2014 WEG: Let the Games begin!

FEI.org

24 Aug 2014

A parade of athletes from the 74 participating nations, an incredible musical and hi-tech lightshow extravaganza featuring over 100 horses, the Garde Républicaine and giant Mexican waves entertained a sellout crowd of 21,000 for the Opening Ceremony of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy at the D’Ornano Stadium last night.

FEI President HRH Princess Haya and Laurent Beauvais, President of the Games Organising Committee and President of the Lower Normandy Region, welcomed athletes, officials, sponsors, spectators and media to Normandy for two weeks of world class equestrian sport in the heart of horse country.

Laurent Beauvais spoke warmly of the 3,000 volunteers that will be working at the venues to optimise the Games experience, and many of them had the opportunity to parade in front of the spectators as part of tonight’s ceremony.

“We have brought together 3,000 smiles to welcome you; 3,000 sets of open arms,” Laurent Beauvais said. “The volunteers bind our organisation. We can all be so proud of them. For months now they have been our greatest ambassadors for the Games, the greatest ambassadors for Normandy and indeed the greatest ambassadors for France!”

Princess Haya, speaking in French and English, also expressed her gratitude to everyone involved in making the Games possible. “On behalf of everyone here tonight, and everyone around the world who will enjoy these seventh World Equestrian Games, I want to thank the people of Normandy for so warmly welcoming us to this beautiful region,” Princess Haya said.

“I also want to thank the World Equestrian Games Foundation, Alltech, and the many volunteers who have given so generously of their time and energy. These Games could not happen without you. And of course, I want to thank all of the athletes who have come to Normandy to pursue their dreams. You are at the pinnacle of our sport; you have earned the right to be here through your hard work and dedication.

“Whether you win or lose, these Games are sure to be a highlight of your career. I am confident that you will represent our sport well and prove yourselves to be true champions. I wish you all the best of luck.”

Princess Haya then invited French Prime Minister Manuel Valls to declare the Games open, the first time in the history of the World Equestrian Games that there has been a Prime Minister at the opening ceremony.

The top-level French Government delegation also included Bernard Cazeneuve, Minister of the Interior, Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Le Foll, Minister of Agriculture Affairs and government spokesman, and Thierry Braillard, Under Secretary for Sport.

French team member and former athlete representative on the FEI Bureau, Kevin Staut, and Anne Prain, President of the Ground Jury for Para-Equestrian Dressage took the FEI pledge on behalf of the athletes and judges.

On behalf of all the FEI officials, Anne Prain spoke of the spirit of fair play and integrity, while the athletes’ pledge was given by Kevin Staut: “In the name of all riders, I promise that we shall take part in the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to our sport without doping, in the true spirit of welfare of the horse and of sportsmanship, for the glory of equestrian sport and the honour of our teams.”

A total of 478,000 tickets of the 500,000 on offer had already been sold before tonight’s Opening Ceremony, and with top sport across the FEI disciplines from now until 7 September, a fantastic spectator experience is guaranteed over the next 15 days!

Spain Presents 2014 WEG Endurance Team Brochure

From Ignasi Casas, Spanish Chef d'Equipe:

"It's a great pleasure to present you the couples that will be part f the Spanish Equestrian Endurance Team in the WEG 2014.

"After so many years of efforts and success, the Spanish Endurance has been consolidated as a great team at international level, thank you to the success of Nobby and Maria Alvarez apart from others. And the recent medals of the juniors in Tarbes 2013, the European Ch. in Mst 2013 and the European junior in Verona 2014.

"The new endurance with the professionalism, the world evolution in FEI, the massive sales of horses and others is making a big challenge. This has to help us to be motivated and adaptive to the new times of the endurance. All together, horses, riders, crews, owners, breeders, veterinarians, officials and supporters in general, had to be able to follow the new challenges of the new worldwide endurance that is making our sport very demanding.

"Without forgetting that above all we have the horse, this great animal that let us realize our dreams and that give us everything without asking anything.

"Have a nice race and enjoy."

See the brochure here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/France/2014WEG/SpanishTeamBrochure.pdf

Ten reasons to watch 'World Cup of horses'

WPTZ.com - Full Article

By Ollie Williams for CNN
Published 8:34 AM EDT Aug 22, 2014

(CNN) — More than 70 nations, 1,000 athletes and as many horses. The World Equestrian Games are upon us.

The biggest equestrian event outside the Olympics comes to Normandy, France, on Monday for two weeks of drama, daring, dressage and ... "Don Johnson."

Normandy claims to be home to 93,000 horses and more than 400 equestrian centers, but France has never seen anything on the scale of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (often shortened to "WEG").

You can win world titles in no fewer than eight types of horse sport at the four-yearly showpiece. All three Olympic equestrian disciplines are involved, alongside the Paralympic sport of para-dressage.

So what should you expect over the next two weeks? Where to look? Who to follow? CNN World Sport answers those questions and more...

Read more: http://www.wptz.com/sports/ten-reasons-to-watch-world-cup-of-horses/27678706#ixzz3B8GOs06A

WEG endurance: A true battle of the fittest

The number of endurance riders and nations competing at the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games beats all previous attendance records, writes Berry Pattison.

When the 160km ride gets under way at Normandy on Thursday, August 28, some 47 nations from as far afield as China, Colombia, Kazakhstan and Thailand, will take their place on the track.

There are definite entries from 173 athletes, with 198 horses declared for the competition in Sartilly, just over 100km from the main Games venue in Caen.

The ride base opens on Monday, August 25, and National Federations are able to enter up to five athletes and seven horses for the pre-ride inspection, with chefs d’equipe declaring their final horses after the inspection.

The 2014 Games has seen the introduction of a higher minimum speed, this year set at 15kph, to ensure that all horses competing are fit enough to deal with the distance and tough questions asked on track. And for the first time at Championship level, the 160km track is made up of only five loops rather than the more traditional six-loop format.

[Full articale at horsetalk.co.nz...]

2014 USA Endurance Team Member: Jeremy Olson and Wallace Hill Shade

August 21 2014
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

Considering his background, it was somewhat inevitable that 39-year-old Jeremy Olson would one day end up on the USA Endurance Team. His dad Craig Olson started in the sport in 1978 when Jeremy was 3, "so I did my first 50-mile ride when I was 7, in 1982. And I've been in endurance pretty much ever since," Jeremy says. Craig Olson's early AERC record shows a lot of 100-mile rides - sometimes that's the only distance he did during the season. He also won the 1990 Race of Champions and Best Condition on Spruce Sarta, a horse who had a 23 for 23 100-mile record, and where he defeated future multiple World Endurance Champion Valerie Kanavy.

Jeremy did leave endurance for a while - a business degree in college, and then working in the Real World for about 6 years kept him busy. "But it's always been in my blood, it's one of the only equestrian disciplines I've ever known."

After he and his now-wife Ellen Olson (also on this year's USA Team) moved closer together in Iowa, they decided to try endurance full time. Around 2008, they both quit their jobs, went to Florida with 6 endurance horses, and had a very good (winter) season there. Subsequently, they were offered jobs training and riding in Qatar in the Middle East, where they went for 3 winter race seasons. It was an invaluable experience.


"We got to expand our knowledge of the sport so much because we had about 80 horses in our control," Jeremy explains. "We designed all the training for the barn, and oversaw everything; so we could take 10-12 horses, put them in 3 different groups and try different philosophies in the back of our minds and see how they were brought into races better, whether it was walking vs running vs swimming vs treadmills. We had all the toys, and we could do it all and kind of fine-tune our training program. You don't have that opportunity here very often - that many horses to do that many different things with, to just expand your knowledge base, learn the best way to keep them sound and healthy and fast enough to be competitive. So it was great."

Back in Florida in the winters is where the Olsons got to know Kentucky endurance rider Amy Wallace Whelan, and her gelding Wallace Hill Shade. The 12-year-old half Arabian, half Tennessee Walker has an AERC record of over 2000 miles, 34 completions in 38 starts, and 5 of 6 100-mile completions in over 8 seasons. Amy knew her horse's potential, but she didn't have the time to devote to bringing him along to the top international competition level. "We talked about it," Jeremy says, "and came to an understanding and agreement that we take him and condition him and start riding him. It's not a permanent arrangement; at some point he'll go back and Amy will continue riding him, but she thought through his prime years it would be good to try to bring him as far as he can take us, because she felt he's such a nice animal." (Amy recently competed in the Mongol Derby in Mongolia, billed as "The Longest and Toughest Horse Race in the World", where she suffered an injury and could not complete the race, but still calls it "The greatest adventure ever!")

In January 2014, Jeremy and Wallace Hill Shade finished second and got Best Condition in the Broxton Bridge 100-mile ride in Ehrhardt, South Carolina; following that on April 18-19 they participated in the Endurance Team Selection Trial at Broxton Bridge, and the effort resulted in their being ranked 6th on the shortlist for the USA Team bound for the Endurance Championship at the World Equestrian Games, on August 28, 2014, along the Bay of Mont St Michel, Normandy, France.

As the first team alternate, Jeremy and Wallace Hill Shade have travelled to France with their teammates, and are ready to step up if called upon. "Ellen's horse Hot Desert Knight and my horse Shade, they look great at the moment, so now it's our job to keep them looking that way from here until race day and then execute on race day. Pretty much our work is done as far as fitness goes; both of our horses are fit and sound, so we just have to do some maintenance work between now and then, and hopefully nothing dumb happens. We'll do our best to keep them sound and healthy, and hopefully the 5 horses on the team look great and can start, and we can bring home a medal; but if something happens, I'll be ready to step up and help the cause as well."


It's all about the USA Team effort, and Jeremy expresses his belief in the USA's chances this year. "We're excited. We think we have a good fast team put together. So we hope to make everybody proud this time, and do something we haven't done in a while.

"There are some fresh faces on the team, and some not-so-fresh faces; so I think that Emmett has really gone out of his way to put a plan in place and give a goal that we had to hit coming into even trying for the qualifications for this WEG, certain speeds that he wanted to see us do in one 160-km ride. And all 7 horses that are listed to go have hit that speed that he's asked. So if we can hit it again while we're there, we'll be bringing home a medal."

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

Top photo is Jeremy and Wallace Hill Shade in France
Other photos are Jeremy and Banjara at the 2012 Texas Team Trials

2014 WEG: The official mobile application is now available

Normandy2014.com - Full Article

19 August 2014

The official mobile application of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy is now available on the Apple Store (iPhones) and Google Play (Android smartphones).

With this mobile application, you will get to follow the event with your iPhone/Android Smartphone thanks some of exclusive content :

Schedule, Live Scores & Results of all the competitions
Rankings & Medals
News, photos and videos of the event
Visitor Info (access, catering etc.) and maps to organise your stay
Rankings and Biographies of the 1,000 competitors
Filters per discipline to enable you to only follow the competitions that you like
Social Media Hub : Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
A photo contest « Fotofan »
A lot more

CLICK HERE to download the app on the Apple Store

CLICK HERE to download the app on Google Play

*the app is not available on Windows Phones and on tablets, but the website www.normandy2014.com is available on all phones & tablets.

Great Britain: RACING: Mowatt’s mount is a Dream come true

Bridportnews.co.uk - Full Article

20 August 2014

A HORSE bred in Bridport has ranked the highest for endurance in a prestigious competition, making it a good bet to compete on a national level.

Horse breeder Samantha Mowatt, from Bridport, gained a higher first premium award with her mount Dream The Way Back at the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) Futurity held in Devon.

The horse, owned and bred by Mowatt, attained a higher first premium of 8.70 in the endurance section – the highest score awarded to a potential endurance horse at the event.

A higher first premium indicates that the horse has the potential and outlook to perform at national level...

Read more here:
http://www.bridportnews.co.uk/sport/11422216.RACING__Mowatt___s_mount_is_a_Dream_come_true/?ref=var_0