UAE to stage three major endurance rides in Italy

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

September events to form part of the Italian Endurance Festival at Verona

Published: 19:19 September 11, 2015
Staff Report

Abu Dhabi: The HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival will stage a series of endurance rides including the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Endurance CEIO Cup for teams in Verona, Italy, later this month.

Details of the events, which will take place under the directives of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, were revealed at a press conference during the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) 2015.

The rides, which will be part of the Italian Endurance Festival, comprise the FEI World Championship for Young Horses (Under 7 years) on September 26 and the HH Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Endurance CEIO and the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival Cup rides on September 27.

Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the Shaikh Mansour Festival, confirmed that in 2016 the Festival will join hands with the sport’s governing bodies in France and Portugal to stage the same events in Negrespelisse, France, and Portugal during April and September respectively...

Read more here:
http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/uae-to-stage-three-major-endurance-rides-in-italy-1.1582540

2018 WEG: Bromont Bail

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Blogs Straight-Up | September 4, 2015

Have you heard the not-so-breaking news about Paul Côté resigning as CEO of Bromont 2018? Probably not, as the announcement wasn’t exactly sung from the rooftops. I considered adding the word ‘out’ to the title of today’s post, but the suggestion that something is being rescued would give very much the wrong signal. Côté has washed his hands of Bromont and returned to the world of mass transit. If I were a palm reading type, what I would read between the lines here is that he saw an opportunity to get out while the getting’s good – and took it.

It would not be at all accurate to say that Côté jumped off a sinking ship, either, since that cliché suggests the ship was not only floating but had moved somewhere under its own power from the dock. If there is anything remarkable about the year since Bromont ‘won’ its bid for WEG 2018 (kind of like I once ‘won’ first place in a dressage class with only one entry and I exceeded the 59% minimum score to get the first place ribbon and coffee mug), it’s that so very little has happened. Three years out from D-day, two years out from when test events would be run, and we’ve heard next to zilch about the enormous infrastructure improvements that were promised in Bromont’s bid book. And now the one man who might have been able to make the show go on has walked off the set...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/straight-up/bromont-bail/

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 ...