India: Second horse endurance today

Saturday, 19 November 2011 11:03
Indian Sports News

Chandigarh: The 2nd All-India Horse Endurance Championship will be organised by the Punjab Horse Sports and Breeders Society (PHSBS) at Kaler Bhaini village in Patiala district on November 19.

Sumrinder Sira, president of the PHSBS, in a press release today, said the race would cover 40 km, divided into two rounds of 20 km each. The prize money had been doubled to Rs 1 lakh this year, while the second and third prizes would be of Rs 51,000 and Rs 21,000, respectively.

Sira said the average speed of the winning horses in the 40-km national endurance run was around 16 km per hour, whereas during the previous Punjab endurance meet held in April, the winner delivered a speed of 18.38 km per hour and that too by indigenous breed against high standard of performances generally attributed to other established horse breeds, especially the Army stock, which have dominated the endurance rides in the recent past.

The Tribune

South Africa: De Kock battles to have equine export ban lifted

Racingpost.com - Full Article

By Michael Clower 12:09PM 18 NOV 2011

South Africa: Trainer Mike de Kock and Racing South Africa boss Peter Gibson have enlisted the support of the South African government in a bid to have the equine export ban lifted and, in particular, to be allowed to fly horses direct to Dubai.

South African horses going to Dubai have tobe quarantined in Europe en route but outbreaks of African Horse Sickness earlier this year resulted in Brussels imposing an automatic two-year ban on horses from South Africa.

This means that de Kock and other South African trainers are unable to send their local stars for the Dubai carnival.

President Zuma raised the matter in Dubai earlier this week with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed, who is Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE.

The South African government has agreed to prioritise the problem of horse exports to the UAE and Zuma was joined on the state visit by the South African Equine Trade Council...

Read more here:
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/mike-de-kock-south-africa-de-kock-battles-to-have-export-ban-lifted/949264/international/

New Zealand: Junior pair make NZ team

Times-age.co.nz - Full Article

Gary Caffell gary.caffell@age.co.nz | Friday, November 18, 2011 16:00

Wairarapa Endurance Club provides two members of the four-strong New Zealand team for the 2011 FEI world junior endurance championships to be held at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on December 10.

Emma Mason and Tessa Duess are part of a squad which, for the first time, will take their own horses with them to compete in what is certain to be a hotly-contested event.

They will face a course which takes in a gruelling 120km in temperatures and over terrain completely foreign to them.

Duess, 21, and her mount Aspen Hills Santa Ana were selected after a very successful 2010-11 season.

They were the only combination to complete back-to-back 160km rides in both the North Island and national championships held in Karatau.

A meritorious eighth in the senior division at the North Island champs was followed by a third placing in the young rider division at the nationals.

Aspen Hills Santa Ana was bred by Tessa's mother Gabrielle Duess, who passed away last year and was a huge influence on her daughter's endurance riding career...

Read more here:
http://www.times-age.co.nz/news/junior-pair-make-nz-team/1178117/

Record interest in hosting 2018 World Equestrian Games

Insidethegames.biz - Full Article

Thursday, 17 November 2011
1

By Duncan Mackay

November 17 - A record eight countries have put themselves forward to host the 2018 World Equestrian Games, it has been announced.

Australia, Austria, Canada, Hungary, Morocco, Russia, Sweden and the United States all submitted official expressions of interest by the time the deadline set by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) expired at midnight on Tuesday (November 15).

"It also shows the value of the review that the FEI has commissioned of the bidding process for the FEI World Equestrian Games and FEI European Championships, which is aimed at raising the profile of these events and their associated revenues by creating a competitive, well structured and transparent bid process," said Ingmar de Vos, the secretary general of the FEI.

The event includes eight of the FEI's ten disciplines: combined driving, dressage, endurance riding, eventing, paraequestrianism, reining, show jumping, and vaulting.

A decision will be announced after the FEI Spring Bureau meeting in early 2013 as the third and final phase in the new bidding process that the FEI has put in place for the FEI World Equestrian Games and FEI European Championships...

Read more here:
http://www.insidethegames.biz/sports/summer/equestrian/14911-record-interest-in-hosting-2018-world-equestrian-games

Penn State student horseman headed for United Arab Emirates event

Live.psu.edu

Friday, November 11, 2011

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- During a time when most students are stressing over finals, Penn State junior Steven Hay will be heading to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

On Dec. 10, Hay will have the honor of competing in the Young Rider World Endurance Championship as part of the United States team. "I'm so excited," he said. "It's definitely nerve-wracking, but it's a big deal."

Riders, ages 14-21, were required to submit applications to compete. In choosing the team, a selection committee looked at the riders' records, their horses' records, how well and fast they've competed, and other criteria.

The 21-year-old Port Matilda native is ranked second in the country amongst those who applied for the event in the Middle East.

In addition to being a full-time student, the Environmental Resource Management major in the College of Agricultural Sciences has an impressive list of accomplishments, including two team gold medals as the 2010 and 2011 North American Champion and two individual bronze medals from the 2010 and 2011 North American Junior Young Riders Championships.

He also placed eighth out of 79 riders in the Biltmore 50-mile event in 2010, and fifth overall at the Biltmore 75-mile event in 2011.

With the competition approaching, Hay is looking for sponsors and donations to cover the expenses of the trip while making sure his horse is in tip-top shape. "I'm just working on fine tuning now, preparing for the sandy conditions of Abu Dhabi. The climate difference will be the hardest part, especially in comparison to the December weather here."

Having competed at local and national levels for years, Hay hopes to keep pushing his boundaries. "It's a cool way to step up into another level of competition," he said. "My goal is to move up to international riding."

His passion for horses started at a young age. By the age of six, Hay was riding and taking lessons. Over the next couple of years, he took part in local horse shows and events, but he became bored. When he was 12, Hay started to compete in trail riding and distance riding after hearing about it through a neighbor.

His interest in trail riding eventually led to endurance riding on courses that are 50 to 75 miles long. "It's pretty challenging, but I think it's worth it," he said. "Competing is my passion. To date, I have completed 2,850 miles of endurance riding."

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.