Bahrain: Sheikha banned over positive drug finding in endurance horse

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

Horsetalk.co.nz | 19 September 2015

A member of Bahrain’s ruling family has received a two-year ban from the FEI Tribunal after her mount tested positive for a banned substance after an Italian endurance race a year ago.

Sheikha Najla Bint Salman Al Khalifa’s horse, Salahdin Du Lauragais, tested positive for the long-acting sedative reserpine, after the 120km 2* star ride in Verona San Martino Buon Albergo in July last year...

Read more: http://horsetalk.co.nz/2015/09/19/sheikha-banned-positive-drug-finding-endurance-horse/#ixzz3mC10yonR

Meet the Torontonian who spent 9 days on horseback riding across Mongolia

Thestar.com - Full Article

34-year-old Liz Brown took part in the annual Mongol Derby, involving 36 riders and 1,220 horses. She reflects on ‘the experience of a lifetime.’

By: Liz Brown Special to the Star, Published on Fri Sep 18 2015

I thought I was hallucinating when I rode past the rotting horse carcass sprawled on a dusty trail somewhere in the middle-of-nowhere-Mongolia. But the swearing behind me confirmed my fellow rider Thomas Ellingsén had seen it too. We halted our horses and stared at the cracked, drying hide receding from the animal’s skull, wondering if it was disease, predators or starvation that had ended its time on Earth. Buzzing flies provided the only white noise in the stillness as Ellingsén brought out his camera to snap a picture, a permanent reminder of the fragility of life in the wild.

It was mid-afternoon of the fourth day of the Mongol Derby and the sun was frying our helmet-clad heads. The next horse station, where we could get more water and new mounts, was more than 25 kilometres away across a wide-open plain and over a small cluster of mountains. Only 10 minutes before, Ellingsén, 38, a rider from Sweden not used to such extreme temperatures, had vomited from heat exhaustion. My other riding companion, Paddy Woods, a 52-year-old Irish jockey, was flushed and gasping as we pressed on. This was the third day of 40 C heat and my mouth felt like it was stuffed with wadded cotton balls, my vision was blurry and my balance was starting to go. As I calculated our speed and distance on my GPS, I let out a sob. It was going to take us at least two hours to reach our next destination.

As my horse plodded on, I closed my eyes, imagining a tall glass of ice water, then licked my cracked, sunburned lips and started laughing that I’d willingly signed up for this torture. This was the adventure I’d spent 12 months preparing for and in the moment, it didn’t seem I would finish...

Read more here:
http://www.thestar.com/life/2015/09/18/liz-brown-i-rode-the-mongol-derby.html

Equine Influenza Hits Malaysia

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA
Sep 17, 2015

International horse transport has been blamed for the first outbreak of equine influenza in Malaysia in nearly 40 years. The occurrence has resulted in a disruption of events in the racing industry and a complete ban on horse movement in and out of the country, according to official reports.

Horse races across the country have been cancelled since the outbreak was detected in late August. However, morning gallops were allowed to resume at affected courses last week.

As many as 400 horses might have been exposed to the disease at the Selangor Turf Club in Kuala Lumpur, said Mohamad Azmie Zakaria, DVM, PhD, director general and chief veterinary officer in the Department of Veterinary Services and Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry in Putrajaya...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/36436/equine-influenza-hits-malaysia

FEI Tribunal questions whether trainer doped endurance horse for ‘revenge’ as claimed

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Pippa Cuckson
18 September, 2015

“Serious doubts” have been expressed about the authenticity of a trainer’s “confession” exonerating a member of the Bahraini ruling family from blame in a reserpine doping offence.

The FEI Tribunal found that the endurance rider, Sheikha Najla bint Salman Al Khalifa, had not established the fundamental principle of “no fault no negligence” for the presence of the banned sedative in her ride Salahdin du Lauragais at the 120km CEI in Verona, Italy, on 26-27 July 2014. It suspended her for two years.

In its 13-page decision notice, the Tribunal queried at length the veracity of a statement purportedly submitted by trainer Narendrha Singh, admitting injecting the horse “between 2 and 7 July,” without the Sheikha’s knowledge, out of “revenge”...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/fei-tribunal-trainer-singh-confessed-doping-510553#ZBt4UsfB6PvKYWUk.99

More Problems for Bromont WEG 2018

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

September 11, 2015
by: Horse-Canada.com

Problematic from the start, the groups involved with bringing the 2018 Bromont WEG to fruition continue to struggle with organizing the behemoth event. At the end of August they lost their long-standing leader, Paul Côté, who had been chair of the bid committee and was subsequently named CEO, when he announced his resignation. This week, the Town of Bromont has – for the second time – refused to grant the long-term lease necessary to build the 4,500-seat indoor arena.

The town council has two main concerns with the building which will host the Reining and Vaulting competition during WEG. The first issue they cite has to do with the design; they don’t want the building to be a big box that looks like your typical industrial building in the middle of their pristine green space. The second concern is that they have not been presented with a comprehensive business plan for how the building will be financed over the long term...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/horse-news/more-problems-for-bromont-weg-2018/

FEI European Endurance Championships 2015: Spain continues domination with team and individual gold in Samorin

Jaume Punti Dachs and the chestnut mare Ajayeb took individual gold in a sprint finish for the line with the Netherland’s Marijke Visser and Laiza de Jalima at the FEI European Endurance Championships 2015 in Samorin (SVK) and also led the Spanish team to victory. Spanish team mates Alex Luque Moral/Calandria PH and Javier Cervera Sanchez-Arnedo/Strawblade are also pictured. (FEI/Giorgio Bissi)
FEI.org

14 Sep 2015

By Berry Pattison

Hot off their superb win at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy (FRA) just over a year ago, Spain continued its reign at the top of the Endurance world when Jaume Punti Dachs took individual honours and led the Spanish to team gold at the FEI European Endurance Championships 2015 in Samorin (SVK) on Saturday 12 September.

The Samorin Elements Resorts, a state-of-the-art, multi-sport facility covering over 100 hectares, hosted the biggest event on the 2015 Endurance calendar and saw competitors from 20 nations gathering to challenge for the title of European champion.

Marijke Visser (NED) and Laiza de Jalima, silver medallists at the Games in 2014, were back to see if they could climb to the top step of the podium this time round, but with other strong combinations such as Jean Philippe Frances (FRA) with Secret de Mon Coeur, and four of the five members from last year’s Spanish gold medal team, the bid for victory was never going to be easy.

This year’s Championships differed from the usual format seen in Endurance events of late with linear sections and a remote Vet Gate providing a logistical challenge for both crews and officials alike. Loop 1 followed the course of the Danube River north, skirting around the Slovakian capital Bratislava and, 40km from the start line, arriving at the first vet gate, nestled at the foot of the Little Carpathian Mountains.

Spain looked strong at this stage with all of their athletes within the top 10. Frances and Visser, along with three Hungarian competitors, were all within five minutes of leading rider Jordi Arboix Santacreu (ESP) aboard the 10-year-old bay gelding Aquiles.

The second loop was the toughest loop of all and climbed from 125 metres up to 550 metres and then descended back to the same vet gate, all within 33km. The difficulty of this section saw the leading speed of just under 23kph drop to 17.7kph. Visser (NED) took a 30-second lead over second-placed Frances (FRA) followed by the entire Spanish team, all of whom were less than three minutes behind the leading horse.

A surprising exit at Vet Gate 2 for Laurent Mosti (FRA) and Reve de Sauveterre meant France could only afford to lose one more team member if they were to hold on to a chance of a team medal. Belgium’s chances were severely hampered here when both Morgane Boulanger and Peter Bastijns failed to qualify for the third loop.

From the remote Vet Gate, athletes retraced their steps along the 40km stretch of the River Danube and back to the Samorin Elements Resort. Top 10 placings remained pretty much unchanged over loops three and four, but the race for team placings were dashed for Belgium, Poland, Norway and Hungary following the high drop out rate at Vet Gate 3.

Jaume Punti Dachs (ESP) and the chestnut mare Ajayeb snatched the lead at the final Vet Gate and headed out on the last 20km loop with just three seconds to spare over Visser (NED). The pair were neck and neck throughout the final phase and a thrilling sprint finish saw Punti Dachs (ESP) take the top spot at an average speed of 22.58kph. Visser (NED) and the stunning 11-year-old grey mare Laiza de Jalima were just a second adrift and had to settle for silver once again.

Despite making up over a minute on the final loop, Alex Luque Moral (ESP) and Calandria PH finished outside the individual medals just two seconds behind bronze medallist Jean Philippe Frances with Secret de Mon Coeur. This means that Frances continues his perfect record and has completed every FEI event he has started.

Former World Champion Maria Alvarez Ponton (ESP) crossed the line aboard Selif de la Nie some 20 minutes later to secure team gold for Spain, but the Spanish weren’t finished yet and, just to really stamp their dominance on the competition, sixth place also went to a Spanish athlete, Javier Cervera Sanchez-Arnedo with his striking 13-year-old gelding Strawblade.

A total team time of 22:42:28, some 52 minutes slower than Spain, was enough for France to take silver, with Nina Lissarrague riding Keeshan D’Aillas and Enora Boulenger with Guarfao de Bozouls finishing 8th and 11th respectively.

As well as individual silver and team bronze with a total team time of 23:54:31, the Netherlands also went home with a 100% completion rate – the very first time this has been achieved in an Endurance Championship. Italy and host nation Slovakia were the only other nations to successfully complete with a team result.

With a starting field of 62 combinations and 37 finishers for a completion rate of just under 60%, the 2015 European Championships was a great example of excellent sportsmanship and team performance.

With team podium finishes at the last three Championships, and reigning current World and European Champions, Spain are looking like a formidable force and are surely tipped for great things at the 2016 World Championships.

“The Championships were a great success, held in a magnificent venue that delivered really great sport” FEI Director of Endurance Manuel Bandeira de Mello commented. “Congratulations to everyone involved, but particularly to all the medallists and all those that completed the Championships.”


Final Results

Team

Gold - Spain – 21:50:59

Jaume Punti Dachs/Ajayeb – 07:05:13/22.58kph

Alex Luque Moral/Calandria PH – 07:13:33/22.14kph

Maria Alvarez Ponton/Selif de la Nie – 07:32:13/20.11kph

(Javier Cervera Sanchez-Arnedo/Strawblade – 07:37:07*)



Silver - France – 22:42:28

Jean Philippe Frances/Secret de Mon Coeur – 07:13:31/22.14kph

Nina Lissarrague/Keeshan D’Aillas – 07:41:03/20.82kph

Enora Boulenger/Guarfao de Bozouls – 07:47:54/20.52kph



Bronze - Netherlands – 23:54:31

Marijke Visser/Laiza de Jalima - 07:05:14/22.58kph

Carmen Römer/Siglavy Bagdady Zeusz – 08:24:38/19.02kph

Melisa Huijsman/Kain – 08:24:39/19.02kph

(Iris van der Horst/Benthe – 08:36:46/18.58kph*)

(Jarmila Lakeman/Okkie – 08:44:16/18.31kph*)



* Scores not included within team score as only the top three are used for the total time



Individual

Gold - Jaume Punti Dachs/Ajayeb (ESP) – 07:05:13/22.58kph

Silver - Marijke Visser/Laiza de Jalima (NED) - 07:05:14/22.58kph

Bronze - Jean Philippe Frances/Secret de Mon Coeur – 07:13:31/22.14kph



Full results

http://www.endurance-timing.net/index.php

Mongolia: Crossing the Finish Line

Horse-canada.com - Full Story

Desk to Derby | August 31, 2015

It’s been over two weeks since I crossed the Mongol Derby finish line and I’m just beginning to understand what happened to me.

Twenty-eight Mongolian horses and 1,000 kilometres later I’m a much different person from the timid amateur rider who crossed the start line on August 5th. The extreme experiences I’ve had over this last month make my six weeks training in Utah feel like a dream – like overheard anecdotes from a stranger’s life.

The real Mongol Derby journey began after a bumpy four-hour bus ride out of Ulaanbaatar and two days of training out on the steppe, when we finally reached start camp. Day 1 of the Derby was a brilliantly sunny day, with few clouds in the sky. The sweet grassy smell of the open plains was almost overwhelming, choking out even the musky odour of our Mongolian bridles made of goat hide.

I think I was fifth or sixth in line to get my mount and the herders threw me up on a frisky little chestnut and we milled about for almost an hour before all 36 riders were up and organized. We clustered about the flags at the start and Mongol Derby chief Katy Willings began counting down from 10. It was only in the 10 seconds before the race began I truly began to feel calm, knowing I’d prepared as best I could. In those final 10 seconds another emotion began to build – real excitement about the adventure I was about to embark on...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/desk-to-derby/crossing-the-finish-line/