Mongol Derby Race Report - Day 5

Theadventurists.com - Full Story

The leading pack has shrunk to 7 riders, the main pack has swollen to 20, there was a muddy bog for some, another involuntary dismount and one more withdrawal. Here’s the Day 5 race report... For race positions see the Day 5 Leaderboard.
Michelle Jarvis and Alison Wilson leave Horse Station 12.

Michelle Jarvis and Alison Wilson leave Horse Station 12.

The front runners made it to Horse Station 19 but Mary Lee and Catherine Stott have fallen a leg behind today and find themselves at 18 overnight.

11 km out of station 16 Mary Lee came off her horse. Unfortunately she couldn’t catch it before it ran back to its home station but Mary is clearly determined to stay with the leaders. She went back to the station and was eventually reunited with her tack and picked herself a new horse. Tackling the same ground again, including a mountain pass, on her own must have been tough but even though she lost at least 2 hours she remains in contention...

Read more here:
http://www.theadventurists.com/the-jibber/2014/8/10/mongol-derby-race-report-day-5

Mongol Derby Race Report - Day 3

Theadventurists.com - Full Story

Action at the front

Day 3 on the derby and some strong partnerships are forming but it's the solo riders who are looking the strongest. Near the front Madison Kauffman and Lisa Youngwerth are looking inseparable, while Chris Maude and Jamie Peel have been joined by Rob Skinner who is looking more formidable now that he's navigating better.

The favourites right now though are possibly Sam Jones, Mary Lee and Brent Aulbino. Most significantly Sam who rode like a banshee all day and comfortably negated the penalty she picked up on day 1. All the riders at HS11 tonight got in with enough time to serve any penalties so will all leave together in the morning.

Proving that age should be no barrier to adventurism is Barbara Smith despite being the oldest rider in the field she is comfortably holding her own with the youngsters up front. This morning she had to contend with her steed falling while stepping into a marmot hole, which she quickly bounced back from...

Read more here:
http://www.theadventurists.com/the-jibber/2014/8/8/mongol-derby-race-report-day-3

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