Endurance in young rider’s blood as she takes on overseas competition

Long haul: Alex Toft, pictured with Magnum and her dog Perry Winkle, has been riding since age two. Picture: Sue Crockett

THERE’S never been any doubt that Alexandra Toft, 20, would take up endurance riding.

Her parents, Penny and Peter, run a successful endurance horse stable at Marburg in Queensland and compete internationally.

Toft has been riding since she was two and completed her first endurance event at seven.

She is just back in Australia after competing at San Rosorre, Pisa, Italy, in a 120km FEI two star young riders event.

She finished in a very creditable sixth place on the Toft’s home-bred mare, Dream Dancer TE.

There were 17 riders from Italy and Europe, five riders from the Middle East including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with one Australian in a field of 24 horses.

The race was won by a United Arab Emirates entrant at 22km per hour.

The first four places went to the Emirates, fifth to France and sixth to Toft.

Toft has represented Australia on four occasions at two World Youth Endurance Championships, receiving a team bronze medal in Abu Dhabi in 2011.

She also competed at the World Equestrian Games endurance test event in Sartilly, France, in 2013.

Her mount in the San Rosorre ride, Dream Dancer TE, has been stabled in France for three years and is trained by Jean Michel Grimal.

It was the first competitive race for the 11-year-old mare, who finished strongly at an average of 20.3km per hour.

“Dream Dancer TE was fresh at the end in a gallop finishing with the first of many local Italian riders,” Toft said.

“I was very excited with the ride and proud of my horse — she pulled up amazingly.

“It was a great experience riding among the world’s best.

“This was an important race in Dream Dancer’s career and will set her up for future competitions, she is a pleasure to ride and I am confident she will be a champion.”

Other events contested over the weekend included an FEI two-star 120km event and an FEI three-star 160km event.

Full article at The Weekly Times

30 horses disqualified as FEI begins clean-up of ‘phantom’ endurance rides

Thirty horses, the majority trained in 13 stables owned by the ruling Maktoum and Nayhan families, have been disqualified from the UAE’s most onerous endurance race, the 160km President’s Cup, as the clean-up of the “phantom” rides begins.

The FEI has commenced the marathon task of deleting 15 faked rides from its database, and adjusting results of real races whose participants were not qualified to start.

The 30 horses represent 20% of the President’s Cup starters. They include the runner-up, Kalifa, ridden by Suhail Al Ghailani. Hadeer, the ride of world champion Sheikh Hamdan, was not qualified for this or his previous two races with other riders.

Read more ...

Meg Sleeper Places First in North American Endurance Team Challenge

Horsereporter.com - Full Article

by Pamela Burton

28 August 2015 – Canada ~ The 2015 North American Endurance Team Challenge (NAETC), was held 21 August 2015 at Cayuse Creek Ranch in Millbrook, Ontario, Canada. Held every two years, NAETC welcomed competitors from Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Meg Sleeper (US) on her homebred Shyrocco Rimbaud (Rim) won the Seniors 120km ride in a ride time of 6:50:34 with Jeremy Reynolds (US) on Bound for Honor coming in six minutes later. Melody Blittersdorf (US) on Synthetic finished in third with a ride time of 7:26:34. Fourth was Tom Haggis on Indian Reinman, The highest placed Canadian individual in the senior division was fifth place Robert Gielen riding 6 yo Arabian gelding More Bang For Your Buck (Doran x Forty Thieves).

The first ten riders came in within a ride time of 8:46:46. The ride finished 23 Senior riders and 9 Junior/Young Riders. The last Senior rider, Nancy Zukewich riding Nightwind’s Classic Whiskee finished in a ride time of slightly over 11 hours...

Read more here:
http://www.horsereporter.com/2015/08/28/meg-sleeper-places-first-in-north-american-endurance-team-challenge/

NZ’s endurance championships reduced to two days

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

Horsetalk.co.nz | 29 August 2015

New Zealand’s championship endurance rides will be reduced to two-day events on a trial basis as a cost-saving measure.

Events affected include the North Island, South Island and National Championship rides, which cost up to $40,000 each to run.

In a communication to members this week, the country’s endurance board said that based on the 2015 Nationals budget, reducing a ride to two days would save up to $7000, “reduce metabolic issues and condense sponsor exposure and impact”...

Read more: http://horsetalk.co.nz/2015/08/29/nz-endurance-championships-two-days/#ixzz3kOw69ySJ

Canadians Capture Three Medals at 2015 North American Endurance Team Challenge

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

August 28, 2015
by: Equine Canada

Canadian endurance athletes captured a total of three medals at the 2015 North American Endurance Team Challenge (NAETC), held August 21, 2015 at Cayuse Creek Ranch in Millbrook, ON.

Canada fielded five teams for the 2015 NAETC, which is an FEI sanctioned endurance competition held bi-annually, and attracting competitors from Canada, Mexico and the United States.

In the senior division, featuring a CEI 2* 120km race, the North East Mid Atlantic Menace Team from the U.S. took gold, while the Canada East A Team finished silver, followed by the U.S. Central Team in bronze...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/horse-news/canadians-capture-three-medals-at-2015-north-american-endurance-team-challenge/

Great Britain: Future equine stars showcase potential at Tall Trees futurity

Westernmorningnews.co.uk - Full Story

Westcountry breeders exhibited their most promising young horses at the Tall Trees Baileys Horse Feeds/British Breeding/British Equestrian Federation (BEF) futurity on Friday, August 7.

The BEF Futurity Evaluation series aims to identify British-bred potential sport horses and ponies destined for national and international careers in dressage, eventing, showjumping or endurance...

Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Future-equine-stars-showcase-potential-Tall-Trees/story-27694144-detail/story.html#ixzz3k7X86ivj

Former Calgary journalist finishes world's longest horse race with wealth of memories

Calgaryherald.com - Full Article

CLARA HO, CALGARY HERALD
Published on: August 25, 2015

Liz Brown battled a chest infection, survived a wild-dog chase and endured aches and pains as she rode through weather that ranged from bone-chilling to scorching hot.

But as she crossed the finish line at the 7th annual Mongol Derby, billed as the world’s longest horse race, she was filled with an overwhelming feeling of pride.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Brown, a former Calgary journalist now living in Toronto, in a phone interview Tuesday. “It was amazing, kind of indescribable … I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

Brown was among the 40 riders who set off on Aug. 5 to take part in the gruelling race, which recreates Genghis Khan’s ancient horse messenger system, used for rapid intelligence gathering and communication...

Read more here:
http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/former-calgary-journalist-finishes-worlds-longest-horse-race-with-wealth-of-memories