Great Britain: Bipeds Make a Horse Race Out of Contest of Man vs. Beast

Online.wsj.com - Full Article

By JOHN W. MILLER

LLANWRTYD WELLS, Wales—Just three miles from the finish line, Duke's Touch of Fun bumped into John Terry, a 34-year-old, pony-tailed marathoner from Bristol.

Mr. Terry stumbled. And Duke's, a 12-year-old gray mare, galloped past in hopes of taking her fourth career title in the Man Versus Horse Marathon.

The only two victories by human runners in the 32-year-old race have come in the past seven years, inspiring Mr. Terry and a record 286 fellow runners to pit themselves against 50 horses this year. Both wins came on hot days, where people have an evolutionary edge: People sweat more easily than horses because they lack the heavy horsehair.

Matching man and beast is as old as Roman gladiators fighting lions. Olympian Jesse Owens once beat a horse in a 100-yard dash...

Read more here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303714704576381593288615606.html

Jose Luis Ruiz Hidalgo and Al-gharbe win Spanish Championship

El Raid Blog

June 11 2011

José Luis Ruiz Hidalgo and Al-gharbe re the Gold medal winners of the XXX Spanish Championship at El Paular. They covered the 160 km in 9:49.15, at 16.5 km/h with a total recovery time in the vet gates of 9.50. Al-gharbe also won the Best Condition award.

Second across the finish line was Pedro Godinho riding Olimpico da Ameira in 10:03.20, at 16.13 km/h.

Third place, and Silver medal in the Spanish Championship went to Anna Maria Yebra Altamira and Calzadilla, with a time of 10:03.33, at 16.10 km/h.

Fourth place, and Bronze medal went to Oriol Casals and Zazha of Vilaformiu in 10:07.34, at 16 km/h.

Complete results can be seen here:
http://www.endurancetiming.com/1008e2/

More photos can be seen here:
http://ggjineteraid.blogspot.com/

XXI Brazilian Championship

Enduroonline.com.br

Step 3 of the Championship of Endurance 2011
Free Speed ​​and Regularity

Interstate Cup Teams (Regulation at the end)

Regional directors and team leaders from each state.

As has been widely reported, starting this year we will have with the Brazilian Championship, Copa Interstate Teams and the regulation will be awarded as the best teams entered in the trials of 160 km and 120 km (Adults and Young Rider)

Teams from each state can be formed with up to 06 sets of these,
05 and 01 will participate in joint assembly is discarded after the initial inspection of the trot.

Will be required a minimum of 03 teams entered in each category (160km and 120km) to happen for the dispute.

The CBH will make a cash prize for the Champion Team and Vice-Champion of 160 km and 120 km-adult.
The Young Riders category will not receive prize money.

We ask interested parties to form their teams and forward to the director on behalf of CBH enduro, Olaf Maciel. The deadline for these entries is displayed up to 20 days prior to.

For more information see:
http://www.enduroonline.com.br/cbee2011.asp

KER Participates in Australian Endurance Festival

KER.com

Australia's endurance riding industry will be showcased at the inaugural Endurance Festival June 11-13 in Queensland. The event will include the Australian FEI*** 160km National Championship, as well as several shorter rides. It is being held in conjunction with the June 8-10 Australasian Endurance Forum.

Kentucky Equine Research (KER) equine nutritionist Clarissa Brown-Douglas, Ph.D., will be presenting two seminars on feeding the endurance horse at the event, which was organized by the Toft family's Oz Endurance.

Peter Toft has been a member of several Australian endurance squads, and is a long-time supporter of KER and its goals. Penny Toft was among the Australian endurance riders who trained at KER's research facility in Kentucky prior to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
See a video featuring Penny Toft at KER.

Australiasian Endurance Forum Attracts Multi-National Attendance

Horsesport.org

8 Jun 2011

Over 150 delegates representing nine different nationalities are attending the Australasian FEI Endurance Conference and Forum, which began in Brisbane (AUS) today.

Delegates from Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, the UAE and the USA are taking part in three days of lectures and discussion sessions across a wide range of topics relating to international Endurance.

This is the first time the world forum has been held outside Europe and guest speakers have travelled from Canada, America, the UAE, Malaysia and Switzerland, and from across Australia.

The members of the FEI Endurance Technical Committee who are in attendance will also meet during the Forum and attend the Australian Endurance Festival taking place this weekend featuring FEI competitions at 1*, 2* and 3* level.

The conference organisers state that the primary goal of the three-day meeting is to achieve the aspirations of the FEI Code of Conduct, which states “The FEI urges all involved with the sport to attain the highest levels of education in their areas of expertise.”

As well as a debate on the future of international competitions in Africa, Asia and Australia, the conference will also discuss:

• implementation of the new rules and implications of the new star rating for treatment veterinarians
• improving the understanding of the roles of officials
• changes to the Veterinary Regulations with regard to medication control
• examination of horses during competition especially metabolics and lameness
• issues relating to the treatment of horses at endurance rides
• improved nutrition and training methods for endurance horses and issues related to rider safety

“This conference and forum has given representatives from the regional nations a unique opportunity to meet together and exchange views with other nations from both within the region but also from much further afield”, FEI Director of Non-Olympic Sports Ian Williams said.

Further information on the conference, including a full list of speakers, plus details of the Al Reef Endurance Festival can be found here.

All the action from the Al Reef Endurance Festival can be viewed on a live feed from http://iequine.com/events/al-reef-endurance-festival. Footage begins on Saturday 11 June at 12.30pm with vetting and a pre-ride talk later that afternoon. Sunday morning is when the action unfolds - coverage starts at 5.00am and runs all day. On Monday 13 June there will be a live feed for a series of work-outs and presentations.

Italy: Mohammad Bin Rashid wins European Endurance race

Gulfnews.com

The 120 km-race was held on the sidelines of the fourth session of the UAE-Italian Joint Economic Committee

* WAM
* Published: 21:51 June 11, 2011


His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, won the first round of the European Endurance Championship, which was held on Saturday in Verona, Italy.

The 120-km race was held on the sidelines of the fourth session of the UAE-Italian Joint Economic Committee, also held in Verona.

Shaikh Mohammad came first with a timing of 6.19.02 hours followed by Shaikh Rashid Bin Dalmook at 6.19.03 hours. Saif Al Katbi came third at 6.19.04.

Seventy horse riders from various European countries contested in the race. The win is another feather in the cap of Emirati riders in European championships. The Emirati riders began to make their mark in 1999 when they won the gold medal in Spain.

Netherlands: Yvonne van der Velde and Joy Escobar win Dutch National Championships

June 4 2011

Yvonne van der Velde rode her thirteen-year-old Arabian gelding Joy Escobar to the 2011 national title endurance on the Fasna Trail. She won both the NK and hence the open competition (CEI3 *) over this distance of 160 km. The silver was for Suzanne Pen (Epe) with Depozit, the bronze went to Angela Jonkman (Scharmer) with Bayan Bin Bora.

[google translation]
Ten combinations stood on the start list of the Dutch championship. After 100 km, this number had halved after 125 km, there were three Dutch in the field. Angela Jonkman had Bayan Bin Bora drove head long, but delayed in the second half of the race the pace down in order to properly match the finish line. This paved the way for Yvonne van der Velde, who after a total driving time of 10 hours finished with 15.93 mph average. Suzanne Pen Depozit rode a fairly constant ride. She came to 14.86 km / h less than three minutes after Van der Velde crossed the finish line. Angela Jonkman was 12.81 mph by the end of the third Dutchman completed 160 km. In the championship match of the open ended their fifth and sixth of a total of eighteen participants. The places 2, 3 and 4 were two Danish combinations and a Belgian. The Best Condition horse went to the Portal of the Danish Inger Pitter Bertelsen.

'Coincidence'
Yvonne van der Velde won the National Championships once before in 2007 with Touch of Joy Cherain. Joy Escobar (v. Kais ox) in 2009, she was very close to the national title, but by then it was a coincidence wrong on the finish. But this year the race went smoothly and without the preparation was not ideal. "Esco a while back strain sustained a motion by problems with his herd hoof. Thus we include the race in Mont-le-Soie to let go. Our team farrier Onno Grund Esco has been running well again, "says Yvonne van der Velde. "I hesitated until the last day or I would take Esco to Ermelo and another horse, but there was conditional Esco seen the best for. The only goal we had, was spreading to 15 km / h to our FEI qualifications to secure. A very different approach than two years ago when we really fought for the title. That we now have and it also won the 160 km is therefore really a coincidence. I should also like to act on me. "

CEI Open
During the Fasna Trail were also some shorter distances traveled. On the 141 km (CEI3 *) were not Dutch participants at the start. The best Dutch on the 120 km (CEI2 *) were Yannick Rademaker (winches) with Fortuna in the seniors and Joyce van den Berg (Leiden) in the Bas Cardonne for juniors. They finished second and third respectively in their category. The 90 km (CEI1 *) was won by a combination of Netherlands, Caro de Boer (Winterswijk) with Raiyah.