Emirates endurance: Actions speak louder than words

Horsetalk.co.nz
Neil Clarkson | May 27, 2015

Welcome news emerged today that the Emirates Equestrian Federation had come to the table to talk with the FEI about the issues surrounding endurance in the region.

The Emirates national body agreed to withdraw its legal challenge to its suspension, which was apparently an FEI requirement before round-table talks on the issues could begin.

The UAE federation’s secretary general, Taleb Al Muhairi, has set a conciliatory tone and there are naturally hopes that significant improvements will result.

The FEI Bureau imposed the provisional suspension on March 12 in response to what it described as horse welfare issues and non-compliance with the world governing body’s rules and regulations in endurance.

The fact that the Emirates federation decided to appeal the suspension was disappointing on many levels. Lawyers were never going to solve the issues in endurance in the UAE, and the fact its national federation chose to pursue this route hinted at a worrying lack of contrition.

Even putting that aside, the legal route struck me as very challenging for the Emirates. Had it succeeded, it would hardly have been welcomed back into the international fold with open arms.

The only way that was ever going to happen was if it came to the table and started dealing with the issues that gave rise to the suspension in the first place.

It now appears that the Emirates federation has come to that realisation. The first talks have been held in Switzerland and the FEI has laid out its requirements.

It would be nice to think that this was the end-game in what has been a long and sorry saga, but I believe the challenges ahead remain significant.

It will, ultimately, be a test of the rules of endurance as well as a test of the willingness of the Emirates to bring about change.

Read more...

FEI meets with United Arab Emirates delegation on Endurance issues

An initial meeting between the FEI and representatives of the United Arab Emirates National Olympic Committee and National Federation was held at FEI Headquarters in Lausanne (SUI) this afternoon to discuss the actions that need to be undertaken by the UAE National Federation before the FEI Bureau can consider lifting the suspension currently imposed on the UAE National Federation.

The FEI Bureau provisionally suspended the UAE National Federation in March of this year following an investigation by the FEI into major horse welfare issues and non-compliance with FEI Rules and Regulations in the discipline of Endurance.

Today’s meeting was chaired by FEI Secretary General Sabrina Zeender. The FEI was also represented by Brian Sheahan, Chair of the FEI Endurance Committee, Manuel Bandeira de Mello, FEI Endurance Director, and Mikael Rentsch, FEI Legal Director. The UAE delegation was made up of Taleb Daher Al Muhairi, Secretary General of the Emirates Equestrian Federation, Faisal Al Ali, Assistant Secretary General, and Abdullaziz Sheikh, Head of the Endurance Department.

“This was a very constructive meeting, during which we informed the National Federation exactly what they need to do before there can be any possibility of the suspension being lifted”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Zeender said. “We are now writing to them to explain all the elements they need to fulfil and requesting a detailed plan on how they will deliver on this and the timelines involved. The meeting, which we hope was the first in a series, was only possible following the withdrawal of the UAE’s appeal against the suspension.”

The FEI made it clear to the UAE delegation that only the FEI Bureau can lift the suspension and confirmed that the suspension will remain in force until the Bureau has agreed that all necessary processes have been put in place by the UAE National Federation to ensure horse welfare at all times and that FEI Rules and Regulations will be fully implemented and enforced.

Prior to the meeting, FEI President Ingmar De Vos had welcomed to FEI Headquarters Mohammad Al Kamali, Secretary General of the UAE National Olympic Committee, who had accompanied the UAE National Federation representatives to Lausanne. Neither Mr De Vos nor Mr Al Kamali attended today’s meeting.

AroundTheRings.com

UAE withdraws appeal against equestrian suspension

Insidethegames.biz - Full Article

By David Owen
Monday, 25 May 2015

Taleb Al Muhairi, secretary general of the Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF), is to meet International Equestrian Federation (FEI) officials in Lausanne on Tuesday (May 26), amid signs that efforts to persuade the FEI that it can justifiably lift a suspension imposed in March are getting under way.

The EEF has now launched a new committee to oversee a review into endurance racing - the discipline that aroused the FEI’s concerns - in the United Arab Emirates.

The Endurance Committee, which is to be under direct observation of the UAE’s National Olympic Committee, will seek to work closely with the FEI to “ensure that the world governing body’s rules and regulations are applied in all endurance races in the UAE”.

The UAE was suspended from the FEI in March following an investigation into “major horse welfare issues” and allegedly faked results in endurance events.

The governing body’s Bureau, chaired by FEI President Ingmar De Vos, ruled that the EEF “may not attend or be represented at any session or meeting of any body of the FEI, may not organise any international events, and its members cannot participate in any international events”, although UAE athletes from disciplines other than endurance would be permitted to compete under the FEI flag in international competitions organised outside the country.

In notably conciliatory remarks coinciding with the announcement of the new committee, Al Muhairi said: “As the governing body of equestrian sports in the UAE, it is our goal to pursue excellence while promoting the growth of the sport and safeguarding the welfare of equine and human athletes...

Read more here:
http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1027533/uae-withdraws-appeal-against-equestrian-suspension

Great Britain: Brighter future for Golden Horseshoe: H&H team survive the challenge

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Horse & Hound
23 May, 2015

A Horse & Hound team has completed the Golden Horseshoe and came third behind stiff competition.

Showing, vet and point-to-point editor Aimi Clark, designer Emily Secrett, news writer/digital sub editor Rachael Hook and dressage/print sub editor Polly Bryan took on the 23km pleasure ride at the 50th anniversary event last weekend (17-19 May).

Their team section was won by the Golden Oldies, experienced endurance riders Liz Finney, Sally Hall, Marie Maclean-Foreman and Jane James, who finished with a score of 127.58.

“We all absolutely loved the experience, the ride was beautiful and everyone was so welcoming,” said H&H team member Rachael Hook.

“Our team has little endurance experience and it was far more challenging than we anticipated, but it was a brilliant introduction to the sport...”

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/golden-horseshoe-brighter-future-494861#pTbtHarHPwa7r12C.99

50th Tom Quilty and Jenna Towner: "I'm the luckiest person alive"

May 22 2015
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

It's been called "the world's biggest horse endurance ride," and that may well be true, with 380 horses and riders on the start list for Australia's 50th anniversary of the Tom Quilty Gold Cup on June 6-7 in Hawkesbury, New South Wales.

It's the Australian equivalent of America's Tevis Cup: 100 miles in one day, the premiere ride that almost all endurance riders aspire to at some point in their endurance lives. The idea of the Quilty was started by Queenslander RM Williams in 1966, then editor of Hoof and Horns magazine, after hearing and printing stories about the Tevis Cup in California. RM asked his friend Tom Quilty, "a great horseman and cattleman" for help; Quilty donated $1000, which was used to make a gold cup, which became the perpetual trophy for the ride.

Of the nine riders from the USA scheduled to start in this year's Tom Quilty, it just might be Californian Jenna Towner who is the most excited. She signed up for the Quilty before she was even qualified to ride it.

"I'm 42 and just started riding Endurance two years ago," Jenna says. "I rode Hunter/Jumpers my whole life, but after incurring several injuries in Baghdad, I just couldn't afford to get thrown off a horse. Still, I longed for the woods - and since I could no longer go hiking with my dog (my favorite thing ever), this sport called to me with enormous vigor.  I feel sincerely grateful every day that I found this sport . . . even if it took me 40 years."

With her own horse PR Toronto rehabbing from an injury, Jenna's good friend Kristen Vaught loaned her horse Sammies Ace to Jenna for the Twenty Mule Team 100 in February, for Jenna's first 100-mile ride. With the pair finishing the 100-mile ride, Jenna was qualified to start in the Quilty.

Jenna will ride the 11-year-old Anglo Arabian mare Monkhani Lodge Noble's Locket, owned by Emma Holland of Roswick Endurance in Victoria. Roswick Endurance and Performance horses breed, train, and compete Arabians in endurance, racing, dressage, show, and pleasure. The mare recently completed the Derghorn 160-km ride in November of 2014.

Traveling to Australia for this momentous event, Jenna is combining her travel bug with her love of endurance. She is most looking forward to the starting line. "At midnight, mounted upon a strange horse in a strange land, staring down a crowd of over 400 excited horses . . . that moment before it all begins is when my mind is most quiet and I realize 'Damn, I'm the luckiest person alive'.  

"For me, it's always about the starting line. Finishing is a grand and amazing bonus - but sometimes we lose sight of the struggle it took to just show up."

The Quilty will stream live - bookmark this link: http://www.tomquilty15.com/

For more stories, photos, adventures and results, see
http://www.endurance.net/international/Australia/2015TomQuilty/

Dutch endurance coach departs in midst of fake permit allegations

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Pippa Cuckson
21 May, 2015

The Dutch equestrian federation has sacked its successful endurance coach Emile Docquier in the midst of allegations of fraud over a permit issued to UAE-based Pakistani endurance trainer Anzaq Mehmood.

The federation says it has parted company with Docquier due to “difference of opinion.” However, their decision came just days after it emerged that the permit, allegedly issued by the Pakistan federation, accompanied entries for a national ride at Schilde, Belgium sent in by Docquier’s office.

Dutch endurance enjoyed a boost last year after collaborating with Mehmood, who trains for the Al Qasimi family in Dubai. Mehmood – who has spent time in the UK, at King’s Forest – prepared Laiza de Jalima, with whom Marijke Visser won individual silver at WEG...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/pakistani-endurance-trainer-investigated-for-allegations-of-fraud-hh-vip-2-494350#4V0w0lPmXzg3i2Jf.99

Golden times at last ever Golden Horseshoe

Westernmorningnews.co.uk - Full Article

By Western Morning News | Posted: May 20, 2015

By Liz Parks

A few seconds into our first ever attempt at the Golden Horseshoe pleasure ride it became clear that my cob, Percy, was having the time of his life.

My normally steady and sensible chap could see some other riders cantering over the hill and he decided that he really, really wanted to follow them.

There followed a few minutes where I saw a different side of him – in his own mind, despite the reality of being a middle aged, chunky chap, he was an elite athlete who wanted to go, go go.

But with the brakes feeling more than a bit dodgy and a long, steep, stony descent rapidly approaching I decided I wasn’t taking any chances so, within five minutes of starting, I had hopped off and we walked down the track feeling more than a little foolish.

Half way down, we were passed by two more riders, Judith and Caroline, who kindly said ‘yes’ when I asked if I could tag along with them.

So, having remounted, we started the 23km route again. And, what a route it is! Miles and miles of moorland tracks taking you up jaw-droppingly steep climbs with the reward of panoramic views of the moor at the top...

Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Golden-times-Golden-Horseshoe/story-26540980-detail/story.html#ixzz3ami0eCDx