Mongol Derby Race Report - Day 2

Theadventurists.com - Full Article

It's been a long old day on the steppe, made to feel even longer for those bombarded by torrents of rain. At one point the downpour became so heavy we were forced to move HS5 to higher ground.

The day started so well for Sam Jones didn't pan out as well as could be hoped after she lost her Spot Tracker while taking what should've been a short cut across the hills before HS7.

The rules dictate she could not advance until being reunited with her tracker and 12 riders overtook her while she was waiting for a support vehicle to retrieve the missing tech. To add insult to injury she will have to carry a one hour time penalty for outside assistance.

It'll be a disappointment for Sam who's gamble of camping on the steppe last night very nearly paid big dividends as she spent much of the day half a station ahead. The setback shouldn't prove too injurious as it's hard to keep a good rider down...

Read more here:
http://www.theadventurists.com/the-jibber/2014/8/7/mongol-derby-race-report-day-2

Mongolia: World's Toughest Horse Race Retraces Genghis Khan's Postal Route

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES VAN WYK, THE ADVENTURISTS News.Nationalgeographic.com - Full Article

Ashleigh N. DeLuca
National Geographic
PUBLISHED AUGUST 6, 2014

Before most of the world woke up this morning, 47 riders from around the globe had saddled half-wild horses and set out on what the Guinness Book of World Records has called the longest equestrian race on Earth.

The goal—beyond not getting seriously injured—is to ride a 621-mile circuit (1,000 kilometers) of Mongolian steppe in less than ten days.

Fewer than half of the riders are expected to make it across the finish line. The rest will either quit or be carried off the course by the medical team. Broken bones and torn ligaments are common, frustration and bruised egos the norm. Every rider will fall off multiple times during the course of the race, says Katy Willings, the race chief and a former Mongol Derby competitor.

The race route is modeled on the horse relay postal system created under Genghis Khan in 1224, which was instrumental in the expansion of the Mongolian Empire. Guided by a local escort, specially appointed postal riders would gallop more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) to a morin urtuu, or horse relay station, where another escort would be waiting with a fresh horse...

Read more here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140806-mongolia-derby-horses-genghis-riders-adventure-race/

New Zealand endurance team leaves for WEG in France

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Aug 06, 2014

New Zealand’s endurance team heading for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games leave for France this afternoon.

The riders – Georgia and Andrea Smith (Mangaweka), Alison Higgins (Nelson), Braden Cameron (Wellington) and Susie Latta (Otago), with chef d’equipe Tony Parsons (Taupo) – leave on Wednesday afternoon, with their horses heading out later in the day...

Read more here:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2014/08/06/nz-endurance-team-leaves-weg-france/#axzz39cS80TN0

Australia: Ararat Pony Club to host annual endurance ride

Araratadvertiser.com.au - Full Article

August 4 2014

This weekend will see the fourth annual Ararat Endurance Ride take place beginning at the Russell T. White Raceway.

The event is a major fundraiser for the Ararat Pony Club and is expected to attract about 100 participants from across the state.

Saturday, August 9 will see a 20 kilometre ride kick things off, while Sunday, August 10 is the major day with an 80-kilometre ride beginning at 6am, followed by 40, 20 and five kilometre events.

Each trail will stretching through the Dunneworthy Forest...

Read more here:
http://www.araratadvertiser.com.au/story/2462507/ararat-pony-club-to-host-annual-endurance-ride/?cs=12

2014 USA Endurance Team Member: Jeremy Reynolds and RR Gold Dust Rising

August 3 2014
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

Sometimes it takes an athlete to know an athlete. 34-year-old Jeremy Reynolds is one who understands exactly what a championship calibre endurance horse experiences in a 160-km race, because he's run the distance himself. Last month Jeremy finished the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run - over the Tevis Cup course - in a finish time of just over 21 hours. "It was extremely difficult," Jeremy says.

"I started doing ultras a long time ago to learn more about what the [endurance] horses go through," he continues, "the mental ups and downs that you can have." He also learned the importance of training specifically for a course so the horse (or human) uses the same muscles and joint movements he'll be using in a race.

Such understanding and dedication can create a deeper partnership with a horse, and such a partnership is what helped land Jeremy and lightly raced 8-year-old RR Gold Dust Rising on the 2014 USA Endurance Team headed to France for the August 28th Endurance Championship, part of the World Equestrian Games.

"He's awesome," Jeremy says of "Dust". "He trains hard, he loves the work; he's probably one of my faster horses I've been on." The chestnut gelding by Falina des Fabries out of Madeline, by Virgule al Maury, was trained as a racehorse, but never ran on the track. The Reynolds, and partner Skip Lightfoot, obtained him 3 years ago, and it was his looks that reeled them in. "He's just drop dead gorgeous, and from the performance standpoint, a huge heart girth - just nicely put together."

The horse has a "little fire" under saddle, and is "kind of perfect. He likes to go but he's not too crazy, so it makes him nice, because when he trains he's honest; he's not lazy." Dust's AERC record shows 7 completions in 8 starts in 2013, and he and Jeremy won Dust's first 160-km CEI*** race in December in Florida in the North American Endurance Team Championship.

Jeremy's riding background is in fox hunting, show jumping, and guiding rides in the Sierra Nevada mountains. His introduction to endurance riding was a 50-mile ride in 2001 aboard Hall of Fame Endurance horse Zayante, owned by Jackie Bumgardner.


Now, some 9800 miles, 3 Tevis Cup wins, 2 Haggin Cup wins, and a successful endurance training and racing business (Reynolds Racing) later, this will be the second time both Jeremy and his wife Heather will ride together in a World Endurance Championship, repeating their appearances in the 2012 WEC in Great Britain (Jeremy finished 21st; Heather finished 36th).

"This is a pretty exciting team," Jeremy says of this year's select group of riders headed to France. "At the Team Trials (held April 18-19 in Ehrhardt, South Carolina), we spent tons of time on soundness, and we spent a lot of money at home doing vet workups and checking for every little thing."

It takes determination and dedication to get to this international level of competition. "It's our life," Jeremy says, "and we've gone through a lot of sacrifices to do this. It takes a lot of work, and it takes time and experience to get a good horse - Dust is so talented as an athlete, it's worth that effort."

Photos: Jeremy Reynolds and A Kutt Above at the 2012 WEC in Great Britain

For more information on the WEC and the USA Team members see:
http://www.endurance.net/international/France/2014WEG/USATeamJReynolds.html

Australia: Wagin gets going for Tom Quilty cup

Waginargus.com.au - Full Article

By Blayde Grzelka Aug. 1, 2014

THE Tom Quilty Cup has officially opened in Wagin with banners sprouting up throughout town and the Cup’s official handover to the Wagin shire.

The colossal 45 kilogram cup has been delivered today Friday August 1 to the Wagin Shire after making the trip from it’s regular home at the Hall of Fame in Queensland.

It will remain on display at the shire for the seven weeks remaining until the cup begins...

Read more here:
http://www.waginargus.com.au/story/2458765/wagin-gets-going-for-tom-quilty-cup/?cs=1539

Record Entries for 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™

Horse-Canada.com

Horse Sport July 31, 2014 | 0 comments

by: FEI
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Riders, drivers, and vaulters representing no less than 74 nations have been nominated to compete in the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy, the FEI’s flagship event, which kicks off in 23 days. The number is an all-time high and represents a 25% increase compared to the nominated entries for any of the previous editions of the FEI World Equestrian Games™.

The nominated entries list, from which the final entries will be selected, is published today and is available on the event’s official website here.

Jumping has attracted the largest number of nations, with 54 countries entered for the competitions at Stade d’Ornano in Caen, closely followed by Endurance. Riders from 48 countries will compete in the Endurance event, which takes place against the spectacular backdrop of UNESCO World Heritage Site Mont Saint-Michel.

The breakdown of the entries per discipline is as follows:

JUMPING
Total National Federations (NFs): 54
NFs with teams: 38
ARG, AUS, AUT, BEL, BRA, CAN, CHI, COL, CZE, DEN, EGY, ESP, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, IRL, ITA, JPN, KSA, MAR, MEX, NED, NOR, POL, POR, QAT, RSA, RUS, SUI, SVK, SWE, SYR, UAE, UKR, USA, VEN
NFs with individuals only: 16
AZE, BER, GRE, GUA, HKG, IND, ISR, JOR, KOR, LAT, LTU, NZL, PER, SLO, TUR, URU
286 nominated athletes, 409 horses
167 combinations expected for definite entries

DRESSAGE
Total NFs: 31
NFs with teams: 25
AUS, AUT, BEL, BRA, CAN, DEN, ESP, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, IRL, ITA, KAZ, LUX, NED, NOR, POL, POR, RSA, RUS, SUI, SWE, UKR, USA
NFs with individuals only: 6
COL, EST, GEO, KOR, MAR, PLE
154 nominated athletes, 167 horses
103 combinations expected for definite entries

PARA-DRESSAGE
Total NFs: 33
NFs with teams: 19
AUS, AUT, BEL, BRA, CAN, DEN, FRA, GBR, GER, HKG, IRL, ITA, NED, NOR, POL, RUS, SIN, SWE, USA
NFs with individuals only: 14
ARG, CZE, FIN, ISR, ISV, JPN, LAT, MEX, NZL, POR, RSA, SUI, SVK, TPE
126 nominated athletes, 159 horses
102 combinations expected for definite entries

EVENTING
Total NFs: 28
NFs with teams: 16
AUS, BEL, BRA, CAN, ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, IRL, ITA, NED, NZL, POL, SUI, SWE, USA
NFs with individuals only: 12
AUT, BLR, CHN, CZE, DEN, ECU, FIN, HUN, JPN, POR, RSA, RUS
138 nominated athletes, 168 horses
99 combinations expected for definite entries

DRIVING
total NFs: 18
NFs with teams: 15
AUS, AUT, BEL, CZE, ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, NED, POL, POR, SUI, SWE, USA
NFs with individuals only: 3
ITA, SVK, URU
63 nominated athletes, 508 horses
49 athletes and 245 horses expected for definite entries

ENDURANCE
Total NFs: 48
NFs with teams: 34
ARG, AUS, BEL, BRA, BRN, CAN, CHI, CRC, CZE, ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, HKG, ITA, JPN, KAZ, LUX, MAS, NED, NOR, NZL, OMA, POR, QAT, RSA, RUS, SUI, SVK, SWE, TUN, UAE, URU, USA
NFs with individuals only: 14
ALG, AUT, CHN, COL, DEN, ECU, EST, GRE, GUA, HUN, IRL, KSA, POL, THA
258 nominated athletes, 340 horses
178 combinations expected for definite entries

VAULTING
Total NFs: 22
ARG, AUS, AUT, BRA, CAN, COL, CZE, DEN, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, ITA, MRI, NED, NZL, RSA, RUS, SUI, SVK, SWE, USA
223 nominated athletes (16 pas-de-deux of 2 vaulters; 20 squads of 6 vaulters; 46 individual females and 25 individual males), 165 horses
177 athletes (13 pas-de-deux of 2 vaulters; 17 squads of 6 vaulters; 32 individual females; 17 individual males;) and 97 horses expected for definite entries

REINING
Total NFs: 25
NFs with teams: 16
AUS, AUT, BEL, BRA, CAN, DEN, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, ITA, MEX, NED, POL, SWE, USA
NFs with individuals only: 9
CHI, CZE, DOM, HUN, ISR, MAR, RSA, SUI, SVK
96 nominated athletes, 147 horses
91 combinations expected for definite entries

Australia, Austria, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and the United States will be represented in every disciplines. In total 12 countries will be making their FEI World Equestrian Games™ debut – Hong Kong, US Virgin Islands, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Morocco, Mauritius, Peru, Palestine, Romania, Thailand, and Tunisia – demonstrating the increased globalisation of the FEI’s flagship event.

The next and final stage in the Games entry process is the deadline for definite entries, which is August 14th for Dressage and Para-Dressage, Eventing, Endurance, and Reining, and August 22nd for Jumping, Driving, and Vaulting.