Let's Hope for Revolution, Not Revolt

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Cuckson Report | April 20, 2015

In seven days’ time, the FEI and stakeholders gather in Lausanne, Switzerland to debate the most significant shake-up ever of its elite sport.

It’s surprising there has been so little media attention thus far, because each discipline is set to undergo – at global championship level at least – remodelling as drastic as the axing of steeplechase, roads and tracks was to eventing in 2004. There is also a move to limit all teams to three with no drop score...

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...By far the most numerous authentic posts at the time of writing are, ahem, all about endurance. The key change there is a proposal, from the FEI endurance committee, that the WEG championship ride becomes a two-day, 100km-per-day contest. The ambition is to re-establish the notion of partnership, so that the rider reads his horse and keeps enough fuel in the tank. It is clearly intended as an antidote to the lets-go-really-fast-on-a-horse-we-don’t-know-and-somehow-waggon-it-over-the-finish travesty allowed to develop in the UAE and sadly now spread elsewhere.

On that subject, it’s still business as usual in the UAE. Clearly the penny still hasn’t dropped about what has to be done before the Emiratis can return from FEI exile.

There were six rumoured equine deaths at their last national ride of the season 10 days ago. Yes, you read that right: six, a figure from sources 100 per cent reliable in the past. Such slaughter doesn’t even warrant a headline now. We are so conditioned to what Pierre Arnould so aptly described as the UAE’s “industry of cheating and death” that it will only be news the day the UAE stages a ride without killing anything...

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"1st World Endurance Summit" to be held with Danish Championship

20 April 2015

In conjunction with the 2015 Danish Endurance Championship, Peter Christiansen of the Association Molsridtet is organizing the 1st World Endurance Summit on in Mols, Denmark, beginning July 28th.

The summit is being held because the group loves the sport of endurance, and they want to "contribute to the ongoing development of endurance as a sustainable sport" which has the maximum focus on horse welfare with the absence of doping.

During the summit, discussions will focus on the state of endurance today and the direction participants would like it to develop in the future. Lectures and workshops will be held concerning ethics in endurance, and veterinarians will speak about research projects related to endurance riding and the use of horses in endurance.

On the last 3 days of the summit, several events will take place. On Friday, a "Mini Tri Endurance" will take place, with a 40 km endurance ride, 20 km of cycling, and 5 km of running. On Saturday August 1, CEI3*, CEI2* and CEI1* endurance rides will be held. The 2015 CEI2* Danish Championship will take place Sunday, in addition to a CEI1*, and an 80 km, 60 km and 40 km national rides.

The summit is open to all nations, and all international and national riders.

For more information, see
http://www.molsridtet.dk/

Mongol Derby: Young grazier signs up for toughest horse race in the world

17 April, 2015
Bogantungan grazier William Graham at his property west of Emerald, central Queensland. He will compete in the Mongol Derby in August. (Alice Roberts - ABC Local)

A young Queensland grazier is about to embark on the longest and toughest endurance horse race in the world all in the name of charity.

Bogantungan grazier William Graham says he is preparing for the adventure of a lifetime in the form of the Mongol Derby in August; a race that will see him travel 1,000 kilometres in 10 days through the Mongolian Steppe on horseback.

The experienced rider uses horses on his property, west of Emerald in central Queensland, on a daily basis but says nothing will fully prepare him for the challenges of navigating the terrain in Mongolia.

"I'd say I've got a bit of an advantage, I know how to navigate around the bush and can ride for hours," he said.

The track competitors follow is based on the postal route established by Genghis Khan, which saw the mail delivered via a number of horse stations across the country up until the 1940s.

Apart from the distance, riders will also have to battle the rough terrain, semi-wild Mongol horses and an unfamiliar diet of Mongolian local cuisine.

Many riders don't complete the race due to injury or illness.

But William says that's all part of the adventure.

"It might be painful for a while I suppose but the experience and the sense of adventure and the desire to win [will keep me going]," he said.

He says he expects the race to be mentally and physically challenging.

"You're only allowed to ride between the hours of 8.30am and 7.30pm, which is a fair stretch," he said.

"Then you camp with the local tribe wherever you get to and you eat their tucker, so I'm looking forward to a bit of mutton.

"Apparently you have to have a few drinks with them at night time, I don't know what we'll talk about but I suppose we'll find something," he added with a laugh.

The race is run by a United Kingdom-based adventure company, which ensures each horse is only ridden for about 40 kilometres a day before the riders are instructed to swap for another at each station.

Participants have to pay a large sum to take part in the race to cover the cost of the animals, food and support personnel but William is using the adventure to also raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor's Service through donations.

"They've given me a couple of rides over the years and they need a lot of money to keep that outfit running," he said.

"We're not even isolated but for a lot of people the RFDS is a vital service for the bush."

The Mongol Derby will run from August 2 to 16.

If you would like to donate to the RFDS through William's ride, please email the ABC.


[Full story]

Two-day race format proposed for WEG endurance

Future World Equestrian Games endurance champions could be decided in a two-day format, with competitors covering 100km each day.

The Endurance Technical Committee is putting the proposal to the endurance session at the FEI Sports Forum, being held in Lausanne, Switzerland, later this month.

The proposal involves ditching the single 160km race which has been used to decide the champion in favour of the two-day format.

The format would set the maximum number of combinations from each national federation at four, with the highest three counting for the team classification.

“The purpose of the format change … is to create a technical competition to test the skill and the fitness of the combination over a course that needs a strategic approach rather than reliance on speed alone to successfully complete,” the committee said.

“The two-day format would also allow greater exposure of the sport to the public and media.”

The mounted best-conditioned competition would assess the combination for fitness, soundness and agility of the combination in the same manner as they competed the event.

[Read more ...]

Eternal Game

A football game goes on beyond a lovely tree in Orman Gardens in Cairo during the annual plant and garden show. 

WORLD MANIFESTO for the Future of Endurance

Wednesday April 15 2015

A website, world manifesto, and petition have been organized in support of the Emirates Equestrian Federation of the United Arab Emirates regarding their suspension from the FEI world governing body of horse sport on 12 March 2015.

The group of riders, trainers, grooms, breeders, horse owners, veterinary surgeons, farriers, organising committees, public agencies, private bodies and associations, assert that compliance with rules, fair play and safeguard of horse's welfare are the main principles on which their experience in endurance is based.

The manifesto states that the suspension of the UAE "leave an indelible mark on the history of endurance" and risk development on an international scale. The EEF has for many years, the mission statement claims, "helped promote the development and success of endurance throughout the world, bringing it to the fore through increased membership and contributing to its popularity in an ever increasing number of countries."

The EEF has brought advantages to the sport of endurance racing, including "the development of horse’s performances and for the quality, genealogy and number of foals born per year in terms of the breeding," and economic opportunities "which absolutely cannot be ignored." Already the suspension has "triggered a spiral that is affecting directly and irreparably tens of thousands of people, who very soon run the risk of finding themselves without employment."

With already over 400 signatures, this Manifesto will be presented to the FEI, urging them to review its position on the UAE suspension and consider the damage in "the development and expansion of endurance and its economic and financial consequences."

It further urges the FEI to look for a joint solution "with Emirates Equestrian Federation and all those involved in the sport in order to enforce the rules, the fair play and to safeguard the horse’s welfare."

The full manifesto can be seen and signed here:
http://www.futurendurance.com/

Change in WEG Format to be Discussed at FEI Sports Forum

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net
April 15 2015

While "Olympic Agenda 2020" will be a major focus at the FEI Sports Forum 2015 on 27-28 April, 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland, the second day's session 6, "Endurance Future," is guaranteed to be a well-attended hot topic.

The Endurance Technical Committee will propose for discussion that the Endurance competition for the WEG change from a 160-km format to a 2 day, 100 km per day competition.

The purpose of the format change from a 1-day 160 km to a 2-day 100-km race is "to create a technical competition to test the skill and the fitness of the [horse and rider] over a course that needs a strategic approach rather than reliance on speed alone to successfully complete." Specific new qualifications would be required to qualify for the WEG to accommodate this change, including 2 day 100-km races for riders and for horses.

Additionally, Best Condition competition will be assessed under saddle to a prescribed test the day after the race is complete.

The Session 6 - Non-Olympic Sports Future (Endurance) session outline can be seen here:
http://www.fei.org/system/files/END%20Future_Session%206.pdf