Princess wants World Equestrian Games in America again

Cincinnati.com - Full Article

By Jessie Halladay • The Courier-Journal • October 7, 2010

LEXINGTON - The head of the governing body for the World Equestrian Games would like see them return to the United States, citing the success in Lexington as ground-breaking and beneficial to equestrian sports.

“We all know that what's big in America becomes big all around the world,” Princess Haya al Hussein, president of the Federation Equestre Internationale, or FEI, said yesterday. “The more chances we have to see our World Equestrian Games on this continent, it would make our sport richer for it.”

The games continue through Sunday at the Kentucky Horse Park, and though not every competition sold out, Princess Haya praised attendance and said having the first games in America have done a lot to increase exposure to disciplines that may not be as well known. Daily attendance has ranged from 12,000 to nearly 51,000.

“What Kentucky has brought to the World Equestrian Games and to the FEI has been nothing short of miraculous,” she said.

“What would for me be the special mark of these games is the American can-do attitude… That's something that we in the FEI should really learn from and take home because if we do there are absolutely no boundaries to where this sport can go...”

Read more here:
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101007/NEWS0103/310070036/Princess-wants-Games-back-in-U-S-

WEC: Maria, an exceptional pilot, Sheikh Mohammed, a knight.

by Leonard Liesens, Endurance-belgium.com

The protocol, but also the traditional Bedouin culture defines its own rules. The leader leads the tribe, his oldest son at his right side. The sons must show respect to their father. They have to follow him, the same principle is true for the youngest sons vs. the oldest.

The trainers of Sheikh Mohammed are in competition against each other for presenting the best horse to the leader and have him choose the one they have trained. The advisors of the Sheikh must probably realize in putting the most accurate comments and have the leader listen to their advise. Nothing else than what's happening in any organization. One must imagine the dilemma for Sheikh Mohammed in order to filter all the information he receives and take the right decision. Choosing the right horse for the right race must not be easy and can be a bit like playing poker. The biggest difference is that the one bluffing a bit too much can quickly be fired. C'est la vie...

Sheikh Mohammed had the choice between Ciel oriental, the chestnut and Acadienne, the grey mare. The photos are showing the two horses when ridden by Maria (Acadienne) and another trainer (Ciel Oriental). Would I be offered to ride any of them, be sure I would write flattering articles for years...

He opted for Ciel Oriental. This horse seems to be especially
difficult at the trotting. Is seems that he is afraid of the person
trotting him. Ears set to the back, head raised, hind legs shifted
to the outside... This doesn't please the veterinarians as it is
difficult to detect any gait abnormalities. At the last trotting,
the horse was trotted twice by his trainer and showed the
particularities described above. It seems that the vet committee
asked another trotting with another person. Sheikh Hamdam took the
rope and trotted Ciel Oriental, on a more 'normal' way. Seen from
3/4, the horse was looking OK, not perfect, but difficult to
eliminate it, taking into account he is the horse from the biggest
patron of endurance.

More...

Big Money Bolsters Equestrian Endurance Race

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/sports/27equestrian.html?_r=1
By KATIE THOMAS
Published: September 26, 2010

Sunday’s race, won by María Mercedes Alvarez Pontón of Spain, took 100 horses and their riders across a Kentucky landscape of tobacco and thoroughbred farms as competitors tested the stamina and grit of their prized Arabian horses.

Much is made of the long ride, but seasoned competitors know the race is often won or lost when horse and rider are not on the course. The endurance competition is as much a Nascar race as it is a horse marathon: a winning strategy often plays out in the rest period between the race’s six loops, when riders cool and relax their horses so they can pass a range of medical tests and advance to the next stage as quickly as possible.

Teams left little to chance during Sunday’s race, which is on a par with the Olympics among endurance riders. As soon as riders pulled their horses into a cooldown area, grooms worked in tightly choreographed motions, yanking saddles and dousing the animals with buckets of ice water. Horses cannot move to the mandatory veterinarian check until their heart rate drops below 64 beats a minute.

“The more quickly he passes through, the faster he will leave,” said Jean-Louis Leclerc, the chef d’equipe, or team leader, for the French team. If a horse does not cool down quickly enough, “you can lose four or five minutes and then you have to make up the time later.”

Maintaining such expert crews takes deep pockets, and for several top competitors, that is not a problem. The modern-day sport of endurance riding began in the 1950s in California, but an influx of money from Arab royalty in the last decade has transformed it into a pastime of kings and sheiks. The royal families of Qatar, Bahrain and Dubai maintain vast stables of horses that have been bred and conditioned for the epic rides as well as high-performance centers devoted to the sport.

full story at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/sports/27equestrian.html?_r=1

Sheikh has early lead in Endurance

By Mark Maloney - mmaloney@herald-leader.com

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates has the early lead in the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games endurance event.

The sheikh, riding Ciel Oriental, arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park for the first vet check with an average speed of 24.1 kilometers per hour. He made it through the check in 1:11, his horse’s heartbeat at a comfortable 52. (Criteria heartbeat is 64 beats or lower.)

The check came after the first 32 1/2 kilometers — about 20 1/2 miles — of the 100-mile race.

photo: Jason Sankovitch

Mercedes Tapia of Argentina, riding Ras Senor, led early Sunday in the 100-mile Endurance event at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Right behind the sheikh is the reigning world champion, Maria Mercedes Ponton of Spain, riding Nobby.

Then came Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum on SAS Alexis, and Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum on Rukban Dikruhu MMN, both of the United Arab Emirates.

Fifth was the leading American, Heather Reynolds, on Ssamiam.

Deborah Reich, the Team USA alternate, moved into the lineup because Ellen Rapp’s mount Berjo Smokey was lame.

• While most entrants rode off to a cheering crowd, one did not. The Canadian horse RBF Super Sport, ridden by Ruth Sturley, wanted nothing to do with the noise and balked at the start line. Not until the crowd quieted was Sturley able to urge her horse on, about four minutes behind the leaders.


Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/09/26/1451371/sheikh-has-early-lead-in-endurance.html#ixzz10eV9LlJ5

Technology at WEG Endurance Event: GPS Tracking and Swipe Card Accuracy

TheHorse.com
by: Marsha Hayes
September 25 2010, Article # 17009

Cutting-edge GPS technology will provide real-time tracking of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) Endurance competitors as they race tomorrow in Lexington, Ky.

"Anyone with a laptop will be able to track the horses, at the event, or at home, around the world," explained Emmett Ross, endurance discipline manager for WEG. Ross also noted the system will be in place in the staging area to alert crews when their horses are coming into a vet check and allow them to adjust race strategy based on knowing competitors' positions.

For equine enthusiasts on site at the Kentucky Horse Park, several large viewing screens will be stationed around the park in the trade show and hospitality areas, and perhaps other sites to enhance viewing of the lengthy WEG event, projected to last around eight hours.

Announcements will also be broadcast on site alerting spectators when horses will be arriving in the vet-check staging area.

The GPS system initially will be set to "ping" or update data every 30 seconds. Ross plans to lower the update rate to six seconds near the finish, where at that time, "You will be able to really see that little icon move along."

Because the Kentucky course does not allow spectators on the trails, public roads, or private lands where horses are competing, "This system will be a way to allow everybody to view the event," said Ross.

Swipe cards will also be added to enhance efficiency at the games. According to Becky Hart, chef d'equipe of endurance Team USA, the cards have been used in the Middle East and Europe and furnish valuable time-tracking data to crews and event veterinarians. Ross also noted a back-up system is in place, should electricity fail.

When a horse comes into a vet check, a crew member swipes that rider's card which records that horse's number, team, and logs the time of when the horse entered vet check. When the horse is presented to the vet to determine if his or her heart rate has dropped to the required rate to allow the horse to continue, the card is swiped again. After a set number of horses have swiped a computer printout is generated.

Because the time between check in and pulse down can be indicative of a horse's fatigue, Hart explained print-out access allowed one to, "keep an eye on the competition" by watching for an increase in pulse-down time. "It also allows me to keep track of each loop time, for my team and [their] competitors," Hart continued.

According to Ross, the computer print-outs assist event-monitoring veterinarians in awarding Best Conditioned awards by providing a summary of pulse-down times over the 100 mile race. Soundness after the event will also be keenly scrutinized, but the swipe card's fast, accurate analysis of each horse’s pulse rate data is a valuable veterinary analysis tool.

During the vet checks, hand-held heart rate monitors will connect to large viewing screens, allowing spectators to see for themselves the equine athlete’s moment of reaching the criteria needed to start another loop.

Full article at http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=17009&source=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHorse%2FNews+%28TheHorse.com+-+News%29

UAE: Dubai royals in medal bid

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100925/SPORT/100929812/1004
Geoffrey Riddle
September 24

photo: Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will lead his sons in a five-man team over a 160km endurance course. Awad Awad / AFP
The Dubai royal family will bid to cement the UAE’s position at the top of the endurance riding field this afternoon when they compete on the second day the 2010 World Equestrian Games at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, leads his sons Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Majid in a five-man team that will compete against 29 other nations over the challenging, 160km endurance course. Sheikh Rashid Dalmouk Al Maktoum and Ali Mohammed al Muhairi make up the rest of the side.

Sheikh Mohammed led home his sons when they won the Stars Challenge race at Austin Park in England on July 25, a success that makes the region favourites to win the punishing race.

“The team have prepared as best they can,” said Mohammed Essa, the assistant team manager.

“The Americans, France and Spain are probably our major rivals. They are the strongest three teams in a very strong field. The reason that we are here is to win and if they ride as best they can then we can do it.”

The race, sponsored by Meydan Racecourse, consists of six loops of varying distances, with each loop starting and finishing at the compound’s Forego Polo Field.
All riders start at the same time, and there are five mandatory veterinary stops.

The winner is judged by completing the course in the shortest time, which is likely to be around the 12-hour mark.

Endurance riding is the ultimate test of speed and stamina for a racehorse and jockey combination, as it requires the riders to understand their mount’s abilities.

“The course is hard,” Essa said. “They have put in obstacles, tunnels and rivers. It is very challenging, and it makes it so important to make the right move at the right time.”
The ruler of Dubai, who rides Arcadienne, has not raced competitively since his victory in England, but Essa does not believe that to be a problem.

“From the end of July he has just been preparing himself, not necessarily just for this event, but for the rest of the year.

“He loves the horses and the sport. He is totally in touch with all the best practices and training methods. Sheikh Hamdan is the same. It’s in his blood after all.”

Due to the hardy nature of the breed, the majority of competitors, including the UAE, will race on pure-bred Arabians. The rest will challenge on Anglo-Arabs, which are half thoroughbred on the distaff side, and half Arabian.

The Games run until October 10, during which time 54 national federations will compete in eight equestrian disciplines, including dressage, driving, eventing, jumping, reining and vaulting.

sports@thenational.ae

2010 WEC Endurance Entries

2010 WEC Endurance Entries can be seen here