Australia: Golden Performance

Warwickdailynews.com.au - Full Article

Gerard Walsh | 5th July 2011

FREESTONE has the top endurance horse-and-rider combination in Australia following the success of Cora Becker and Bones the Wizard in the FEI 160km three-star Australian National Championship at the Al Reef and RM Williams Endurance Festival Ride.

Becker went to the Australian championships at Toorbul near Caboolture with one strapper, husband Laurie Woodruff, and won the major event in eight hours, 46.34 minutes.

She was in the lead group of seven throughout.

Becker was at a disadvantage against competitors with a larger numbers of strappers who could prepare their horse quicker in hold time for the five veterinary checks as required in a 160km event.

As the lead group went into the last veterinary check, some of the horses were fatigued and the riders had to wait until the heart beat of their horse was under 64 beats a minute to continue.

Bones the Wizard was in top condition and passed the fifth check with flying colours which meant Becker was in third place at the start of the final 17km leg.

She caught the two horse-and-rider combinations in front of her with 10km to go and then took a 200m lead before winning by a second...

Read more here:
http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/story/2011/07/05/golden-performance-firestone-australia/

Germany: Shaikh Khalid races to victory

Gulf-daily-news.com - full article

Posted on » Sunday, July 03, 2011

BAHRAIN Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president and Al Khalidiyah Stables leader Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa triumphed yesterday in a 160-kilometre endurance horse race held in Dillingen, Germany.

Shaikh Khalid finished the gruelling, six-stage event just one second ahead of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Shaikh Khalid and Shaikh Nasser were competing in the ride as part of Bahrain's Royal Endurance Team, of which Shaikh Nasser is the captain. Their fine performance earned the kingdom's representatives a superb one-two finish against a world-class field of riders.

The event was the first of a series of top-level endurance races that the team will be participating in across Europe this summer.

The Royal Endurance Team's riders were dominant yesterday from start to finish. They were among the group of early leaders in the opening stage, and they maintained their position in the front before capping their brilliant showing by claiming all three podium positions.

Shaikh Khalid registered a winning time of eight hours 26 minutes and 20 seconds. Shaikh Nasser was the close runner-up, while teammate Ahmed Janahi came third, another second behind Shaikh Nasser.

Among the other Royal Endurance Team members, Mohammed Abdulsamad finished in eighth place with a time of 9:24:30, while Salman Isa completed the event in ninth, a mere second behind.

The Royal Endurance Team managed to overcome the challenge of top riders from Germany and the Netherlands yesterday.

Superb

Their superb results gave them added confidence ahead of their next endurance ride, to be held on next Saturday at the same venue, also over 160km. They are then scheduled to compete in events in the UK, France and elsewhere.

At the end of the ride, Shaikh Khalid, Shaikh Nasser and Janahi received their trophies at an awarding ceremony.

Shaikh Nasser hailed the performance of the Royal Endurance Team, and said that it helps reaffirm their position as some of the world's best riders.

Bahrain's Ambassador to Germany Ahmed Mohammed Al Dosary was present at the event, and he congratulated Shaikh Khalid and Shaikh Nasser on the positive results they achieved.

Malaysia: Horse-endurance club sees big future

A notice board catches the eye of Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin during his visit to Al-Khamsa Endurance Club. NST.com.my

2011/07/02
By Looi Sue-Chern

GEORGE TOWN: Penang now has its first horse-endurance riding club, and there are big plans for the state’s future in the field of equestrian sport.

Al-Khamsa Endurance Club, which aimed to further promote horse-endurance riding in Penang and nationwide, would train local riders to represent the state as well as the nation in local and international events.

Its president, A. Mutalib Ismail, said every state in the country had a horse endurance riding team except Penang — until now.

The club, open to everyone interested in taking up endurance riding, would prepare local riders to compete in the annual Malaysia Games (Sukma) under the Penang flag.

“We will not make it in time for this year’s Sukma but we will try next year,” he said.

“Sukma will not be our sole target. We also plan to take Penang to the international endurance-riding scene.” The Al-Khamsa Endurance Club is located on a 0.8ha piece of state-owned land in the Municipal Park here. It has a riding area for training use and stables for up to 30 horses.

The club was officiated by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, an avid horse endurance rider, during his two-day working visit to Penang last week.

Mutalib said the club was honoured to welcome Tuanku Mizan and hoped the meaningful visit would be a stepping stone for the state to produce its first riders for Sukma.

Read more here:
http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Horse-enduranceclubseesbigfuture/Article

Australia: NSW State Endurance Championships

Horsezone.com.au

Published on Monday, June 27, 2011 in Sponsored Shows

The 2011 NSW State Endurance Championships were held in the beautiful Macdonald Valley centred on the village of St Albans. The event course travelled a distance of 160 kilometres over roads and trails around St Albans and in the surrounding National Park and private land. The maximum riding time permitted was 24 hours, including rest breaks and veterinary checks.

The motto of endurance riding is “To complete is to win". This philosophy dictates that all competitors who complete the course, and whose horses are passed as fit to continue at every veterinary check are considered winners, just as much as the placegetters. This certainly was true of the State Championships which were run under very difficult weather conditions on the June long weekend, with rain starting to fall late afternoon on Saturday, hardly stopping for the whole of Sunday and continuing into Monday. A week later the sun was shining, but some of the St Albans Common was still more than 0.5 metres underwater, having been 2 metres under on Tuesday night. Some water tubs, road signs and the solar lights which were supposed to mark the course are expected to wash up anywhere between St Albans and Palm Beach!

The event organisers, the St Albans Endurance Riders Association would like to congratulate all of the 41 riders who were successful...

Read more here:
http://www.horsezone.com.au/news/nsw-state-endurance-championships-1269

Belgium: Le Raid du Luxembourg a Great Success

Endurance-belgium.com

Everything perfect for this 'old fashion' endurance ride on the weekend of 25th June.

Old fashion because it was looking like the event organized 10 to 15 years ago, that not being negative, on the contrary. A very nice and cheerful ambiance, smiling ride managers; and the most important, the trail was exceptional, a perfect footing where one could hardly encounter rocks. But the course was technical with many ups and downs and turns; in between many opportunities to canter on a perfect going. So congratulations to the organizers, Valy and Daniel Schmartz.
On the 120km, Tarek Taher from Saudi Arabia made his comeback, riding a young horses trained by JF Frances. Second place for the trainer, Frances and third place for the French rider Nicole Doignon. The day after, the same Frances/Arnold Stables won also the trophy, but this time with Sabrina Arnold onboard.
résultats   here

Great Britain: Endurance victory for Dace

Viewfrompublishing.co.uk - Full Article

30 June 2011

AFTER five years of riding Endurance Woodroffe School sixth form pupil Dace Saunders, part of the British U21 squad, competed in her first international ride at Nottingham recently.

Endurance is not a widely known sport in Great Britain, it involves riding distances up to 160km in a day with intermittent vet gates to ensure the horse is fit and ready to continue.

However next year the Endurance World Championships are being held in Great Britain in conjunction with the Olympics which it is hoped will raise awareness of this demanding sport.

Competing on Ballota (Lottie) a pure bred Arabian, Dace explained: “I had entered the 90km FEI class and had spent the previous months training Lottie, this training seemed to pay off as before the first vet gat we had already acquired a lead of 15 minutes. The ride ended in success with a win, and an immense feeling of pride in Lottie”.

“This success gave me confidence for the second ride of the year at Euston Park near Thetford.

“This ride is notably one of the most prestigious in Europe, the highlight being the presence of The Royal Family of the United Arab Emirates competing in the event.

The 80km ride at Euston Park also included the British Young Rider Championships in which riders under 21 compete in to claim the title for the year.

“I have to say this ride was the most nerve racking and exciting I have ever done in my years of doing endurance..."

Read more here:
http://www.viewfrompublishing.co.uk/news_view/11726/5/1/racing-endurance-victory-for-dace

Spain: Shortlist for the European Championship 2011 Absolute Raid

Ecuestreonline.com - Full Article

Posted June 29, 2011 by admin

Ten riders and eleven horses listed in the shortlist for the European Championship Absolute Raid 2011, to be held next September 10 in Florac (France). This provisional list are eight of the top ten in Spain Absolute Championship this year, including the three medalists.

Rounding out the relationship María Alvarez and Otto Velez. Reigning World and European champion is the only pre-selected appears with two horses, while the frame of reference Rider Stud El Palancar is second in the national rankings, failing to be counted points that joined in the Championship of Spain.

The shortlist for Quico Yebra, communicated by the FEI on the last day of June, is as follows:

* María Álvarez Pontón / “Nobby”-“Elvis Hab”
* José Luis Ruiz Hidalgo / “Al Gharbe”
* Anna Mª Yebra Altimiras / “Calzadilla”
* Oriol Casals Fores / “Zarha de Vilaformiu”
* Iván Autet Casas / “Faref Bugati”
* Francesc Xavier Casellas Calm / “Arizona de Lafon”
* Otto Vélez Castrillón / “Pal Partenon”
* Marta Pujadas Sala / “Urra da Figuereda”
* Laia Muixi Crusellas / “Flyng Tornade”
* Rut Comas Molist / “Balkany”