South Africa: Top endurance official loses fight with cancer

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Oct 11, 2014

South African endurance stalwart Derek Liebenberg, an FEI 4-star judge and technical delegate, chief steward and course director, has lost his battle with cancer. The 54-year-old died on Wednesday.

Liebenberg, affectionately known as Zulu, was appointed as the FEI’s regional development officer for Africa in 1998 and worked tirelessly to develop endurance throughout southern Africa from his home in Johannesburg....

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http://horsetalk.co.nz/2014/10/11/top-endurance-official-loses-fight-cancer/#axzz3Fme6QwEY

Australia: Bendigo horse enthusiast is riding high in endurance sport

Bendigoadvertiser.com.au - Full Article

By Raelee Tuckerman Oct. 10, 2014, 2 a.m.

Newspaper ad introduced horse enthusiast to an equestrian test of endurance

HORSE enthusiast Ange Nicholls answered a small “Riders Wanted” newspaper ad, hoping for an inexpensive way of getting back in the saddle after the birth of her first child.

What she got instead was an introduction to the sport of endurance riding - and a high-end industry that sees international buyers pay thousands of dollars for locally bred mounts.

“That’s how I met Vincent,” she says, referring to Campaspe Valley Arabians stud owner Vincent Comer, a veteran with three decades of experience in the endurance riding world.

“He was looking for someone to help exercise his horses. It’s not paid, but I meet him out at One Tree Hill and go for a ride for a couple of hours about once a week and I just love it.”

This arrangement has mutual benefits: Vincent has a dedicated volunteer to lend him a hand and Ange enjoys a regular riding fix without the cost and commitment of owning a horse.

The 35-year-old began competing in endurance events last year and recently completed her first 80km ride - winning the lightweight category on Miss Pasha in just over six and a half hours and also taking out the best conditioned horse in her division...

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http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/2616584/ange-is-riding-high/?cs=81

2015 Mongol Derby Filling Up Fast

The 2015 Derby is filling up fast, and with female applicants outnumbering males 2 to 1 it brings the question?

Where are all the boys?

The first four Mongol Derbies were won by the boys, but in 2013 the ladies came into ascendency. The first five finishers were girls, with 19 year old Lara Prior-Palmer taking the crown. In 2014 Sam Jones put her stamp on the derby, with the girls this time dominating the top 15.

Will 2015  be a chance for the chaps to win back some dignity or will the girls ride it home again? Are you a gent determined to wrestle back the title? Are you a lady equally determined to keep the title from their grasps?

Applications are still open...

More info at: http://www.theadventurists.com/mongol-derby/

Jessica Langridge and Tarrangower Crescendo win Tom Quilty Gold Cup 2014

October 4 2014

Winner of the Tom Quilty Gold Cup for 2014 is Jessica Langridge and Tarrangower Crecendo with a riding time of 9.13.25.

Jessica also received the Shareym Trophy as the first middleweight or heavyweight horse to complete the Tom Quilty Gold Cup and who has the most Quilty buckles to its credit up to and including the current event.

Tom Quilty Gold Cup 2014 Best Conditioned Awards
HW - Alan Mackinder & Jezabelle Sweet Dreams - 460 points
MW - Kristie Taprell & Castlebar Belair - 436 points
LW - Dianne Walsh & Razorback Silver Wings - 447 points
JNR - Colleen Krahnen & Kalkadoon Viva - 435 points

Meydan to back Endurance GB drive

gulfnews.com - Full Article

Potential partnership would help develop comprehensive programme of activities in UK

WAMPublished: 17:12 October 4, 2014

Dubai: Endurance GB (EGB) is in discussion with the Dubai-based Meydan Group over a package of benefits to back the sport of endurance racing in Britain throughout 2015 and beyond.

The potential partnership between Meydan and EGB would allow the latter to develop a comprehensive programme of activities that promises far-reaching and lasting benefits for EGB and its members.

The proposal includes a number of innovations to aid development of the sport in Britain, aligned to the aspirations of the FEI’s Endurance Strategic Planning Group — to “provide leadership and to drive the necessary culture change in Endurance with regard to anti-doping and horse welfare”...

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http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/meydan-to-back-endurance-gb-drive-1.1394121

Slovakia: Esmail Mohammad: Quality is the key to success

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Dual World Championship-winning trainer stresses the importance of having qualitative goals

By Leslie Wilson Jr
Racing & Special Features Writer
Published: 17:08 October 4, 2014

Bratislava, Slovakia: One word that keeps cropping up when talking to Esmail Mohammad, the dual endurance world championship winning trainer, is quality.

Achieving good results, he says, has everything to do with quality — from the horse to its training to the execution of the ride.

Esmail is clearly a man driven by the desire to achieve the best results and he purses that objective relentlessly. Which explains how he has been able to find the right balance between training endurance horses and thoroughbred racehorses, simultaneously...

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http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/esmail-mohammad-quality-is-the-key-to-success-1.1394116?utm_content=1.1394116&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=Feeds&utm_campaign=Esmail_Mohammad%3A_Quality_is_the_key_to_success&localLinksEnabled=false&utm_term=Sport_RSS_feed

Australia: Wagin gears up for Tom Quilty Gold Cup

Waginargus.com.au - Full Article

By AMANDA RAYNER Oct. 1, 2014, 10 p.m.

IN 1966 Kimberley cattleman Tom Quilty and renowned bootmaker R M Williams had a bet in a pub that a horse could not be ridden 100 miles in one day.

Quilty donated 1000 and a gold cup was commissioned for the first prize.

The first endurance ride was organised as a national ride to perpetuate his wish that we should not lose the ability or pioneering tradition to ride over varying terrain for long distances.

The first ride was held in the Hawkesbury area in New South Wales with 26 riders starting in the event.

Gabriel Stecher, a Hungarian born engineer, won on his purebred Arabian stallion Shalawi. He rode all the way bareback in a time of 11 hours and 24 minutes. The Quilty tradition was born...

Read more here:
http://www.waginargus.com.au/story/2594459/wagin-gears-up-for-tom-quilty-gold-cup/?cs=12