Rondezvous in Normandy

Horsechannel.com - Full Article

France to host 2014 World Equestrian Games
By Elizabeth Moyer

At the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the FEI flag was lowered and officially passed from Kentucky to Normandy. The French region will welcome the world equestrian games in 2014.

The French/American connection is especially significant, as 2014 will mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, when American and allied troops landed on Normandy beach during World War II in a pivotal battle in the liberation of France and Europe.

Normandy and Kentucky share many similarities. Both have a worldwide reputation for producing champions and serve as centers of equine industry, research, breeding and competition...

Read more here:
http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-news/2010/10/12/normandy-world-equestrian-games.aspx

The King to spearhead Malaysia's challenge

News-straits-times

New Straits Times, Oct 10, 2010 | by Zainuddin Muhammad

YANG di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin will take part in the 7th Sultan's Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge on Nov 5-7 at the Terengganu International Endurance Park in Lembah Bidong, Setiu.

The King will face challenges from more than 90 endurance riders from 15 countries in the 120km race, which is co-organised by the state government and Royal Terengganu Endurance Stable (RTES).

Organising committee chairman Datuk Mazlan Ngah said riders from the United States, Chile, Uruguay, France, Thailand, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia had confirmed their participation in the three-day competition...

Read more here:
http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/new-straits-times/mi_8016/is_20101010/king-spearhead-malaysias-challenge/ai_n55494564/

Malaysia: Terengganu Endurance Challenge To Feature 90 Riders From 15 Countries

Bernama.com

October 9 2010

KUALA TERENGGANU, Oct 9 (Bernama) -- The Sultan's Cup Terengganu Endurance Challenge 2010 from Nov 5-7 in Lembah Bidong, Setiu will feature 90 local and international riders from 15 countries.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said said the number of participation was a 50 per cent increase compared with the number of rider when the race was incepted in 2006.

"Apart from participants, the Endurance Race has also attracted the attention of equestrian sport lovers, horse owners, breeders and veterinary doctors in the country.

"It will certainly increase the number of tourists to Terengganu and boost economic revenue from tourism," he told reporters after launching the event at Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa, Pulau Duyong here Saturday.

"The championship not only glorifies Terengganu but it is also a stepping stone for riders to enter internationally acclaimed endurance races.

Ahmad said the challenge would offer RM100,000 in prize money while young local riders .

He added that organizing such events was in line with the state's objective to turn Terengganu into a hub for traditional, cultural, arts, sports and recreational activities in the region.

-- BERNAMA

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