FEI, OIE Unite to Improve High Performance Horse Transport

Thehorse.com - Full Article

by: Christa Lesté-Lasserre
May 31 2012, Article # 20097

In a major step towards worldwide policy change, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) has announced its solidarity with the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) in seeking to improve the international movement of high-level performance horses.

Speaking at the opening of the OIE's annual assembly in Paris last week (May 20-25), director general Bernard Vallat, DVM, said his organization recognized "important constraints to the movement of horses" that have come to their attention as international equestrian sport--which has grown 34% over the past three years--continues to expand.

"It is clear that there is a need to define the criteria for healthy, high performance horses as a subpopulation, which reflects the low level of disease risk involved in their movement," Vallat said.

At the 2012 FEI Sports Forum, which took place in early May in Lausanne, Switzerland, the international movement of high performance horses was a hot topic of discussion. It was concluded that having globally standardized testing and quarantine requirements--which currently is not the case--for this particular group of horses, which by necessity must be in impeccable health, would facilitate easier and more streamline international movement...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=20097

Australia: Endurance race with a midnight start

ABC.net.au - Radio interview

By Tony BriscoeFriday, 8 June 2012

Horse riders from across Australia will gather at midnight tonight at St Helens on the east coast of Tasmania for an endurance race with a difference.

The 160 kilometre Tom Quilty Gold Cup will be held over a course which involves farmland and forestry.

The endurance ride was last held in Tasmania at Sheffield in 2005, and attracts riders from the city as well as country areas.

Organiser Sarah Adams says the race is very strictly controlled and animal welfare is at the forefront of the race.

Radio Interview with Sarah Adams:
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rural/tas/countryhour/201206/r955076_10228156.mp3

Australia: Just happy to be competing in Tom Quilty

Theadvocate.com.au - Full Article

8 June 2012

FOR Sheffield's Stuart King and stepdaughter Sarah Parker, this weekend's Tom Quilty Cup will certainly be a family affair. The most coveted Australian equine endurance event, the Tom Quilty Gold Cup, will be held at St Helens, starting at midnight tonight.

Horses and riders will travel 160km within a time limit of 24 hours. Teams from all over Australia have converged on the East Coast for the Cup.

For King and 15-year-old Sarah, this weekend has been a long time coming.

"I've been trying to make it to a Tom Quilty for eight years or more now, so it's great to finally get to one, especially in my home state," King said...

Read more here:
http://www.theadvocate.com.au/news/local/sport/equestrian/just-happy-to-be-competing-in-tom-quilty/2584041.aspx?src=rss

Great Britain: Lincolnshire mother and son take on 266-mile horse-riding challenge

Thisislincolnshire.co.uk - Full Article

June 7 2012

A MOTHER and son team are set to undertake a gruelling 266-mile endurance horse-riding challenge starting from Stickney this weekend.

Jane, 46, and Michael Evans, 23, are attempting the gruelling challenge on their faithful horses, Rookie and El, to raise much needed funds for the Stroke Association.

Jane said: "We chose the charity because there's a history of stroke in the family and because my job allows me to see firsthand how the money goes to help change the lives of local stroke survivors."

Starting from Stickney on Sunday, June 10, the duo will follow the Heritage Trail which will lead them through to the beautiful landscape of Yorkshire and will arrive in their home town of Durham two weeks later.

Jane said: "My son and I are both keen endurance riders and it was my best friend, who lives in Stickney, who gave me the idea to do the challenge...

Read more here:
http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Lincolnshire-mother-son-266-mile-horse-riding/story-16291327-detail/story.html

Great Britain: Man vs. Horse Marathon

http://www.green-events.co.uk/events.html?id=54

The Man v Horse Marathon began in June 1980 following a chat over a pint (or three) in the back bar of Neuadd Arms Hotel. The then Landlord, Gordon Green overheard two men discussing the relative merits of men and horses running over mountainous terrain. The enterprising Gordon, never one to miss an opportunity to promote Llanwrtyd Wells and improve business at his hotel, decided to put it to the test. And so began Green Events and its first, longest standing and now internationally acclaimed event, The Man versus Horse Marathon.

The course was changed in 1982 to provide a more even match between the man and the horse resulting year on year in very close finishes - sometimes with the horse winning by only a few seconds. It took 25 years before a man finally beat a horse, Huw Lobb won in 2hrs and 5mins beating the fastest horse by 2 minutes.

******
http://www.journeymart.com/holidays-ideas/festivals/man-horse-marathon.aspx

When: 9th June 2012
Where: Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales

Man vs. Woman. Normal.
Man vs. Man. Routine.
Man vs. Horse. Bizarre.
~~~~
Horse beats Man. Natural.
Woman beats Man. Way to go.
Man beats horse.
Man beats horse? Wow!
It takes real horsepower to beat a horse at his own game. Many a runner has put his best foot forward but only one man has taken a horse head on and come out ahead. And not just by a nose.
Like all good stories, this one too began in a pub. With a few pints inside him, one man claimed men were equal to horses any given day. Several pints later, it was decided to publicly test his claim and the first race took place in June 1980.
From that year forth, the action takes place in Llanwrtyd Wells, host town for the unique horse vs. man marathon. This year will be the 32nd time when over 300 runners test their legs and lungs against that of 20 horses in a gruelling 22-mile cross country race in the Welsh mountains.
The odds favour the horses despite a 15-minute head start for humans - up for grabs is a substantial booty to the runner who beats a horse to the finishing line. Any takers?

For more information on Wales Tourism | Wales Holiday Calendar

Italy: A New Kind of Endurance

27 May 2012

Italian endurance rider Stefano Chidichimo created a special opportunity for new endurance riders that normally wouldn't have a chance of experiencing the sport. Handicapped riders participated in the first promotional event of endurance and equestrian rehabilitation: a 3 km simulated endurance ride in the Tuscan countryside of Maremma at the Pietriccio Rosso Equestrian Center owned by the Aldi Family.

Stefano reports: [translated] "For the first time, in a special project I made, share and built in only one month with Italian Federation, a ride for people of many different abilities, was in endurance, up and down easily on the hills, like a real champions.

Junior and Senior handicapped riders, blind, with Downs syndrome, and other mental disabilities, came from Tuscany, Sardinia and Liguria, and completed the ride at 5-8 km/h average, perfect at vet gate in 20 min. under 64 beats per minute… Incredible! All participated in a prize-giving ceremony with their high level technicians: Alessandra Pes di San Vittorio, Francesca Gentile and Maria Ignazia Marras and their Staff.

There were no limits for riders Ameri Andrea, Battistini Alessio, Castaldi Gaia, Del Rio Giovanni, Iorizzi Giulia, Marano Vincenzo, Mura Paolo, Ugolini Stefano, Ulivastri Fabio ... Really enjoyed in harmonic concentration and natural free aptitude for a new therapeutic opportunity!"

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2014 Normandy: The Team Above All Else!

JEMFEIAlltech2014-normandie.fr

5/30/2012

The Organising Committee took a major step forward at the beginning of April by appointing the team in charge of the eight official disciplines. Getting all these experts together and making them an integral part of the Organising Committee was perhaps the most significant part of this development. In short, being able to mould eight individuals into a team!
To help things along, a working seminar was organised at Le Pin National Stud in the Orne area of Normandy – the venue playing host to the Cross Country of the Eventing competition on 30 August 2014. The eight discipline managers were of course present, along with their counterparts from the Fédération Equestre Internationale, who were, by the way, impressed by the sumptuous setting of the Le Pin Stud. “It’s important to get the FEI involved in our work from here on”, explained sports director, Laurent Cellier, just after the seminar.

"In my view, the most positive thing to come out of this experience is the creation of a collective movement that goes above and beyond individual expertise. We have always explained that we would encourage team spirit and with this new group we have everything we need to create a truly great event in 2014.”

This is a feeling shared by the discipline managers, and most notably by Michèle Pfender, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy’s “Mrs Reining”: “I was delighted to meet the team and find out about all the work that had been done beforehand by the members of the Organising Committee, who are young, competent and enthusiastic. Reining is a relatively unknown discipline and so I was touched by the openness and curiosity that the other discipline managers showed.”

Michèle Pfender also appreciates the spirit of the World Equestrian Games, “particularly the respect shown towards the horse which is a fundamental principle, and then the idea that the event won’t just be a one-off affair but will leave a lasting legacy. That’s really important for reining.”

Other similar seminars will probably take place every six months or so. “The next one will be in Caen in October, so that we can get to go to other competition sites after our stay in Le Pin, explains Laurent Cellier. We are already going over the technical issues to be raised with the FEI. And by then, our discussions will have become more and more regular.”