USEF Announces Outing for the 2013 FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Rider Team

USEFNetwork.com

RELEASE: April 3, 2013
AUTHOR/ADMINISTRATOR: USEF Communications Department

Lexington, KY- United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will host an Outing for the 2013 FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Rider Team April 18-20, 2013 at McCulley Farm near Jasper, Florida. Pending approval from the USEF High Performance Working Group and USEF Executive Committee, this Outing will serve as a Selection Trial for candidates interested in applying for the U.S. Team.

The Outing will consist of a preliminary examination of horses by at least 2 members of the Veterinary Panel on Thursday, April 18, followed by an 80 Kilometer competition on Friday, April 19. There will be an examination of horses at designated stages throughout the competition and a post -competition evaluation of all horses on Saturday, April 20.

Further details regarding the Outing and Selection Procedures will be published shortly here.

The 2013 FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders will take place July 27, 2013 in Tarbes, France. More information about the Championships can be found here.

Follow the 2013 U.S. Endurance Team here.

Preparations for the 2013 Championships of Spain Raid

El Raid Blog - Gabriel Gamiz

15/4/2013

From the Catalan Federation of Equestrian and on their official website, give us news about the work of the organizing committee said new championships in Spain, as well as the speed with which they take their actions.
This is the information:

The decision last week by the FEI, with the support of the FCH, to grant the organization Sant Feliu Sasserra Championship of Spain, is forcing drivers to work around the clock to carry out this competition.

Anna Yebra, head of the organizing committee is aware of the difficulty of organizing a tournament of this magnitude in just seventeen days before the start of the test but as she explains, "this situation is a challenge for all of us but we are convinced that everything will be fine. " On the tour they intend to present the riders involved, Yebra Anna believes that will be a very technical course and where you can find some steps that are part of the official tour of Sant Feliu Raid that takes place this coming weekend and is sure to be a test of contact for many pairs.

On participation, organizers hope to have the presence of between 40 and 60 pairs for each category (Absolute and Young Riders). Regarding the choice of Sant Feliu Sasserra to host the Championship of Spain, Anna Yebra greatly appreciates this fact since "will be positive for everyone, especially for all the riders participating Catalans, and to remember that almost 70% of the inscriptions of this championship are Catalans and the fact it at home will not only competitors, but also be positive also for the Catalan Federation ".

Finally, we must remember that both the President of the FEI, Javier Revuelta, as the President of the Catalan Federation of Equestrian, Emili Zegrí, have been appointed members of the Honorary Committee of the Championship of Spain of RAID. "

Greetings from Gabriel. 

Bahrain: Dominant Mirza lifts Crown Prince Cup

Gulf-daily-news.com - Full Article

April 14, 2013

JAFFER Mirza of Victory Stable won the 120km Crown Prince Cup Endurance Horse Ride Championship early yesterday morning.

More than 100 riders from all over Bahrain, in addition to entries from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, fought it out for cup glory in this challenging night ride, which marked the culmination of the 2012/13 endurance season in Bahrain.

Held at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir, the race lived up to expectations with participants showing high level of competitiveness and riding skills, as the championship was decided in the very last metres.

Riding Perspolia, Mirza completed the event with a total ride time of four hours, 51 minutes and 36 seconds with an average speed of 24-km per hour.

He was followed by Al Asayel Stable's Ahmed Hazeem (5:25:25), who came second, while Shaikh Mohammerd bin Mubarak Al Khalifa (2:26:38) of Al Zaeem Stable rounded off the podium on Adios.

Mirza, a prominent Bahraini rider, sealed his victory after ups and downs in this five-stage night ride. The race got underway with Royal Team dominating the first stage, which was over 30 kms, as Hussain Mohammed (1:10:50), Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa (1:10:55) and Raed Mahmood (1:11:03) took the top three places...

Read more here:
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=351417

Great Britain: Exmoor Endurance Ride Introduces New Para-class

Aboutmyarea.co.uk - Full Article

Author: Jennette Baxter Published: 11th April 2013

Famous in the equestrian world as the toughest and oldest Endurance event in the UK's competitive long-distance riding calendar, Exmoor's Golden Horseshoe Ride has raised eyebrows by introducing a new Para Invitation class this year.

Inspired by the London 2012 Paralympics, Endurance GB, the governing body for the sport of Endurance Riding in Great Britain, launched Para Endurance last year with a class open to riders who were already endurance members. The Golden Horseshoe has gone one step further by inviting Para-riders with no experience of Endurance to compete in the new 15 mile class.

Chairman of the Organising Committee Barbara Wigley admits some were surprised by this inclusion "The Golden Horseshoe is well-known as one of the toughest endurance events, so to introduce a novice Para-invitation class to this particular event is a challenge, but we are determined to cater to all abilities. We really want to encourage people who may not otherwise think that they could compete in this discipline..."

Read more here:
http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Somerset/Minehead/TA24/News/Local-News/245485-Exmoor-Endurance-Ride-Introduces-New-Para-class

Spain: Maria Alvarez, Ambassador FEI Solidarity

El Raid Blog - Gabriel Gamiz

April 12 2013

[google translation]

One more title for Mary, our great bichampion World and Europe.
From Equestrian Online, news of the award reflected our great rider.
This is the article:

Maria Alvarez, Ambassador FEI Solidarity

Maria Alvarez, twice champion of the World and European Raid, is today one of eight ambassadors FEI Solidarity, the development program of the International Equestrian Federation.

Inspired by the Olympic Solidarity model and founded in 2011, FEI Solidarity focuses on providing opportunities for future generations of athletes, as well as those working in equestrian communities, so they can establish their own national structures to help them develop their sports.

The aim is to encourage and develop the equestrian disciplines recognized by the FEI. Ambassadors help raise awareness of this work in response to the media and visiting equestrian development initiatives around the world.

So far, the program has supported eighteen projects, both funded and with technical and consulting services. These projects include horse assisted therapy for disabled children in South Africa or sports class for people with MS in Sardinia. Fifteen other initiatives will be supported by FEI Solidarity in 2013.

"FEI Solidarity is an exciting initiative to create a more egalitarian equestrian community and pushes us to jointly develop new and exciting projects that will evolve the sport we love to be truly universal," said the president of the FEI, HRH Princess Haya . "FEI Solidarity is changing lives," he added.

The eight ambassadors are:

Charlotte Dujardin, double Olympic gold medalist dressage. Britain.
Laurentia Tan, Paralympic medalist. Singapore.
Ingrid Klimke, Olympic gold medalist CCE. Germany.
Jessica Springsteen, Jumping rider 22 years. USA.
Maria Alvarez Ponton, first rider capable of combining the titles of the World Championships and European Raid (2010). Spain.
Tomas Eriksson, triple winner of the FEI Top Driver (Hooks). Sweden.
Lior Raz, rider competing at age 14 in Reining. Israel.
Bongani Mvumvu, turner and winner of the World Dressage Challenge Final for riders under (2003). Germany.

Source: EQUESTRIAN ONLINE

All the Jittery Horses: Racing the Mongol Derby

Outsideonline.com - Full Article

THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013

The ponies that carried Genghis Khan’s warriors are small, tough, and skittish as hell, making the prospect of riding them for 1,000 kilometers seem downright insane. American cowboy Will Grant couldn’t resist, so he entered the Mongol Derby—the longest, hardest horse race in the world—determined not just to finish but to win.

By: Will Grant

THE TOILET PAPER startled the horse. I was relieving myself, and a gust of wind had unfurled the tissue in my left hand. The red and white spotted pony lifted his head when he saw the flutter, and the rope to his bridle slipped through my fingers. He looked at me with eyes full of white and his front feet spread wide, ready to bolt. We both froze. He knew he was loose. I lunged forward in a full Pete Rose slide, bloodying both my knees and scraping my exposed parts on the rocks and the short prickly grass. Just as I grabbed the rope, he jerked it out of my hand and wheeled away, kicking a hind leg at me as he sprang off.

I collected myself and concluded my business while he quietly grazed about 20 yards from me. I spent the next half-hour trying to walk him down, cursing his name, or rather, because he didn’t have a name, his number, which was painted on his shoulder. Finally, he quit me and, with almost all my gear aboard, trotted off over the pale green horizon.

It was 6:30 p.m., and I was now on foot on the broad and treeless steppe of Outer Mongolia’s Tamir River Valley. Below me, about a mile away, I could see the white yurts of a herder camp. Within a quarter-mile of that, I could see a man watching me. Guard dogs milled around the camp, a stark reminder that, in spite of my meticulous preparation, I had failed to renew my rabies vaccination. I decided to stop and wave. It was easy to see that I was a horseman without a horse, and the man watching me hopped on his and galloped off in the direction mine had gone.

Twenty minutes later, he rode up with my pony beside him. I thanked him as best I could, with smiles and hand gestures, and he in turn made it clear that I now owed him something. I offered him my hat—a baseball cap from my hometown of Alma, Colorado—and cash, some Mongolian tugriks worth about $20. He shook his head no and pointed at my wrist.

Getting my horse back—my third mount of the day—cost me an hour and my alarm clock, a fancy Timex Ironman watch. Considering the day I’d had, it was a bargain. That morning I had crashed with the first horse I’d been issued; he had stepped into a marmot burrow at full gallop, and we did a synchronized somersault that would have been impressive to observe but hurt like hell. A few hours later, I sank my second horse to his chest in quicksand and then swam him across a furious river...

Read more here:
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/All-the-Jittery-Horses.html?page=1

Bahrain: Crown Prince Cup Endurance Horse Ride Championship will be a great success, affirms Shaikh Khalid

BNA.BH

11 April 2013

Manama, April 11 (BNA) -- Al Khalidya Stable captain Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa affirmed that the Crown Prince Cup Endurance Horse Ride Championship, the concluding race of the 2012/13 scheduled to take place tomorrow, will be a great success either in terms of competiveness and organization.

The prestigious event, set to tip off at 5pm at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, is under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister.It features two races, with the main event to be over 120km, in addition to an 80km qualifying ride that is aimed to help riders qualify for major international endurance championships.
And Shaikh Khalid is confident that tomorrow's action will be a well-contested battle between various stables from Bahrain that are keen to impose their authority while seeking the prestigious trophy.

Shaikh Khalid believes that the main race of the day will be different from the previous years as it will be held in the evening for the first time.

He noted the developed level of the Bahrain riders in recent years, which came as a result of their extensive participations in regional and international endurance competitions, and for the continued support and directives of His Majesty King Hamad to all riders and stables officials.

The Al Khalidiya Stable leader also expressed gratitude and appreciation to Prince Salman to this race, which is one of the most awaiting endurance championships in Bahrain.

As for his team preparations, Shaikh Khalid showed confidence in the abilities of Al Khalidiya Stable representatives to achieve remarkable results tomorrow, emphasizing the noticeable development of this sporting discipline in Bahrain in general.

Meanwhile, the organisers announced five stages for the 120km, with the first and second stages to be over 30 kms each. The third will be over 25km, followed by 20km for the fourth, while the fifth is over 15km.
The veterinary inspection will be taking place tomorrow between 3pm and 4.30pm, just before the start of the ride. After the race, the top three riders will be honoured at the prize-distribution ceremony, set to take place at the village.

Tomorrow's ride will be telecasted live on Bahrain TV Sports Channel. This was announced after the coordinating meting between Breef Media Committee chairman Tawfeeq Al Salehi and representatives of the channel.
Al Salehi said that race update will also be available on the federation website www.endurancebh.com. The website is being run by Hassan Al Doy and Mohammed Jassim Sharida.

EM