2015 Shahzada Won by Gadsby and Lengronne

September 10 2015

65 horses and riders, including 4 Juniors, started the 36th annual 400-km, 5-day Shahzada endurance marathon in St Albans, New South Wales, Australia, that began on Monday, August 24. The ultimate test of endurance horsemanship, riders must complete all 5 days and be judged fit to continue at the end to earn a coveted Shahzada buckle.

Heavyweight Matthew Gadsby and Ra Silver Dancer, and Middleweight Marion Lengronne and Kalkadoon Vienna had the fastest finish time of 34:08 over the five days. First Lightweight was Curtis Kaliana and Blake's Heaven Carousel in a total time of 37.13. Isabel Foster, riding Sharabel Kalarney, was the only Junior to finish the ride and earn a buckle. 26 horses and riders completed the 5 days.

For more information, results, and photos, see
http://www.shahzada400.com/

Bahrain Endurance: Dana enters Elite Club

GDOnline.com - Full Article

9 September 2015

Dana Al Binghadeer Al Dossary has entered the World Elite Club following her fourth place finish in Virton Endurance Championship in Belgium.

Dana is the first female Arabian rider to attain such an international accomplishment in equestrian sports in addition to qualifying for the World Youth Endurance Championship to be held in Chile...

Read more here:
http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/22631/Endurance-Dana-enters-Elite-Club

UAE Controversy: Simply Shameless

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | September 1, 2015

Lots of people have asked me why I didn’t launch into print the day the FEI lifted its suspension of the UAE. Well, the short answer was that it was a suspension, not a ban, and was always going to happen at some point. After all, the only way the UAE can prove they can behave themselves in FEI rides is by taking part in FEI rides.

The other factor was that I was so completely turned-off the subject by the cringe-worthy “welcome back” afforded to the UAE on social media from countries one rashly hoped were the decent practitioners of endurance. Most of the posters genuflecting and squealing “we’ve missed you” were youngsters who don’t maybe yet know better, or folk who make their living selling horses to the UAE. But still – yuck.

Even though some memories are short, happily today we have another jolt about the utter shamelessness of senior figures in UAE endurance community and their acolytes. Thirty horses (yes, 30) have just been disqualified from February’s President’s Cup as a result of falsified qualifications.

The FEI said all along it would excise the faked results from its database. It has now commenced this plus the marathon task of adjusting the results of real races where multiple participants were not qualified to start.

The UAE has certainly been given enough rope to hang itself by the FEI, in the conditions set for its return to competition. Bearing in mind this most outrageous piece of fakery, out of so much other fakery, occurred in January and February this year when the UAE was already on notice from the FEI that it was in very serious trouble indeed, is it likely to have undergone a collective personality transplant in a matter of months?

The horses disqualified from the President’s Cup come from 13 stables variously owned by the ruling Maktoum and Nayhan families. They represent 20 per cent 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 here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/simply-shameless/

Great Britain: Mary King welcomes launch of 100km Dartmoor Derby

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Rachael Hook
5 September, 2015

Devon eventer Mary King is “excited” about a new 100km trail ride across Dartmoor.

The Dartmoor Derby, taking place next September, is inspired by the Mongol Derby, but will be less gruelling.

It will take in open moorland, gorse, forests and ancient stone circles.

Riders can take their own horses or ride borrowed mounts on the three- to five-day ride.

“We’ve had guests from all over the world riding with us and the feedback we’ve had is that Dartmoor is fantastic,” Elaine Prior of organisers Liberty Trails told H&H.

“There are vast areas that can only be seen if you are a keen rider.”

While the ride is long-distance — participants will cover at least 100km in total — it is not a race and combinations do not need endurance experience.

A pilot event over 80km will take place later this month (24-28 September) before next year’s full ride, with 15 places open to the public...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/mary-king-welcomes-launch-of-100km-dartmoor-derby-508635#Q345SpG4ivILEuGl.99

Former FEI Endurance Committee head suspended over UAE race controversy

The FEI has provisionally suspended a veterinarian who once chaired its Endurance Committee for allegedly failing to follow the rules and his purported involvement in several events in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in which duplicate results were submitted.

FEI Secretary General Sabrina Zeender said the suspension of Dr Hallvard Sommerseth, who heads the Veterinary Department at the UAE Equestrian Federation, was for an indefinite period.

Read more ...

Local equestrian sees team effort in endurance race as 'absolute honor'

NEW RINGGOLD — The bond between a local girl and her horse led a team to victory Aug. 21 at the Federation Equestre Internationale North American Endurance Team Challenge in Ontario, Canada.

“It was an absolute honor to qualify. I wasn’t expecting it. The athletic power of my horse is just incredible,” Emily Stemmler, 21, of New Ringgold, said Tuesday.

The 75-mile race through the Ganaraska Canadian Forest involved riding four phases of color-coded trails through various terrain with gaits varying from walk, trot and cantor to gallop.

“It was a more technical trail, but I’m used to riding trails around here with hills,” Stemmler said. “Faveur is extremely good at cantering up and down these hills, so it was exciting to go past people. The sheer athletic ability of my horse is incredible.”

Stemmler rode Faveur, a 9-year-old Asgard Arabian gelding, through the finish line in seventh place, combined with the scores of her two teammates, Meg Sleeper, Virginia, who placed first, and Katherine Gardener, Rhode Island, who finished eighth. The race began at 6:30 a.m. and all had to complete the race before 7:30 p.m. to avoid team disqualification.

Seven riders represented the northeastern region of the country in the race, but participants came from as far as California, Ireland, Israel and Romania.

“It was really cool. You encounter people from California, Texas and Alberta, Canada, and you all have the same passion of horses and riding,” Stemmler said. “Endurance is a little different in the sense that everyone is out to finish first and then after that is the competition. Everybody is looking out for each other riding through.”

Each phase of the race was separated by mandatory holds, or rest periods.

“It’s just something that the horse has to do on their own. Faveur did amazing with it,” Stemmler said.

A crew was assigned to each rider to get the horses heart rate below 64 beats per minute as quickly as possible. Horses were checked by an official veterinarian before the horse and rider could continue.

Stemmler has completed a couple 50-mile rides and three 75-mile rides before, so she and Faveur were prepared.

Horses and riders needed to complete five rides through American Endurance Ride Conference, National Federation for Endurance, then complete a 50-mile FEI ride to be eligible to ride at the 75-mile FEI level at NAETC.

FEI is an elite branch of endurance that is internationally recognized and has its own specific regulations and registrations for both horse and rider.

The scariest part of the race was at the starting gate for Stemmler.

“The starting gate is where it’s most nerve wracking. Forty-two horses go out at a trot and sometimes a gallop,” Stemmler said.

Hills proved most difficult for the horses, but Faveur was used to them.

“The toughest part was hills for horses,” Stemmler said. “The trail was mostly all forested with flat ground and hills so there was a lot of up-and-down movement. Compared to terrain around here, I wouldn’t consider it as hard. The hills here are more rocky. This was more sandy.”

Stemmler has been riding Faveur for three years.

“I love this horse. I absolutely love him, he is incredible,” Stemmler said. “I’ve done all but two endurance rides on him. He’s a very independent horse.

“He takes care of me when I ride. If something is wrong with me he just knows and he’ll turn around. He trusts me because he knows I’m taking care of him, too. I never have to worry about him taking off on me.”

Faveur is not an affectionate horse when first confronted, Stemmler said.

“It definitely took time to build up, but after you go that many miles it kind of just develops,” she said.

Faveur, owned by Holly Corcoran, was bred for endurance races.

“He was already trained before I started riding him. From birth, he was bread for endurance and given the best possible advantage,” Stemmler said.

... full article, Republican Herald

FEI database being updated in wake of so-called “phantom races”

Changes are under way to the FEI database as the fallout from the so-called phantom endurance races in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues.

The UAE national federation was provisionally suspended last March following an investigation by the FEI into what it called major horse welfare issues and non-compliance with the rules in endurance.

Around the same time, evidence emerged of UAE endurance races for which blocks of results in the FEI database appeared to mirror those of earlier races. This issue was unrelated to the suspension.

Read More ...