Bahrain: Hamdan wins Bahrain World Military Endurance ride

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Dubai Crown Prince rides to victory in Bahrain

WAM Published: December 15, 2012

Manama: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, won the first ever CISM World Military Endurance Championship (WMEC) held at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir on Saturday.

Held under the patronage of Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa, the 120km ride was contested by more than 100 riders from 19 countries, including top stars from the host country, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Italy, Brazil, Estonia, Ecuador, Morocco, Palestine and Uruguay.

The ride was attended by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Shaikh Hamdan received the gold medal from Colonel Alexandre Morisod, representative of the International Military Sports Council (IMSC), who congratulated him on the achievement.

Shaikh Mohammad and King Hamad, as well as Princes and Shaikhs, congratulated Shaikh Hamdan on his victory.

Shaikh Mohammad was also honoured and decorated with the sash of the International Military Sports Council, the highest badge of honour granted to world leaders who support military sports, especially endurance races, and who have had achievements in this field.

The ride commenced at 7am and also marked the celebrations of Bahrain’s National Day and King Hamad’s accession to the throne.

Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa led the Bahrain team, which also included Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Shaikh Salman bin Saqer Al Khalifa, Abdulrahman Al Zayed, Abdulrahman Saad and Yaqoub Al Hammadi.

It was contested over five stages, with the first and second loops covering 30kms, the third 25 kms, the fourth 20kms and the fifth 15 kms.

The event was organised by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef), in co-operation with Military Sports Federation, and was supervised by the International Military Sports Council (CISM).

(with Staff Inputs)

Argentina: HorseRun 2012

After months of work building an idea, after years of playing sports with horses, we have formed a team to meet the needs of riders and owners on sports, nutrition and health for sport horses and riders.

Our premise is for all our ideas concerning HORSERUN, the "responsible ownership," to sensitize owners and riders on the physical abilities of each animal and thus adapt the training of both to achieve a healthier more athletic ability.

The aim is to meet the demands through information on topics of interest related to sports, health and nutrition of horses and riders

HorseRun 2012 will take place at Lagarda, Cazón Argentina on 13-15 December. . Distances will be 40, 60, 80- 120, and 160 km.

For more information, see
http://www.horserun.com.ar/

Great Britain: Young rider cleans up at endurance awards

Horseandcountry.tv - Full Article

Endurance GB celebrated what has been a great year for the sport, at an awards ceremony last week (6 December) at Daventry Court Hotel in Northampton.

Star of the evening
The highlight of the 2012 season was the bronze medal won by the British Young Rider Team at the European Young Rider Championships in Mont le Soie, Belgium. This is the first medal won by a British endurance team at any level since 2000.

All of the team were in attendance, however, the star of the evening was Abigail Chisholm, from Devon, who was announced as both the Supreme National Endurance GB Champion and the Young Rider National Champion.

Abigail rode her mother’s horse, Grey Medlar, to take the Supreme title, which is awarded to the pair with the most points in all types of rides over the endurance season.

Oldie, but goodie

The 21-year-old gelding also won the title of Best Purebred Arab, despite his mature years. And he is showing no signs of slowing down. Between 1998 and 2012 Medlar has covered an impressive 7,500km in 98 endurance rides, including the gruelling Golden Horseshoe on Exmoor and the equally tough Red Dragon in Wales...

Read more here:
http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2012/12/14/young-rider-cleans-endurance-awards

Bahrain: Riders gear up for tough race

Gulf-daily-news.com - Full Article

December 12, 2012

RIDERS lined up for the First World Military Endurance Horseride Championship, set to take place in Bahrain over the weekend, have stepped up the pace yesterday for the upcoming race, scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Representatives of 19 teams taking part were present at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir, where some riders conducted their first training session.

Teams in the fray are the UK, Italy, Spain, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco and Bahrain.

Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) is organising this first-of-its-kind global gathering in co-operation with the International Military Sports Council (CISM).

Yesterday's training was witnessed by members of the Organizing Committee, being headed by Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, as well as the International Military Sports Council and teams delegations' officials.

The organising committee, meanwhile, has finalised its preparations with only three days remaining for the start of this 120km ride.

Rehearsals for the event, scheduled for tomorrow, continued yesterday at the village under the supervision of Royal Endurance Team manager Dr Khalid Ahmed Hassan. The final rehearsal to round off the preparations will take place today.

The media guests invited to attend and cover the event for their respective publications, will start arriving today. The championship has received significant attention from sports media worldwide.

More than 15 media representatives are coming to Bahrain for this purpose, including Italy's Luca Giannangeli, Eena Vanni and Giorgio Biffi, German photographer Barbara Miller, Brigitta Ernst of Germany's Dillingen, Alessandra Durazzano of Italy, Elise Wilson of Gulf News and Germany's Heidi Bernsdorff, photographer Julian Wagner.

Regional media representatives include Jordan's Munem Fakhoury, UAE's Baha Eldin Atta, Essam Al Sayed of UAE's Al Ittihad, Khaleej Times' Hisham Bader, besides Mohammed Khalifa and Mohammed Omar of Al Adiyat Magazine...

Read more here:
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=343604

Bahrain: Countdown begins

Gulf-daily-news.com - Full Article

December 09, 2012

MORE teams continued to arrive in Bahrain as the countdown began for the first-ever CISM Military World Endurance Championship, set to take place at Bahrain International Endurance Village on Saturday.

The Qatari delegation was among the first arriving in Bahrain yesterday, with other teams' representatives expected to reach the kingdom over the next two days.

Delegations started arriving last Friday with Ecuador and Brazil being among the first.

There are 19 countries from all over the world taking part, including the UK, Italy, Spain, Estonia, Azerbaijan and Uruguay.

Also in the fray are teams from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Palestine Jordan, Yemen, Morocco and hosts Bahrain.

The organising committee, headed by Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, have stepped up the pace with six days remaining for flag-off.

The committee overseeing the opening ceremony is preparing to hold the final rehearsals, being supervised by Royal Endurance Team manager Dr Khalid Ahmed Hassan.

Several performances will be staged during the opening ceremony, including shows by the Military Music Band and the Mounted Military team while a special video presentation on the originality of Arabian horses in Bahrain is also planned on the occasion.

The stables at the Endurance Village were open yesterday and some of the teams had their first training experience in Bahrain, while participants registration and accreditation were also conducted at the same venue.

On his part, Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Media and Information Centre director Tawfeeq Al Salhi had a meeting with Nabeel Bo Hazza from Bahrain Radio and TV Corporation and finalised certain issues related to the live broadcasting of the race...

Read more here:
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=343371

Spain: Santa Susanna Day 2

December 9 2012

Spain's Juan Ruiz de Villa and Rev Beethoven are the winners of the 60th 2-day Santa Susanna Raid held near Barcelona, Spain, with a total ride time of 11:05.17 for the 120 kilometers. Spain's Alex Criville was second on Inguru in 11:22.16, and Spain's Maria Dulcet riding Lucero Miki was third in 11:25.53.

Twenty riders out of 55 starters completed both days.

The Santa Susanna ride is reportedly the oldest endurance ride in Europe, and one of the very few multi-day rides. It's a challenging ride with trails in the area of the Montseny mountains.

Spain: Santa Susanna Day 1

December 8 2012

Juan Ruiz de Villa riding Rev Beethoven won day 1 of the 60th annual Santa Susanna 2-day 200 km raid near Barcelona, Spain. They completed the 100 km by 18 minutes over Alex Criville and Inguru. Maria Dulcet and Lucero Miki finished in third place.

Day 2 takes place today.