2012 World Endurance Championship: Definite Entries Announced

August 19 2012

Definite entries have been announced for the Longines FEI World Endurance Championships.

154 riders from 38 countries are scheduled to cross the starting line on August 25 at Euston Park, Great Britain.

Entries, and more information here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/GreatBritain/2012WEC/

Three world champions line up at Euston

Gilly Wheeler photo

PRESS RELEASE
DATE: 19th August 2012

Star-studded line-up for Longines FEI World Endurance Championships 2012
A huge international field of 153 riders from 38 countries is set to line up for next week’s Longines FEI World Endurance Championships next week (25th August 2012) at Euston Park near Newmarket, Suffolk.

A star-studded field including three former world champions is set to tackle the FEI CEI 4* 160km competition whose title sponsor is Swiss watchmaker Longines.
The 14th running of the championships will see Spain’s Maria Alvarez Ponton attempt to match the USA’s Becky Hart in winning three World titles in succession – a feat first achieved by Hart in 1988, 1990 and 1992 with the great RO Grand Sultan.
Alvarez will partner her 17-year-old superstar Nobby as the pair attempt to make history. Already unbeaten in four successive championships, with two World and two European titles to their name since 2008, unlike Hart and RO Grand Sultan whose victories came on home ground in the USA and in Europe, Alvarez and Nobby have won over widely differing terrain. Their first victory in 2008 came at the inaugural world championship run in a tropical country which was held after the hours of darkness in Terengganu, Malaysia. They went on to romp home at the Europeans at Assisi in Italy in 2009 and then again over the relatively flat track at the Alltech Kentucky World Equestrian Games in 2010 following this up with an invincible performance over the steep climbs at Florac at the 2011 European Championships. A win at Euston Park would cement the diminutive 148cm-high Nobby’s place as the greatest endurance horse of all time.

Fittingly, Becky Hart stages a return to the USA team for the first time for several years as does her compatriot Valerie Kanavy, a double world champion.
Meanwhile HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, whose son Sheikh Ahmed won the world individual title in 2002 at the age of just 16, will lead a strong UAE defence of its world team title for the third time in succession having won convincingly in both Kentucky and Terengganu.

Alvarez’s winning time of 7hr: 35min.44sec at the Alltech Kentucky World Equestrian Games in 2010 will be a target for the winning rider, while teams will be looking to emulate the UAE’s 2010 winning total ride time of 23hr53min36sec – the fastest yet scored a championship.

A total of 29 teams have entered the championship including the host nation Great Britain who were last on the medal table at the 2000 World Championships in Compiegne, France.

Championship organiser James MacEwan said: “We are looking forward to welcoming the world’s leading endurance riders and horses to Euston Park and to what should be a memorable championship in a great year for sport in Britain.”

Alongside title sponsor Longines, two Dubai industry giants, Meydan and Emaar Properties are additional supporters of the championships.

With around 1000 participants, riders, crew and officials, the championship will have a significant economic impact on the area around Euston Park and the Newmarket area during the build-up and immediately post competition.

2012 WEC: Meet Netherlands rider Carmen Romer-Theunissen

Ponypraat.nl

[google translation]

I'm Carmen Romer-Theunissen, 27 years old and married to Kay Theunissen.

I am active since 1995 in the endurance sport, a branch of equestrian sport in which 160 km in one day is made. Since 2003 I make part of the Dutch team.
game 19 times from 160 km of spreading, 5 times Dutch champion, european champion 2006 peak.

I travel for the sport around the world, am now in 23 countries and have started a total of 134 completed matches well with a total of over 12,000 well driven race kilometers. Of these 28 victories, second place 22 times and 10 times third.

My race reports are always available on www.Carmenromer.web-log.nl

Australian Endurance horses settle into their Suffolk training base ahead of World Championships

the horses are hand walked on the grounds of the Riddlesworth Equestrian Centre
WA.Equestrian.org.au

Thursday, 16 August 2012

The team of horses which have travelled to the UK for the World Endurance Championships are settling into their temporary accommodation at the Riddlesworth Equestrian Centre in Suffolk.

The four horses arrived in the UK last Thursday ahead of the World Endurance Championships which take place on 25 August.

“All four horses have recovered from the long trip and have been exercised with light rides and hand walks. They are doing good work and in the next few days they will do longer and faster sessions,” said Chef d’Equipe Peter Toft.

“The horses have great stables and paddocks and the training trails are excellent – we have a nice marked 20 kilometre loop,” he added.

“The grass here is lush and green so although the horses have enjoyed it, we are limiting the grazing,” Toft said.

Riders Penny Toft, Talea Haskow-Stewart and Norbert Radney have arrived at camp with Alexandra Toft due to arrive later this week.

Great Britain: An update from Endurance rider Chris Yeoman

NSBits.com

15 Aug 2012 05:41:02

Chris Yeoman has a very busy few weeks ahead of her. Not only has she been picked to represent GB in the World Endurance Championships at Euston Park, Thetford, with her horse LM Crazy Girl; her other horse LM Greyson has been picked as the fourth reserve horse.

This is a fantastic achievement and we are looking forward to seeing how she does! The Neue Schule advice team is travelling down to the Endurance Championships on the 25th August to support Neue Schule stockist Saddle Exchange. If you are going to the Endurance Championships and would like advice on any aspect of bitting please don’t hesitate to come and visit the stand.

We asked Chris which Neue Schule bits she finds best for her horses:

“My endurance horses have to be light and manoeuvrable at speed and controllable on a start line of anything up to 100 horses so the bit I use is a very important tool that I have and Neue Schule are excellent for a variety of horses with individual issues.

Greyson was always strong in the hand and would lean heavily on me on the first loop. I now have him in a Neue Schule Swales bit which has taken the pressure off the poll leaving him lighter in the hand and more responsive to my aids.

Crazy Girl my championship horse is from Argentina and very sensitive to her bit so she is in the Universal which gives me stopping power without a fight and she mouths the bit well giving a softer feel to my hands.”

Posted in News Sponsored Riders By Rhiannon Lister

Impressive U.S World Endurance Squad

Arabianhorseworld.com - Full Article

August 8 2012

by Genie Stewart-Spears

Six horse and rider combinations will represent the U.S. in the 2012 FEI World Endurance Championship on August 25 at Euston Park, in Great Britain. The selection process has been tedious and difficult, but the final choice by Chef d’Equipe Emmett Ross is impressive:

John Crandell III - Virginia - Heraldic (*Statistic x Mi Hearts Desire) - 14 - John Jr. and Linda Crandell

Becky Hart - California - No Repeat (*Wiking x Justonetime) - 10 - Becky Hart

Valerie Kanavy - Virginia - Reach For The Gold (Tashkent x CJ Halynova) - 9 - Larry and Valerie Kanavy

Nicki Meuten, DVM - North Carolina - Not Tonight (MC Zoulou x FF Carrera) - 10 - Don and Nicki Meuten

Heather Reynolds - California - Riverwatch (Baywatch V x Dana Cheyenne) - 8 - Reynolds and Skip Lightfoot

Jeremy Reynolds - California - A Kutt Above (Patriot Missle x Sahibrs Diamond) - 11 - Reynolds and Skip Lightfoot

The six riders have a combined mileage of 81,470 miles or 131,113 kilometers in competition (this does not include international competitions). Between five of the six riders, they have five World championship and five National championship titles, eight Western States Tevis Cup wins, along with several Old Dominion wins...

Read more here:
http://www.arabianhorseworld.com/live/breaking_news/2012/08/us-endurance-squad/

Pagosa veterinarian serves with U.S. endurance riding team

Pagosasun.com - Full Article

By Sophie Kennedy
SUN Intern
Thursday, August 16, 2012

Pagosa veterinarian Dr. Dwight Hooton of Elk Park Animal Hospital flew to the United Kingdom Wednesday, Aug. 15, where he will serve as team vet for the USA team at the Longines FEI World Endurance Championships at Euston Park, near Newmarket, Suffolk, UK, beginning today.

The main event, which takes place Saturday, Aug. 25, is a 100-mile race that must be completed within 18 hours. It is the closest competition to the Olympics in endurance horse riding. If and, as Hooton says, when, endurance riding becomes an Olympic sport, the World Endurance Championships would be the qualifying race.

Hooton, who has been practicing in Pagosa Springs for the last four years, will be responsible for the medical care of the U.S. team’s seven horses, six of which will compete among 160 horses from all seven continents.

Hooton, who is also the team’s acupuncturist, will begin daily evaluations of the team’s horses as soon as he arrives and will continue to do so up to the day of the race. Seven and one-half to eight hours later, when the top horse/rider teams begin to cross the finish line, Hooton will resume evaluations and apply recovery treatment to the horses before they return to the United States.

This year, Hooton’s role is especially important as this is the first time in 14 years that the United States team is in a position to bring home a team medal...

Read more here:
http://www.pagosasun.com/archives/2012/08August/081612/odhooton.html