden Horseshoe Challenge

Horseandhound.co.uk


Amy Mathieson, H&H news writer

14 May, 2010

Horse & Hound editor Lucy Higginson is one of five equestrian magazine editors who will be taking up the Golden Horseshoe Challenge next week.

The editors have been invited by ride organiser Barbara Wigley, who has set up a special class for them on Tuesday 18 May, the final day of the three-day endurance competition in Exmoor.

"We have organised a ride over 25 miles of the 100-mile course," she said.

"Owners have kindly loaned us horses that are fit and ready to go and each editor will be accompanied by a rider who is eligible for selection for the World Championships this year — and where they can, they will crack on at Gold speed of 7.5 miles an hour."

[More at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/297968.html]

Bahrain: HRH Crown Prince receives Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad

Bna.bh

date: 11 05, 2010

Manama, May 11 (BNA) His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport described today the equestrian sport as inextricably linked to chivalry, resolve, bravery and good ethics.
This sport is a historical heritage which has been developed by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa making it the most loved and supported sport in Bahrain, he said as he received at Rifa Palace today First Vice President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport, Head of Bahrain Olympic Committee and royal endurance team Captain Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and member of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the President of Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (BREEF). HRH the Crown Prince also received winners of the Crown Prince Endurance Cup in the presence of BREEF Board of Directors. HRH the Crown Prince congratulated Shaikh Nasser and the riders on their achievements which have opened up the door for other Bahrainis to take up this sport. He also lauded the riders' contribution to serving the kingdom's heritage by re-establishing the lustrous link between the rider, the horse and chivalry. HRH the Crown Prince wished them further success in local, regional and international events while directing them to take care of key technical issues regarding horses entry to the kingdom including healthcare, quarantine and origin. Shaikh Nasser took pride in the tremendous care accorded by HRH the Crown Prince to endurance in Bahrain tipping the Crown Prince Cup as one of the outstanding stations in the endurance races season. Shaikh Khalid also expressed thanks and respect to HRH the Crown Prince for his continuous support to endurance which reflects Bahrain's glorious heritage. Present at the meeting were Crown Prince's Court Head Shaikh Khalifa bin Daij Al Khalifa and Crown Prince's Advisor Shaikh Ahmed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

2010 WEG: Kentucky Tourism Commissioner makes first official visit to Maysville

Maysville-online.com - Full Article

By WENDY MITCHELL, Staff Writer | Monday, May 10, 2010

The Maysville Conference Center was the inaugural stop for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Bus Blitz of Kentucky, Monday.

Promoting 2010 WEG is a combined effort of nine regional tourism agencies and the local travel and tourism locations they represent, officials said.

"The last time there was something of this calibre in the U.S. was at the Olympic Games in Atlanta," said Mike Cooper, Kentucky Travel and Tourism commissioner.

Cooper and the entourage visited MCC and Kentucky Gateway Museum Center on Monday.

One of the miniature displays, representing a Kentucky horse farm library, along with a display from the Rosemary Clooney House Museum in Augusta and a section of fence from Calumet Farm in Lexington will be part of many displays visitors will see, officials said.

"They will even be able to pet a shark," Cooper said, verifying the information with other participants as he introduced a partial list of The Kentucky Experience displays. Each tourism agency and region provided information and materials which are being combined into The Kentucky Experience Pavilion exhibit at WEG, Cooper said.

Predicted to pump $167 million into the Kentucky economy, the games Sept. 25 - Oct 10 are on par with an Olympic equestrian competition, official said...

Read more here:
http://www.maysville-online.com/news/local/article_0a05a912-5cb1-11df-91dc-001cc4c03286.html

Argentina: Viral Equine Arteritis outbreak in the province of Buenos Aires

EN.Mercopress.com

May 8th 2010

SENASA, Argentina’s National Animal and Agriculture Health Board, issued a statement suspending all transportation of horses in the Buenos Aires province for two weeks due to an outbreak of Viral Equine Arteritis.

The ban in force as of this week may be extended up to 30 days and has curtailed horse activities such as racing, show jumping, endurance and auctions.

The origin of the outbreak was traced to semen imported recently from Holland for jumpers.

The disease affects pregnant mares which abort their embryos; however after being infected they become immune.

Stallions that have Viral Equine Arteritis must be gelded. The disease can be transmitted through the air or during breeding.

According to the Merck Veterinary Manual Equine viral arteritis (EVA) is an acute, contagious, viral disease of equids caused by equine arteritis virus. It is characterized by fever, depression, dependent edema (especially of the limbs, scrotum, and prepuce in the stallion), conjunctivitis, nasal discharge, abortion, and infrequently, death in young foals.

The virus which causes EVA was first isolated from horses in Ohio in 1953 but the disease has afflicted equine animals worldwide for centuries. It has been more common in some breeds of horses in the United States, but there is no breed “immunity”.
There is no known human hazard.