Czech Republic: European Championship - Most

Endurance-belgium.com - Article and photos

by Leonard Liesens

14 September 2013

Sensationalistic story? We all know how much it costs to set-up an endurance championship and how difficult it is to get regular sponsoring. Criticizing the Most championship comes to criticize the organizer. But did he not declare – of course he was pushed by repeated questions from the Belgian Chef d’Equipe- “They pay, so they have the right to receive a special treatment”. Let’s just figure a Grand Prix of showjumping where the obstacles would be lowered by humhm 10cm when the son of the Prince of Wales enters the show ring. Exaggerated… Think about!

Let’s start with the good points, because there were a lot at this championship. The venue of the Most racetrack is superb. A velvet grass which didn’t –surprisingly- killed the mental of the horses as they had to cover one and a half lap of the racetrack at the start of every loop.
 
Then the vetgate. Perfect. The Veterinarian Committee played its role to perfection. Sympathetic and correct in their judgment.

 
The grooming area was also of a good level, but only after that the stewards changed the setting by designing corridors to access to the vet-in. Otherwise that would have been a mess. It’s a pity there were not enough stewards for policing and refraining the stables from the Gulf from doing wrong things.

 
The opening ceremony was fine, except that hundreds of people had to wait one hour, guess why, because Mr the Sheikh of Bahrain was late trying his horse. :?ù#@’ »

 
The trail was not bad. Of course there were some hazardous places but tell me a place where there aren’t any. Endurance is and should remain an equestrian discipline in open areas with all kind of natural hazards. The rider has always the responsibility to read the trail and slow down if it’s necessary. What was unfortunate was to repeat two times two loops (the yellow of 30km and the green of 19km). Many would love getting the 36km loop (the most technical) as first and second. Anyway… It was the same –at least something- for everybody.

 
The Chefs d’équipe meetings. Ouch… Did they prepare something or was it just improvisation? There should be computer shops in Most to get a beamer. That would have been soooo easy. Good Lord.

 
The technical delegate… Come on… Of course, she tried her best taking into account the pressure from the main sponsor. During the litany of speaking all names of riders and horses – go figure, pronouncing Arabian names and Arabian horses names- I thought about the 11th of November celebration. Circulate a printed list, please !

 
What about the ‘verbal warning’ awarded to Pierre Arnould. What else did he do more than just asking for the complete and strict enforcement of the FEI regulation : equality for all teams, a final list of definite entries, same parking for every team, same grooming space for everyone, alphabetic order of bibs numbers. Indeed the guy has a strong voice and english is not his native language. And if you don’t get a satisfactorily answer, you have to ask again. On top of that, why repeating a second time this global warning ? To get the community of European chefs d’equipe to applause, maybe. Are we heading to a Group of Toulouse Revival ?

 
Crewing points. Aie… Good that the first point of each loop was cancelled – actually the organizer promised to staff this point with stewards, but we didn’t see anything. On other points, it was a mess –I don’t find a stronger word. We saw some crew members almost fighting. We know it’s not easy but with the sponsoring money, developments could have been possible.
 
The award ceremony. Can’t say anything. Nobody was informed about which riders (podium, top ten, all) would be awarded. So we went home. Too bad to see a championship deserted before its happy end. Disappointed people didn’t want seeing again the celebration of the open champions. Are we becoming nationalists?


The grooming area. Burlesque. The number and size of water tanks has to be limited. Also the number of grooms. Tarbes (WEC YR) and Sartilly (WEG preride) gave the good example. Why not following? Why not just showing a yellow card at transgression of the rules? It was even decided that the tents should be open an the four sides, to allow stewards to control what's going on inside. Oh yeah, almost forgetting the mess of water bottles and caps all the way along the trail. Europeans grooms waiting for their riders were so pissed that they collected the bottles at every crew point. They should have been paid for the service! You remember the old promotion of endurance : symbiosis between horse and rider, ecological way to discover a region, to complete is to win, fair-play among the sport community... Poor sport.

 
Back to the sport… Jaume Punti is a big champion. Congrats. He was riding an exceptional horse. He is a great rider and trainer. Despite the stress of the competition and the tension toward the UAE people (his employer), Jaume is the guy who salutes people, asks about you, and gives news about his family. Bravo.

 
France did a good job, ‘as usual’ would we say. They did nevertheless jockey for position like champions, all the time in the second group whom size reduced loop after loop. What would have been the outcome if JF Francès had believed a little bit more in his chances to catch up with Punti ? He had almost closed the 8min gap. And at the finish it was obvious that Punti’s horse was cantering in slow motion.
 
Belgium. Our troops first crossed the Berezina then went home (pfft… how the hell translating ‘morne plaine’ referring to Waterloo and getting understood). Pierre Arnould easily admits that his riders tried to follow the front runners, but the horses didn’t cope with this high pace. It’s difficult to gain 2 km/h on his personal record.
 
Spain won team silver thanks to the well-controlled pace chosen by the four other riders, with the exception of Jaume Punti of course. And what to say about Italy who cruised grouped all the way ? Of course they took profit of the others breaking down. That’s part of the game. Bravissimo.

Will the 2018 World Equestrian Games jump back into Kentucky?

Lanereport.com - Full Article

FEI to reopen bidding process for 2018 Games

September 23 2013
By Mark Green

Eight countries initially indicated an interest in bidding for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, according to recent world news reports. The countries indicating interest were Canada, Morocco, Austria, the U.S.A., Hungary, Australia, Russia and Sweden.

Australian, Swedish and Russian applications were withdrawn prior to the start of the official bid process, leaving five bidders for the 2018 games – Wellington, Fla., USA; Rabat, Morocco; Bromont, Quebec, Canada; Budapest, Hungary; and Vienna, Austria.

For various reasons, all bidders but Bromont, Quebec, elected to withdraw from the final bidding process.

In July, the FEI rejected the Bromont bid and announced it would reopen the bidding process because Bromont did not provide the necessary financial guarantees on or before the day it was due to be awarded the bid for the 2018 World Games...

Read more here:
http://www.lanereport.com/24447/2013/09/will-the-2018-world-equestrian-games-jump-back-into-kentucky/?goback=%2Egde_1115827_member_275932626#%21

Great Britain: Championship riders go the distance in Cheviot Hills

Thesouthernreporter.co.uk - Full Article

ONCE the preserve of the Border Reivers, the rolling Cheviot Hills rang to the noise of hooves again earlier this month.

But this time with peaceful intent. The annual championships of the Scottish Endurance Riding Club, based at Kelso Racecourse and sponsored by Simple System horse feeds, took riders south-east of the town into the Cheviots for an exhilarating 60km circuit in fine autumn weather.

More than 200 entries were taken for the weekend, which began gently on Friday afternoon with a pleasure ride heading north-west through stubble fields. The real action started on Saturday morning, as riders set off on the flagship class – the two-day 160km ride – and 80km race route...

Read more here:
http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/sport/other-sports/championship-riders-go-the-distance-in-cheviot-hills-1-3099288

Princess Haya of Jordan faces fight to continue as FEI president due to Sheikh Mohammed 'conflict of interest'

By Pippa Cuckson
18 Sep 2013

International Olympic Committee member Princess Haya was elected to the FEI in 2006 on a clean sport mandate, and stood herself down from the disciplinary processes in 2009 while the ruler of Dubai himself was given a six-month endurance ban in connection with a positive steroids test.

But FEI attempts to reduce overall doping offences in endurance — more than 20 positive tests since 2005 involved horses trained in Maktoum family-owned stables — are undermined by “conflict of interest in the highest appointment of the FEI”, says Charles Trolliet, president of the Swiss equestrian federation.

The Swiss and Dutch will now oppose changes in FEI statutes that would allow Princess Haya to stand again when her second term ends in 2014.

This comes after months of lobbying by the Swiss, Dutch, French and Belgians for action over doping and horse injury in Middle East endurance.

Concerns about endurance — in which Sheikh Mohammed is world champion — pre-date the horseracing doping scandal at his Moulton Paddocks racing stables in Newmarket...

Read more here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/10318497/Princess-Haya-of-Jordan-faces-fight-to-continue-as-FEI-president-due-to-Sheikh-Mohammed-conflict-of-interest.html

France WEG 2014: Test Event Feedback

Alltechfeiweg2014-normandy.com

9/16/2013

Numerous people took part in the three test events in August 2013: the riders and the pacesetters, of course, but also the Normandy 2014 Organising Committee, the discipline managers, the French Equestrian Federation (FFE), the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), journalists, volunteers, etc. We take a look at what they thought of these events.

Vittoria Panizzon, winner of the Eventing on Merlots Magic:

I’m really delighted. I had never been to Le Pin National Stud before and I really liked the setting as well as the course. I’m sure that the Games will be watched by many people next year. And if we can benefit from the same support and the same atmosphere as last year at the London Olympics, it will be fantastic.

Chester Weber, winner of the Driving:

I was really impressed by the competition venue. There is nothing better than bringing sport to the people, so I’m really happy that the event took place here, in the centre of Caen. I was very impressed with the surface too. I still think that there are a few details to sort out with regard to the surface for the dressage and the cones, but I liked the sand surface a lot. You can tell that the organisers have worked really hard on it.

Jean-Marc Varillon, manager of the Eventing discipline:

The review is positive on the whole: the cross-country course is excellent, the new timing technology works well, the convoy that took the horses from Le Pin National Stud to Caen went smoothly, the members of the Organising Committee and the volunteers worked well together... There are still a lot of things to do in preparation for 2014, but we’re confident.

Nicolas Wahlen, manager of the Endurance discipline:

The hardest thing is done: the route has been approved by the majority of the riders. Nevertheless, the 4 loops ridden in 2013, plus the new loop for 2014, still need to be improved so that the surface is better quality. The race went smoothly thanks to the new timing and pulse-taking technology, as well as the competent and well-respected judges. I would like to thank the competitors, who all got on board with the idea of a more eco-friendly race...

Read more here:
http://www.alltechfeiweg2014-normandy.com/en/news/test-event-feedback--a228.html

German completes epic 25,000km ride in Alaska

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Sep 18, 2013

German adventurer Guenter Wamser has completed his epic 20-year ride from Patagonia to central Alaska, ending one of the greatest horseback journeys in human history.

“A few days ago we arrived at our final destination in Alaska,” Wamser told Horsetalk by email.

“This is the end of my long horseback ride from Argentina to Alaska.

“We found a big pasture for the horses, so they got a few days to relax before we travel south to their wintering pasture at a friend’s place in Canada...”

Read more here:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/09/18/german-completes-epic-ride-alaska/#axzz2fFhMbF8F

France wins team gold at European Endurance Champs

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Sep 18, 2013

France has again won team gold at the FEI Open European Endurance Championships, but Jaume Punti Dachs kept the individual title in Spanish hands when he won on Quran El Ulm.

The UAE’s Sheikh Rashid Dalmook al Maktoum won the Open European Individual gold with Yamamah...

Read more here:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/09/18/france-team-gold-european-endurance-champs/#axzz2fFhMbF8F