Sheikh Mohammed's plan to fund endurance task force ended by International Equestrian Federation

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Dubai ruler's controlling role in clean up of endurance racing is ended following a shock about-turn by the International Equestrian Federation

By Pippa Cuckson
10:32PM BST 15 Apr 2014

Sheikh Mohammed will no longer fund the clean-up of endurance racing and two of his senior employees have been dropped from the newly-announced task force in a sensational about-turn by the International Equestrian Federation.

News that an apparent controlling role had been offered to Sheikh Mohammed – first revealed by Telegraph Sport last Friday – caused shock waves around the equestrian world as his Dubai stables are at the centre of the horse welfare crisis engulfing the sport.

On Tuesday, the Dutch and Swiss equestrian federations strongly criticised what they called “collaboration” between the Sheikh and the governing body.

Their joint statement said: “Even if His Highness Sheikh Mohammed is the current world endurance champion, his six-month suspension for using prohibited substances [in 2009] cannot be denied, not mentioning more than 24 positive cases concerning horses from his stables in past years...”

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/equestrianism/10769063/Sheikh-Mohammeds-plan-to-fund-endurance-task-force-ended-by-International-Equestrian-Federation.html

FEI confirms that Sheikh Mohammed is funding the task force responsible for cleaning up endurance racing

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Sheikh Mohammed's funding of clear-up operation not perceived as a conflict of interest despite his Dubai stables being at centre of a doping and injury crisis

By Pippa Cuckson
5:32PM BST 11 Apr 2014

Sheikh Mohammed, whose Dubai stables are at the centre of the doping and injuries crisis engulfing endurance racing, is funding the task force responsible for cleaning up the sport, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) has confirmed. Two of the six task force members – lawyer Andrew Holmes and Mohammed Essa Al Adhab – are close to the Sheikh.

This follows media pressure on the FEI to clarify its statement earlier this week that Sheikh Mohammed – whose family’s stables have provided more than 24 doping cases – had offered “full support” for the drastic new measures, after meeting FEI personnel on March 30.

Other observers have inferred the FEI had no jurisdiction over Dubai equestrian sport without the Sheikh’s permission. He is the world endurance champion and husband of FEI president Princess Haya...

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/equestrianism/10760944/FEI-confirms-that-Sheikh-Mohammed-is-funding-the-task-force-responsible-for-cleaning-up-endurance-racing.html

Darley Awards Make Historic Debut at Dolby Studio in Hollywood

Horsereporter.com - Full Article

April 4, 2014, Los Angeles, USA
M. Satya Narayan

HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival helped lift the status of Purebred Arabian racing to a new high when the Dolby Studio in Los Angeles (the old Kodak Studio) staged a glittering night of the Darley Awards with the Powell brothers sharing six of the 22 awards on offer.

While the 2013 HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival Darley Awards for Arabian Racing in USA saw Mark Powell and his younger brother Scott pick up three awards each, the popular HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Awards catered to a much broader section of women and female horses in Purebred Arabian racing at Friday’s ceremony...

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http://www.horsereporter.com/2014/04/05/darley-awards-make-historic-debut-at-dolby-studio-in-hollywood/

Top Endurance Riders Ready to Compete in 2014 WEG Endurance Team Selection Trial

April 17, 2014 -- The top athletes in endurance are set to compete in the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Endurance Team Selection Trail CEI2* 120 at Broxton Bridge Planation in Ehrhardt, S.C., April 18-19. Fifteen individuals will vie for a spot on the team that will compete in Normandy, France, on a course from Sartilly to the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel on Thursday, August 28.

Currently, three competitors in this weekend's competition are tied for first place on US Endurance Rider Ranking List. Cody Boysen, Ellen Olson, and Heather Reynolds all have 500 points as of October 20, 2013.

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Whelan set to retrace Genghis Khan’s 1,000 kilometer mail route through Mongolian steppes

photo: Amy Whelan with Max, one of her Arabian Horses. Mike James.

A ride to remember
Mike James The Independent April 16 2014

LOUISA — Riding 50 miles a day is no big deal to Amy Whelan.

She often saddles up for a quick 15 miles around her Lawrence County farm before breakfast. Her home-based boarding and training business feeds her passion for endurance riding, which pits her against other equestrians in daylong horseback treks.

Whelan has been riding so long and for so many miles it may seem she has spent most of her life in the saddle. And it all has led up to what she anticipates will be her ultimate adventure this August, a 1,000-kilometer ride across the Mongolian steppes retracing the 13th-century postal route established by Genghis Khan.

“It’s one of the last truly wild places on Earth,” Whelan said.

She will be riding Mongolian horses, a tough, stocky breed indigenous to the region, sleeping and eating with locals or on the ground, and competing against more than 40 other riders.

Whelan, 51, was introduced to endurance riding in her college years at Colorado State University, where she studied equine science.

Endurance riders race for 50 or more miles under conditions that tax the rider, but under tight veterinary supervision to ensure the health of the horses. Riders have to finish a 50-mile race within 12 hours and a 100-mile race within 24 hours. The races usually are on trail systems rather than on tracks.

[Read more ...]

Marathon riding, to complete is to win..

This Easter weekend national sports media attention will be focused on some of Australia's fastest sprinters, as they compete in the country's most famous race, the Stawell Gift.

In Tasmania, four legged athletes and their riders are competing in a sporting title that will last for days not seconds.

120 endurance riders are competing this Easter in the Van Diemen Marathon, a horse ride up of to 240 kilometres, in rough and rugged country, around Scottsdale in Tasmania's north-east.

For one of Tasmania's seasoned riders, Trish Smith, the marathon is not a race.

"I'm the sort of endurance rider, I don't believe in calling it a race.

"It is not a race, it's a ride, our motto is 'to complete, is to win'", she said.

"Everybody who actually completes successfully with a horse fit to continue by the vet is a winner."

Trish has been training her Arab Rahn for years covering long distances.

[Read more ...]

Stephen Rojek Named to AERC Hall of Fame

Posted by AERC, April 16

Longtime distance riding competitor Stephen Rojek, of South Woodstock, Vermont, became the newest inductee into the American Endurance Ride Conference’s Hall of Fame at their recent convention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rojek has amassed upwards of 25,000 miles of endurance competition since getting his start in 1986, including a staggering 176 100-mile rides. For rides of that distance, competitors have 24 hours to complete the ride. Fellow Hall of Fame member Valerie Kanavy of Fort Valley, Virginia, calls Rojek “The Centurion” because has more than a hundred 100-mile completions.

As he accepted his award plaque at AERC’s national awards banquet in front of hundreds of fellow riders, Rojek modestly mentioned his most memorable time on the endurance trails as “Kansas in ’96 when we won the gold medal” — that would be the United States’ gold medal-winning performance at the World Endurance Championships. Rojek has competed in the North American Championships and the PanAm games for endurance riding and has won regional and national endurance awards most every season he’s competed.

Presenting Rojek’s award was Susan Kasemeyer of Friendsville, Tennessee, the 2011 Hall of Fame winner. Kasemeyer, known for her saucy sense of humor, called Rojek “Mr. Clean,” and recalled his years of competing and managing endurance rides. She noted that he is also active in competitive trail riding, with an additional 30,000 Eastern Competitive Tail Ride Association miles.

Rojek’s wife Dinah came on stage to add a few words, stressing that “Steve is the finest human being I’ve ever known.” On rides, she said, “He will stop to help, try to fix your horse’s shoe, give you his only Easyboot.” Many an endurance rider has a tale to tell about Rojek taking time out to assist on the trail, without worrying about his own finish.

Rojek has ridden a number of horses, and with his predilection for 100s, has multiple horses with 100-mile equine mileage achievement awards. Currently he is campaigning Chi-Hi, a 2003 chestnut Arabian gelding (AHR 0602904), with 2,280 endurance miles, including 14 100-mile rides. Rojek is also bringing along Tupelo Ace, a 2003 grey Arabian gelding (AHR 0604175), with 425 endurance miles.

Once he made his way to the stage, he humbly thanked his presenters for the honor, saying, “I’ve gotten older. I have a bunch of miles,” before admitting, “I guess I’m famous.”

His advice to someone new to endurance riding? “Keep on trying. Don’t give up.”