FEI Horses Must Be Microchipped

KER.equinews.com

By Kentucky Equine Research Staff · November 7, 2012

The FEI General Assembly resulted in a change in veterinary regulations such that all horses to be newly registered with the FEI must be microchipped. The new regulation will go into effect on January 1, 2013. The microchip must be compatible with ISO 11784 and ISO 11785, and all microchip information must be entered in the horse's passport and reported to the USEF.

Microchip numbers consist of 15 digits of which the first three identify the manufacturer or country code and the remaining numbers are unique to each horse. A microchip carries the identifier that will be associated with a specific horse from the date of implant until the animal's death.

Owners should check with a veterinarian to schedule microchipping for their horses. The USEF recommends that horses be scanned for the presence of a microchip before a new chip is implanted, especially in the case of horses that have had more than one owner.

For questions regarding the new regulation, e-mail kball@usef.org.

UAE: Al Merri wins opening ride of endurance season

Gulfnews.com

Finishes ahead of Al Owais and Al Fares in 120km event in Dubai
Staff Report
Published: November 15, 2012

Dubai: Abdullah Ganem Al Merri survived testing conditions to win the His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Cup, the opening ride of the 2012-2013 UAE Endurance season at Dubai International Endurance City on Thursday.

The 160km three-star horseride was attended by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Also present was Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, a number of Shaikhs and horse owners.

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, was among the 200 participants before he pulled out in the second of four loops.

Riding the Nad Al Sheba Stables-owned Arabian Amooh, Al Merri won in a time of 4hrs 17min 18sec.

Ganem Saeed Salem Al Owais was second in 4:17.15 seconds, while Mohammad Saeed Mohammad Al Fares clocked 4:17.48 for third place. Ahmad Yousuf Al Beloushi was fourth and Safa Endurance Stables’ Saeed Ahmad Al Katbi fifth.

The 120km race featured four loops, the first and second being 40km each, while the third and fourth were 20km apiece.

Al Merri said he knew he had to stay consistent throughout the ride to have a chance of winning.

“I had a good horse and I knew what to expect this time and was prepared for a tight competition,” he said. “But nothing could have prepared me for the second loop, which was very tough because of the blowing sand and the heat.

“I wish to thank His Highness Shaikh Mohammad and Shaikh Hamdan for supporting me and helping me learn more and more about endurance horses. I’m very happy to win this opening ride and I hope I can continue and have a good season.”

Mohammad Al Adhab, Deputy General Manager of Dubai Equestrian Club, presented the top three riders with their prizes.

FEI General Assembly 2012

8 November 2012

The FEI General Assembly 2012 took place in Istanbul, Turkey 5-8 November in the presence of 252 delegates. One hundred and four National Federations – 80 in person and 24 by proxy – took part in the Assembly’s proceedings.

The General Assembly is the yearly meeting of the National Federations and is the supreme authority of the FEI. Elections are held at the Assembly and decisions are made with regard to issues such as changes to FEI Statutes, approvals of long-term strategies and FEI budgets. 
 
All decisions are taken by vote and each National Federation has a right to cast a vote. If for any reason a National Federation is unable to attend they may be represented by another National Federation, however one National Federation may not represent more than two other Federations at a General Assembly.

Essentially, the purpose of the General Assembly is to give the National Federations an opportunity to vote on important Equestrian issues. The Assembly will govern the overall direction, development and management of the FEI’s disciplines throughout the world for the coming year.

ENDURANCE

The FEI Rules Endurance for Endurance Events were completely reviewed in 2012 and the new 8th edition which will come into effect on 1 January 2013 for the next four years includes 14 major changes which reflect the ongoing development of the discipline. The main changes concern:

• The minimum number of vet gates introduced at lower distance events and confirmation of a minimum distance for the final phase;

• Introduction of an FEI appointed course designer for Championships;

• Field of play now identified and the notion of allowed access defined;

• Further clarification on minimum dress code;

• Novice qualification now extended to include a free speed competition and a minimum of four other events;

• Minimum rest periods for horses extended to include national events and also the number of rest days amended to allow for weekend events on either a Saturday or Sunday;

• Creation of an elite status for J/YR and senior athletes allowing such elite athletes to ‘fast track’ certain parts of Championship qualification;

• Invitations to CEIOs and Championships now reduced to a maximum of five athletes and seven horses;

• At CEIOs and Championships, results from all combinations from the same nation are available to that nation to establish the team score (best three to count - only three medals to be awarded).

• At CEI 1*, 2* and 3* events, athletes may present up to two horses at the first inspection and declare their horse of choice immediately after the horse(s) passes the inspection;

• The present voting system for lameness assessment has been extended to include metabolic assessment that can result in the removal of a horse from the competition, failing to qualify for the next phase;

• New ‘Best Condition’ rules introduced to better reflect the degree and extent of assessment of each horse.

• Changes to the number and star level of FEI officials at lower level event to assist organisers with the costs of hosting an event.

• FEI involvement when necessary regarding appointment of officials at CEIs to ensure adequate rotation and address potential conflicts of interest.

The Rules will be available on the FEI website on THIS PAGE.

A summary of the main decisions taken by the Assembly is available HERE.

France: Behind the scenes at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy

JEMFEIAlltech2014-normandie.fr

5 November 2012

« The backstage boss » is probably the best way to describe Martine Nemecek’s job. She is in fact the competition venue director; a role she has held since September 2012.
Her ambition? “That everyone talks as little as possible about the organisational side of the event. During the 15 days of competition, the focus should be on the competitors’ sporting exploits and the event’s overall atmosphere: that will mean that we have done our job properly.”

Up until now, the Normandie 2014 Organising Committee has had a top-down approach when it comes to each sector of activity; each department working on its own portfolio and with its own deadlines: layout, ticketing, sports, logistics, activities and entertainment…

With less than two years to go before the event, the time has come to switch from a “functional organisation” to a more horizontal, operational approach. “All the departments obviously depend upon each other”, explains Martine Nemecek. They are all going to be the supplier and/or client of the other e.g. the transport manager is going to get transport requests from the sports department, for the competitors and officials, and from the commercial department for our partners…My job is to check that there isn’t any pointless overlapping of resources or that nothing is overlooked. To give you another example: has the event activities manager realised that it’s up to the technology department to supply the giant screens? And that she needs to avoid ordering them directly from the suppliers ?...” The list of these so-called “cross-over areas” has been drawn up after a lot of painstaking work…or to be more accurate, thanks to careful analysis. In short, 2,500 guidelines that are constantly being changed and adapted (needs are fine-tuned, new requirements arise, othersare no longer necessary).

The venue management team of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games ™ 2014 in Normandy will also define an organisation model for the different competition venues. “We need to have homogeneous organisation and the same level of service everywhere. We’re not only talking about the competition venues themselves, but about the train stations, the support bases for the horses prior to arrival at the stables, the “village” for the grooms…” About 750 different procedures will cover all these different areas of responsibility.“Who exactly does what, and in which circumstances?”

During the event, Martine Nemecek will be at the helm of the MOC, the Main Operations Centre, masterminding the overall organisation, deciding what needs to be changed and when, as well as the best way of intervening if anything goes wrong. You could say it’s the Games’ “HQ”!

Martine Nemecek’s profile: Former operations director for the Rugby World Cup in 2007 and for the World Athletics Championships in 2003, Martine Nemecek is highly experienced when it comes to major international sporting events. She joined the Organising Committee as competition venue director in September 2012.

Horse sport gets flashy new logos

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Nov 09, 2012 in Featured, Focus

Olympic showjumping rider Peder Fredricson is the winner of a competition to design new horse sport pictograms for the FEI’s seven disciplines.

The change was instigated to celebrate the massive global growth of equestrian sport. Equestrian events in the seven disciplines governed by the FEI – Jumping, Dressage & Para-Dressage, Eventing, Driving & Para-Driving, Endurance, Reining and Vaulting – have grown by 33% since 2008, with over 3,200 events taking place on all seven continents in 2012.

The new pictograms, unveiled on Thursday at the FEI General Assembly in Turkey’s capital Istanbul, sport bright colours to embody the passion and vitality of equestrian and depict the unique relationship between human athletes and their horses.

The pictograms, which will be used by the FEI, its 133 National Federations and organisers of FEI competitions around the world, were inspired by the winning entry of an international design competition launched on the FEI’s Facebook page and website.

The competition attracted 85 submissions from 17 countries, with entries coming from equestrian enthusiasts, athletes and designers aged between 15 and 74 years old...

Read more here:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/11/09/horse-sport-gets-flashy-new-logos/

Brazil: 2012 Multidays

Arabianhorse.com.br - Full Article

Text and photos: Cidinha Franzão

The charming Multidays is a different ride from all others carried out in Brazil. It is about an itinerant ride in which the set horse / rider runs to a distance of approximately 60 km per day, totaling 180 km in three days.

Not only the riders, but all those participate in the event (organizers, veterinarians, course designer and timekeeping) staying in the same hotel. Every night there is a fantastic cocktail, so that those who competed during the day will fraternize in the night launching each other new challenges for the next day.

And every night are awarded the winners of the day. Besides, to relax, also awards which came in last place. And as is traditional, since its first edition in 1999, there is the famous and not so expected Trophy Coalheira, name of farming instrument used in the animals to pull the plow.

It receives the trophy Coalheira that one person who during the day made ​​a faux pas. Therefore, everyone is watching everyone to see who commits it. During the awards are announced the names of people and what they did and the audience decides who receives it. In the final award, is named the winner of Coalheira of the year.

The idea that everybody hosts at the same hotel and share the cocktails and dinners is to create a very special atmosphere of understanding between everyone, without, however, leaving the competitive side...

Read more here:
http://www.arabianhorse.com.br/magazine/agosto2012/en/54.html

Bahrain: Top riders for military endurance

Gulf-daily-news.com

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

NINETEEN countries have submitted their entries for the First World Military Endurance Championship (WMEC), to be organised in Bahrain on December 15.

Riders will come from Azerbaijan, Kuwait, the UAE, Estonia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Palestine, Oman, Italy, Brazil, Yemen, Jordan, Ireland, Uruguay, Albania, Ecuador, UK and hosts Bahrain.

The organising committee, headed by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has stepped up preparations for the day-long event.

Delegations are scheduled to arrive in Bahrain on December 10, five days before the start of the championship.

Bahrain is organising the upcoming event in co-operation with the International Military Council.

The Bahrain event will coincide with the festivities marking His Majesty King Hamad's Accession Day and Bahrain National Day.

Latest developments and arrangements to prepare for the championship were discussed yesterday during a committee meeting, chaired by Shaikh Khalid.

Shaikh Khalid stressed the strategic significance of the first military championship, which gives it a special dimension with several prominent riders from all around the world taking part.

Shaikh Khalid and other members of the committee also discussed a number of points on their agenda, which included suggestions by the ceremonies committee to select the most suitable venue for the opening ceremony.

Shaikh Khalifa received work plans from committee officials Mohammed Al Jowder, Abdulhakim Al Shino, Ebrahim Al Binali Ahmed Hamada, Mishari Al Hanafi, Dr Khalid Ahmed and Tawfeeq Al Salehi.