FEI Controversy: Equestrian bodies under attack for failing to respond quickly enough over horse welfare

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Concerns that equestrian bodies are not reacting fast enough to public outcry about horse welfare in the sport of endurance racing have heightened.

By Pippa Cuckson
9:00PM GMT 28 Oct 2013

It emerged on Monday that the International Equestrian Federation had only recently inquired about two United Arab Emirates fatalities from the summer, and that a rider twice banned for doping featured in promotional material for the World Equestrian Games.

The FEI’s slow response to the euthanasia of Eclipse and Django de Vere in July and August has raged on endurance forums for months. Both are registered as owned by the Maktoum family’s Fazaa stables and were ridden by Saeed Ahmed Jaber Al Harbi, who, though only 16, is already the world No  6-ranked rider.

But the FEI admitted to The Daily Telegraph that it approached the UAE only last week after learning of the deaths “from third parties” and needs responses before deciding how to proceed. Eclipse was eliminated for lameness at the fourth vet check of the World Young Riders 120km (75-mile) championship at Tarbes, France. Al Harbi completed the previous loop at 17.7mph . Under FEI rules, deaths after championships must be investigated. International rider Leonard Liesens, who runs the Endurance-Belgium website, said: “It is well known in the endurance community that Eclipse was euthanised within days, yet we hear nothing about an investigation”...

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/equestrianism/10410319/Equestrian-bodies-under-attack-for-failing-to-respond-quickly-enough-over-horse-welfare.html

UAE: Endurance rider banned over steroid breach

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Oct 28, 2013 in News

An endurance rider from the United Arab Emirates has received a two-year ban from the FEI for a doping infraction, adding another case to the Middle East’s sorry record of endurance drug breaches in recent years.

The case, involving Mohd Ali Al Shafar, is sure to add fuel further to the controversy around fracture rates and doping breaches centred on the Middle East...

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http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/10/28/endurance-rider-banned-steroid-breach/#axzz2j1hpLdOI

Wales: Young Eccleshall rider wins endurance event

Staffordshirenewsletter.co.uk - Full Article

Written byDave Mclean
A 16-year-old from Eccleshall has become the youngest rider to win the 100-mile Red Dargon endurance ride.

The event is Wales’ toughest challenge and attracts hundreds of riders from all over Britain for the three day festival.
Eccleshall’s Brett Corcoran completed the most challenging ride of all, the two-day Red Dragon, at an average speed of 11.31km to beat his four rivals...

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http://www.staffordshirenewsletter.co.uk/Sport/Young-Eccleshall-rider-wins-endurance-event-25102013.htm

Scotland’s endurance riding manager back for another year

Thesouthernreporter.co.uk - Full Article

by Sally Gillespie
sally.gillespie@jpress.co.uk @SReporterSally

Newtown St Boswells’ Nicky Bertham has completed her first year as Chef d’Equipe of the Scottish endurance horse riding team.

The team manager moved into the role after several years as a team selector for the sport which sees horses, monitored regularly by vets, and riders cover distances of up to 160km.

The 37-year-old said: “I’m incredibly proud of my whole team, they all came together and there was true team spirit.”

The Scots were second in the Home International earlier this year, beaten by Ireland by minutes, and fourth in the Celtic Challenge after one of the team’s high-mileage horses (now recovered) was ‘vetted’ out. The Scottish riders also won the best turned-out award.

Nicky has been asked to stay on as Chef next year when Kelso will host the Home International and Celtic Challenge, as well as the Scottish Championships...

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http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/lifestyle-leisure/outdoors/scotland-s-endurance-riding-manager-back-for-another-year-1-3154783

UAE: Endurance racing left reeling as Mohammed Ali Al Shafar is banned after latest positive doping test

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Rider is banned as prohibited steroid is found in the horse he rode to win one of the most prestigious races in the United Arab Emirates

By Pippa Cuckson
9:44AM BST 26 Oct 2013

Attempts by the United Arab Emirates to show it is combating doping in endurance racing have suffered a major setback with news that Mohammed Ali Al Shafar has been banned for two years after the horse he rode to win one of the most prestigious races in the Gulf had been given banned steroids.

Al Shafar’s horse, Orman de Cardonne, tested positive for the prohibited substance 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone hexanoate after winning the 100-mile UAE Presidents Cup in Abu Dhabi on Feb 16. It is the 34th doping case from a prominent UAE stable heard by the tribunal of the sport’s governing body, the FEI, since 2005, although a first from Al Shafar’s Al Reeh Stables in Dubai.

Earlier this week, delegates from around the world attended the annual endurance conference in Abu Dhabi, where the escalating crisis about doping and horse injury rates dominated debate. Afterwards, the German Equestrian Federation issued a statement that said endurance had fallen into “discredit, especially in the Arab world through accidents, tampering and doping”...

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/equestrianism/10406385/Endurance-racing-left-reeling-as-Mohammed-Ali-Al-Shafar-is-banned-after-latest-positive-doping-test.html

Is the sport of endurance in crisis?

Horseandcountry.tv - Full Article

By Charlotte Ricca-Smith on 23rd-Oct-2013

Pierre Arnould, the Belgian national coach and a member of the FEI endurance committee, has spoken out about his sport’s doping scandals and the rising number of deaths in horses taking part.

Shame on the sport
According to Arnould, dozens of horses died during the 2011-2012 season in the Middle East.

Further to this, a total of 33 FEI tribunal hearings concerned the doping of endurance horses from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). More than 20 of those were trained at stables owned by Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, and other members of his family. Qatar and Bahrain have also been implicated in doping.

“Everything would be idyllic but for three federations who cast shame on the sport,” Arnould said in the Telegraph. “Because of this infamous trio, endurance is now in the front pages of the world press who, truly, denounce serial scandals: cheating, doping, corruption, conflicts of interest.”

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http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2013/10/23/sport-endurance-crisis

FEI Controversy: Sport is not about driving horses to their deaths

Dailymail.co.uk - Full Article

By MARTIN SAMUEL
PUBLISHED: 17:55 EST, 22 October 2013

It is hard to nail down the official number of equine deaths in the 2011-12 endurance racing season, but unofficial estimates suggest around 80. That means there were probably more.

The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) recorded nine deaths in international events alone in the Group VII area that embraces the Middle East and North Africa.

The following season, 13 horses died in Group VII international competition. There are nine regions that hold endurance races worldwide, so the general pattern is a worrying one.

And these figures govern international, not domestic events, remember. The FEI’s statistics are limited. Horses that are put down as a result of injuries after returning home are rarely included in the figures, meaning the FEI is reliant only on information from national organisations at events.

The statistics would be troubling enough without national bodies choosing to volunteer further bad news.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2472492/MARTIN-SAMUEL-Sport-driving-horses-deaths.html