Italy: Afra stars in UAE’s golden moment in Verona

Khaleejtimes.com - Full Article

28 July 2014

Al Baloushi, trainer of the winning horse Rivergum Drifter said, “He has gradually improved with a fifth place, a third place, a second place and now a winning finish. Afra also rode a great race in tough conditions.”

The UAE flag was waved jubilantly as the UAE ladies team celebrated their maiden international triumph in Verona, Italy on Saturday in the Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival-supported first-ever Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Endurance Cup, a world class ladies competition being held here in Europe for the first time.

Led by a dominant display by UAE’s Afra Khalifa Al Suwaidi on Rivergum Drifter, who took the individual gold while the UAE’s Aya Abdulla Redha on Quersick Niellans, who took the bronze, the Emirati girls established their supremacy both in the individual as well as the team categories...

Read more here:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/inside_sport.asp?xfile=/data/nationsports/2014/July/nationsports_July172.xml§ion=nationsports

2014 USA Endurance Team Member: Heather Reynolds and Chanses

July 27, 2014
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

It's a good thing for Heather Reynolds and the 2014 USA Endurance Team that Chanses didn't make it as a racehorse. "He was really fast, but he would just look around, rather than race," Heather says. "He's really laid back, a super relaxed horse. He can turn it on when he needs to. When asked to do it, he'll do it. He's just not going to volunteer," she laughs.

Now owned by Heather and husband Jeremy Reynolds who make up Reynolds Racing, and partner Skip Lightfoot, the Reynolds obtained the "cool looking" 9-year-old bay Arabian gelding in 2012 just 15 minutes down the road from their place in Dunellon, Florida. "We were short on horses at the time, and our friend Lynn Ashby recommended him to us. We usually take her word pretty seriously."

That Chanses happened to be a half brother to Jeremy Reynolds' 2012 World Endurance Championship ride in Great Britain, A Kutt Above (they finished 21st), was an added bonus. Both horses are by the sire Patriot Missle.

Chanses had already done a season of endurance rides with previous owner Severiano Martinez, so he was ready to go when the Reynolds bought him and started riding him on the trails. After doing 5 rides in 2012 (including a 25 with co-owner Skip Lightfoot aboard), which featured a win and Best Condition in the Ft Howes 160-km FEI ride, Chanses stepped up in his training and performances. The 16-hand gelding won 1st place and Best Condition in the 50-mile Gator Run with Heather in January, won 1st place and Best Condition in the 75-mile Broxton Bridge with Jeremy in February; and after 3 consecutive pulls for lameness in 100-mile rides in March (after a fall on course), May and July (Tevis, pulled at the Lower Quarry at 96 miles), the gelding finished first in the 100-mile New Mexico Desert Classic Pioneer with Heather in October. After he won his next start, the January 100-mile Broxton Bridge with Heather, the Reynolds knew they had a possible USA WEG Team contender in the gelding.

After the challenging USA Team Trial April 18-19 in Ehrhardt, South Carolina and a number of exhaustive pre-ride and post-ride veterinary inspections, Heather and Chanses topped the USA Team Shortlist that was announced on June 19th for the World Endurance Championship at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France.

A long-time AERC endurance rider (she started as a Junior at age 11), 37-year-old Heather has over 18,000 endurance miles, including 4 Tevis buckles, a Tevis Cup win and 2 Haggin Cups (Best Condition at Tevis), and extensive international experience. This will be Heather's fourth time on a World Championship Endurance team, having competed in Jerez, Spain, in 2002; Kentucky, USA, in 2010, and Great Britain, in 2012.


As a 25-year-old on the World Championship team in Spain, Heather left a big impression on her roommate and teammate Bev Gray, even after her horse Crystal's Charm was unexpectedly pulled at the first vet check for lameness. "Heather immediately got out and started helping the rest of the teammates, and cheering along the course. She's a pro. A career pro," Bev said. "She's my friend; those are memorable times that I'll never ever forget - the bonding we had, and the fun."

Heather is known being humorous in almost any situation, and for being cool under pressure. Chanses will probably retain his cool in the August 28th 160-km race, seeing as he's so relaxed. "I think it will work out great in the herd dynamic overseas, because he's so laid back," Heather says. "He won't end up wasting a bunch of energy the first couple of loops. I don't think he'll get his panties in a bunch."

Heather thinks the USA Team's prospects of winning a team medal in France are "super strong. This is probably the best team the US has ever had. I think that the group dynamic is awesome. And Emmett [US Chef d'Equipe Emmett Ross] has put us through the ringer as far as soundness and the scrutiny on the horse itself. It's been a much higher standard than the past, so I think our odds of arriving at the starting line with sound horses is higher than usual. And everyone that has been selected has amazing backgrounds and their horses have great records, so if luck joins us, I think our team will do amazingly well." She laughs and slightly amends her statement, "If the Horse Gods let the horses arrive on French soil unscathed, we'll be good!"

Bev Gray concurs, "The growth that you see from Heather since Spain, to Normandy, is dramatic. She's a professional, and she's going to do the USA a fabulous job."

Top photo - Heather aboard Ssamiam in the 2010 WEG in Kentucky
Bottom photo - Heather aboard Riverwatch in the 2012 WEC in Great Britain

For more coverage of the Endurance Championship at the World Equestrian Games, see:
http://www.endurance.net/international/France/2014WEG/

Mongolia: Not your run-of-the-mill horse derby

Heraldsun.com - Full Article

Jun. 27, 2014 @ 05:17 PM
Wes Platt

Rose Sandler wants to gallop in the footsteps of a conqueror.

Centuries before Pony Express riders thundered across the untamed American West, Genghis Khan established a long-distance postal system using horse messengers in the Mongol steppe.

Since 2009, a group known as The Adventurists has hosted the Mongol Derby. It’s a race that covers 621 miles of rough, marmot-riddled terrain through unpredictable weather, all on the backs of 25 different horses that riders can only hope want to go the same direction as them.

“It’s going to be awesome, life-changing,” said Sandler, a former Rougemont resident who now lives in Culpeper, Virginia, but often visits Durham to enjoy the music scene at places like Motorco.

The race through the Mongolian wilderness was inspired by Genghis Khan’s use of horse stations – known as morin urtuus – to allow messengers to travel the breadth of his empire, from Kharkorin to the Caspian Sea...

Read more here:
http://www.heraldsun.com/news/x1625942904/Not-your-run-of-the-mill-horse-derby

2014 WEG: 30 days to go: The fitting-out of the venues continues

Normandy2014.com

Thursday 24 July 2014 - 19h42

The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy are hosting 8 disciplines spanning no fewer than 5 competition venues! It’s a challenge, which requires substantial logistics and numerous facilities. Over these last 30 days, the Organising Committee is ready to begin its final push to ensure the very best reception for the 1,000 athletes and 500,000 spectators expected to attend the event from 23 August.

SARTILLY - BAY OF MONT ST MICHEL

Mont St MichelSituated in the Manche area, the town of Sartilly will be the starting point for the Endurance event on Thursday, 28 August.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Bay of Mont Saint Michel will provide a majestic backdrop for this 160 km competition set out in a series of loops.

More information about this venue will be available soon...

Read more here:
http://www.normandy2014.com/news/articles/602/30-days-to-go-the-fitting-out-of-the-venues-continues

Record participation in Italia Verona Endurance Festival

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Mansour Festival-supported event to feature first-ever ride for ladies
Staff ReportPublished: 15:46 July 25, 2014

Dubai: A record 200 riders representing 19 countries will be seen in action in the Italia Verona Endurance Festival being held under the umbrella of the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival on Saturday and Sunday.
The two-day extravaganza features the first CEIO Two Star Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Endurance Cup, a world class ladies’ competition being held in Europe for the first time.

Sunday’s action is highlighted by the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Endurance Cup OPEN CEI Two Star ride, the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Endurance Cup (Young and Junior riders) Two Star event and the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Endurance Cup One Star ride.

The UAE ladies’ team will be represented by Shathra Al Hajjaj, Alia Kazim Al Khafajy, Ayesha Al Romaithi, Afra Khalifa Al Suwaidi and Aya Abdul Redha.

Hosts Italy will field over 30 riders, who will be joined by top riders from more than 15 countries in the 120-kilometre ride...

Read more here:
http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/record-participation-in-italia-verona-endurance-festival-1.1363910

Great Britain: Annie and her 'absolute superstar' Dilmun to live the dream at WEG

Westernmorningnews.co.uk - Full Article

By Western Morning News | Posted: July 25, 2014

By Sarah Pitt. @WMNHorses

An endurance rider from Cornwall is off to the World Equestrian Games in Normandy next month after making Team GB.

Annie Joppe and her Arab gelding Dilmun will ride 100 miles – 160km – in the ride on August 27 from Sartilly, close to the fishing port of St Malo.

The day-long epic ride route includes stretch along the beach past Mont St Michel, for which Annie is preparing with training rides along the sands at Perranporth.

Annie, 56, from Goonhavern in North Cornwall, is the oldest member of the five-strong all female endurance team. She has spent the past nine years working her way up through the sport’s ranks, latterly competing in FEI three star 100-mile rides with Dilmun and her Anglo-Arab gelding Fantom...

Read more here: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Annie-absolute-superstar-Dilmun-live-dream-WEG/story-21938153-detail/story.html#ixzz38UNSm3gF

Pierre Genecand Submits Official Candidacy For FEI Presidency

Chronofhorse.com - Full Article

July 10, 2014
By: Lisa Slade

The Swiss Equestrian Federation has named Pierre E. Genecand as a candidate for the FEI presidency and submitted the official candidacy to the Fédération Equestre Internationale today, July 10. Genecand announced his intention to run in April this year.

It’s presumed that Genecand will run against incumbent FEI president HRH Haya bint al-Hussein, who could make herself available for a third period of office after an FEI Extraordinary General Assembly changed statues to allow one person to serve three terms. The election will take place in December in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Genecand, a 64-year-old insurance broker, successful businessman and the former owner of Gesrep AG, lives in Geneva and Buenos Aires (Argentina), and he has been president of the Hublot Polo Gold Cup Gstaad, the most important Swiss polo tournament, for almost 20 years...

Read more here:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/pierre-genecand-submits-official-candidacy-fei-presidency