Local horse a Pan Am Games hero

Wins silver medal against world-class competitors; ends U.S. slump
By TINA REED, Staff Writer
Published 11/16/11
HometownAnnapolis.com - Read Full Story

photo by Paul W. Gillespie — The Capital West River’s John Crandell III and his horse Heraldic won the silver medal in a nearly 75-mile endurance race this fall at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Man and horse were honored by the Maryland Department of Agriculture Tuesday.
Call it the marathon of horse racing.

Anne Arundel County Arabian gelding Heraldic and his trainer and rider John Crandell III were honored yesterday by state officials after winning an individual and a team silver medal in a nearly 75-mile endurance race at the Pan Am Games in Chile last month.

The Pan Am Games are one of the largest international sporting events outside the Olympics.

In 2006, Heraldic became the only horse to ever win the Triple Crown of endurance riding. Standing just more than 15 hands tall, the bay has a competitive personality, Crandell said.

He's aloof. Focused.

"He doesn't particularly care about being anyone's pet," Crandell said. "He wants to get down to business."

Back in 2008, Heraldic injured his stifle - the equivalent of the human knee - to the point that trainers weren't sure he'd even live, let alone compete again.

"It was a huge retraining," he said. "But we know he's a one-in-a-million superathlete. I've been around thousands of horses and never had one this athletically consistent."

The Crandell family is known for its marine construction firm, E.A. and J.O. Crandell Inc. in Annapolis, and operates the Long Run Farms Stable in West River. John Crandell Jr. grew up riding horses, but it wasn't until the 1970s that the family began to seriously breed and train them, his son said.

In a statement, Erin Pittman, vice chairwoman of the Maryland Horse Industry Board, called Heraldic "a world-class athlete who has (overcome) injuries that would have retired most other horse."

The Maryland Horse Industry Board presented its "Touch of Class" Award to Crandell and the Triple Crown Arabian. Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a proclamation declaring yesterday "Heraldic and Crandell Family Day."

Crandell said the endurance races, which cover from 50 to 100 miles, are entirely different than much shorter events. The Pan Am Games race was across rough, mountainous terrain, he said.

"Even though it's a race, it's not the least bit reckless," he said. Since only the rider knows the course and how long the course is, he has to pace himself and his mount appropriately.

Endurance racing of horses really allows humans to learn better ways to manage horses and keep them healthy, Crandell said. "It's a bonus for me that it happens to be fun and exciting as well," he said.

Crandell said he'd paced Heraldic to hang back with other horses on the U.S. team. But in the final 7 miles, the horse and rider picked up the pace against a team from Uruguay.

The teams were neck and neck.

With only a mile to go, Heraldic tripped while running about 35 miles per hour. "All of a sudden, there's no horse beneath me," Crandell said. "I landed on my feet running."

It knocked the wind out of the horse and skinned Crandell's knee. But both horse and rider were otherwise uninjured, Crandell said. Crandell climbed back on Heraldic's back and the two finished the race.

Coming in just about four minutes behind the first-place finisher, they took the silver medal. That's an incredibly close finish for a 75-mile race, Crandell said.

The U.S. team took the silver medal as well. Heraldic will compete next for the U.S. team in the World Endurance Championship in England in 2012, which will be held simultaneously with the Olympics.

"It's a tremendously big deal. The United States is in a decade-long slump after being at the top for years," Crandell said. "It was exciting to see America back in the game and in a big way."

Canada: Bromont bids to host 2018 World Equestrian Games

Sherbrookerecord.com

November 16, 2011
By
Jesse Feith

Bromont has achieved the first step in a long process as their bid to host the 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG) has officially been approved. Administered by the International Equestrianism Federation (IEF), the WEG are the major international championships for equestrianism that could bring a great amount of tourism to the small Quebec town.

Similar to the Olympics, they are held every four years, on alternate years than the Summer Olympic Games, and are considered a major tourism attraction for whichever town or city gets to hold them as they bring in fans from all over the world.
The event began in 1990 in Stockholm, Sweden as a way to bring together all ten of the individual disciplines that held separate championships at different times, in different locations around the world while all being governed by the IEF.
With the WEG system in place, all of these events now occur at one place and time, similar to the Olympics, and the riders and horses must go through a rigorous selection process to partake in the games as each country sends their best teams that have distinguished themselves the most through competitions during the time between each WEG.

Since 1990, the WEG has gradually expanded the number of competitions and disciplines that are a part of the event and as of 2010, eight disciplines are now showcased: combined driving, dressage, endurance riding, eventing, para-equestrianism, reining, show jumping, and vaulting, with 57 countries being represented by 800 people and their horses.

Bromont will have a lot of work to do over the next few years if they are to host the event.

Horse honored for winning the triple crown you probably have never heard of

ABC News - Go here for Video and article, Heraldic and John Crandel

For many endurance athletes, the marathon or the Ironman in Hawaii rank as the pinnacle achievement; the ultimate sacrifice and accomplishment in endurance.

Now, imagine running four marathons (104.8 miles) or running nearly the entire length of an Ironman. That is exactly what one horse has done, several in one day times, to claim the top prizes in horse endurance races around the world.

Heraldic and his rider John Crandell are pretty friends since they spend 10 hours or so and a hundred miles together. They do endurance racing; a marathon for man and horse over long distance. So long, in fact, the horse is checked several times during a race to make sure he can continue. And surprisingly, this isn't something foreign to a horse.

"Their niche in the world is for this," explain John Crandell. "They can cover long distances in a short amount of time to migrate for survival."

And Heraldic may be the best in the world at endurance racing. Heraldic was the only horse to win the triple crown for endurance racing in 2006.

"In the 50 years of endurance racing, no one has had the same horse win the triple crown and we did it together," says Crandell. "Nobody has ever don that."

No only does the horse have to be share, but the rider does as well. The jockey has to be in the saddle for 100 or more miles.

However, in 2008 Heraldic suffered a life threatening injury to his back leg. What could equate to a professional football player blowing his knee out. And injury like that could end any horse's chances at the U.S. Triple Crown, which features The Preakness. However, Heraldic recovered and came back strong. He and John just took the silver medal in an endurance race in China.

To imagine how far that race was, imagine climbing on board a horse in Annapolis and racing all the way to the beach in just over 6 hours.

"It's all about doing these series of marathons and getting a perfect 'A' from the veterinarian to continue," says Crandell.

John and Heraldic will lead the U.S. team in the World Endurance Championships in England next summer. The championships will be held simultaneously with the 2012 Olympics in London.

Read more: http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/anne_arundel_county_/horse-honored-for-winning-the-triple-crown-you-probably-have-never-heard-of#ixzz1dtwTk8qQ

New Zealand: Breeding to Kahuna Tiki Donated for Junior/Young Rider World Championship Fundraiser

November 8 2011

Ian and Tanya Stevenson of Pin Oaks Farm in North Canterbury, NZ, has donated a breeding to Kahuna Tiki (Juan De Shawn out of Bint Karita Ku, by Kontiki) to raise money for the Junior/Young Rider Team that will represent New Zealand competing in the Abu Dhabi World Junior Endurance Championships to be held on December 10 2011 in the UAE. For more information, contact Tanya at iantanya @ xtra.co.nz

Belgium: Junior & Young Rider Squad Announced for Championship in Abu Dhabi

Endurance-belgium.com

November 15 2011
[google translation]

A beautiful trip in perspective and a unique experience for our young riders who will represent Belgium in the World Championship endurance in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The world championships in the deserts of the Gulf are not new.

It all started in 1998 by Dubai and the senior championship. No one had previously made his endurance horse travel by plane. The six Belgian remember the terrible cold that prevailed in Belgium the day before departure to Frankfurt and stress that prevailed in the Belgian delegation.

Dubai organized a second world championship in 2005.

Then, still in 2005, the Bahrain which hosted the young riders. All this interspersed with various interests of the Belgian riders President's Cup (Abu Dhabi) or other events in Dubai.

After the last training gallop on the green axis, Peter Arnold has communicated its selection.

A great team, so the heads stay cool, can boldly defend his chances. It will have much to do in the event that, although the Committee pleaded endurance and worked-it is hoped that the specifications have been respected in the field, to make the course more technical, should run full blast.

Our representatives:

- Isabeau Anciaux et Maeva
- Elisabeth Hardy et Khersicot
- Morgane Boulanger et Luxor
- Raphael Van Cauter et Kadiloah

West River Horse and Trainer Take Silver Medal in Pan Am Games in Chile

http://edgewater.patch.com/articles/west-river-horse-and-trainer-take-silver-medal-in-pan-am-games-in-chile
By Mitchelle Stephenson

While humans and horses have worked together for a couple of thousand years, and competitions involving humans and horses have been around for several hundred years, a sport called "endurance racing" is relatively new. It is basically a single-day ride of anywhere between 50 and 100 miles.

In the U.S., the "Tevis Cup" is one of the best known endurance rides. It follows the Western States Trail and was organized in 1955 by riders on the west coast. It is the premiere event in endurance racing in the United States.

For now though, an East Coast horse stands at the top of the field. Heraldic, an Arabian horse from West River's Long Run Farms stable just took home the silver medal at the Pan Am games. The endurance race was a 75-mile trek along the craggy shore of Chile in South America.

See Patch video: The horse and his trainer, John Crandell III were honored on Tuesday with a citation from Gov. Martin O'Malley and the "Touch of Class" award from the Maryland Horse Industry Board.

Heraldic and Crandell were at the top of their game in 2006, when they won the "triple crown" of endurance racing—the Tevis Cup, the Old Dominion 100 and the AERC Championship.

Then Heraldic was injured in a non-training incident. He was sidelined for two years. During part of that time, the horse could have no weight-bearing on his hind leg because of the injury to his stifle (the joint comparable to a human knee). For some horses, it might have been a career-ending, or even life-ending injury.

This year's Pan Am games ride for Heraldic was an astonishing comeback for the 13-year-old gelding.

"This is a magnificent horse and a magnificent family that has made great achievements on the international stage," Maryland Horse Industry Board vice chair Erin Pittman said at the awards ceremony in Annapolis."Heraldic is a world-class athlete who has overcome injuries that would have retired most other horses, and the Crandells are a family that have dedicated themselves to excellence in the equine industry."

The Pan Am games were held in October, but the horse was quarantined for seven days upon returning to the U.S.

Next up for the duo are training runs in the mountains and possibly a run for the U.S. Team in the World Endurance Championship in England in 2012. This event is held simultaneous to the 2012 Olympic games.

Azerbaijan fights to protect national animal from extinction

Edition.cnn.com - Full Article

From Emily Wither, for CNN
November 15, 2011

Editor's note: All this week CNN International is bringing you in-depth coverage of the country on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Read and watch reports online and watch the half-hour show from Saturday, November 19.

(CNN) -- Tough, strong and noble; these are the sorts of qualities one would expect from a national symbol.

The fabled Karabakh horse is a rare and beautiful animal that is of great importance to Azerbaijanis.

But the country's national animal that can be found everywhere from its stories to its postage stamps is faced with extinction.

In the thickly forested foothills of Sheki, a small city 300km (187 miles) from the capital Baku, is one of world's largest and purest Karabakh herds.

Their owner, Yashar Guluzade, has been restoring the breed for over a decade in this unspoilt mountainous region.

He says that conflict and a difficult economic situation have led to their decline.

"At the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict the horses were continually transferred from one place to another and this was one of the reasons for the sharp reduction of stock as the movement of pregnant mares led to miscarriages," he explained.

Guluzade says that the places the horses were taken did not have the correct conditions and pastures to support them and it was as if the country had forgotten about them.

The government has now stepped in to try and protect the breed...

Read more and see photos here:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/10/world/asia/azerbaijan-karabakh-horse/?hpt=hp_mid