UAE: Going the distance on 4 legs

Straitstimes.com - Full Article

Horses in Dubai endurance race enjoy royal treatment; discipline is FEI's fastest growing

January 17 2016
Jonathan Wong

They are subjected to strict medical checks throughout the gruelling race in the desert and have a team waiting to massage their feet and fetch buckets of cold water to refresh them, while electric fans are brought out to keep them cool during the intermittent breaks.

While this sounds like a typical scene from a marathon race involving elite athletes, there is one telling difference.

These competitors run on all fours. Meet the stars of the equine world of endurance racing.

Nothing is spared to keep these horses - mostly Arabian-bred and famed for their stamina and durability - comfortable and in the best physical shape, explained rider Prutiratr Serireongrith.

Volunteers line the dusty circuit with plastic bottles of water in hand, passing them to the riders who rarely take a sip but empty the contents onto their mounts to keep them hydrated.

"The horses are the No. 1 priority. No one really cares about us, the ones sitting on top," chuckled Prutiratr...

Read more here:
http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/going-the-distance-on-4-legs

Bahrain: Nasser bin Hamad awards endurance race winners

BNA.bh - Full Article

16/01/2016

Manama, Jan.16 (BNA) HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and President of Bahrain Olympic Committee honoured the winners of Khalid bin Hamad 120KM Endurance Race in the presence of HH Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (BREEF).

Rashid Al Rowaiee from Al Zaeem Stables won the first place on the horse Trabic, finishing in 04:35:25 time with the speed of 26km/h. The second and third places went to Al Fateh Stables’ rider Raed Mahmoud and Al Asayel Stables’ Fahad Helal Al Khatery, who finished the race in 04:44:10 and 04:44:15, respectively and with the speed of 25km/h...

Read more here:
http://bna.bh/portal/en/news/706376

Great Britain: Golden Horseshoe saved but no ride in 2016

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Rachael Hook
11 January, 2016

The future of Britain’s most famous endurance ride has been secured thanks to the appointment of a new event organiser, but the ride will not go ahead this year.

Exmoor’s Golden Horseshoe celebrated its 50th anniversary last year (17-19 May), but the continuation of the event hung in the balance after its long-serving committee chose to step down.

The committee, headed by Barbara Wigley, was struggling to find a replacement team.

However, Mrs Wigley confirmed to H&H that a new organiser had stepped in and the ride is expected to continue in 2017.

“It’s not running this year, but we think it will run next year,” Mrs Wigley told H&H.

“I’m really pleased — it is a nice feeling. The person who is taking it on is getting a new committee together.”

Mrs Wigley said she will be able to confirm the name of the new organiser and further information on the future of the ride in March...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/golden-horseshoe-saved-but-no-ride-in-2016-523262#cpdZjv2Qlmo3TJZP.99

How an Unsung Sheikh has Forced an Epiphany in Endurance

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | January 11, 2016

Only keen students of Middle Eastern politics have probably heard of the intriguingly named Dr. Sheikh Sultan, but 2016 could be the year in which his body of admirers spreads far outside the Emirates.

First, though, some background for those whose geography etc. is a bit scratchy.

The UAE comprises seven sheikhdoms (or emirs), of which Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the most powerful, ruled by the Nahyan and Maktoum families respectively.

Dubai is perhaps the more famous, as a business hub and tourist magnet and because of the stratospheric profile of its Thoroughbred racing through the involvement of Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai. However, the overall UAE presidency is with the Al Nayhans, currently Sheikh Khalifa. So Sheikh Mohammed is not the quite the most senior person in the Emirates, being overall UAE vice president and UAE prime minister.

One of Sheikh Mohammed’s daughters is married to famed soccer patron Sheikh Mansour Al Nahyan, UAE deputy Prime Minister, though despite this romantic alliance there is rivalry between the two families.

Mohammed and Mansour also own the two busiest endurance venues – Dubai International Endurance City (DIEC), due to host the 2016 world championships unless the UAE gets suspended again, and Al Wathba.

One Sheikh is moving mountains to reform endurance. Sadly it’s neither of these two.

Our unsung hero is His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Al Nahyan, a former deputy UAE prime minister, Mansour’s much older half-sibling and three-quarters sibling of president Khalifa. Sultan was part-educated outside the UAE, including a spell at Millfields, a famous British school renowned for its sporting prowess and values.

Sheikh Sultan is keen on endurance too, and owns the UAE’s third busiest venue, Bou Thib.

For eons he has despaired about the evolution of the desert racing and yearned for “classical” endurance, or indeed anything that doesn’t view the horse as expendable. But he was a voice in the wilderness, quite literally...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/how-an-unsung-sheikh-has-forced-an-epiphany-in-endurance/

UAE: 'Disaster' in Bouthieb - Empty clinic, result of the new parameters enforced

Enduroonline.com.br - Full Article

Text and Clinic Photo: François Kerboul - FEI 4 *

Thursday, December 31 was a historic day in Bouthieb Endurance Village (Al Khatem, Abu Dhabi, UAE): During the CEN 1* 90 km Emirates Heritage Club for Ladies with 59 competitors, the clinic remained desperately empty, which, according to officials, had never happened since the beginning of endurance in the UAE. HH Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan - Representative of the President and Chairman of the Emirates Heritage Club (EHC) -, the organizing committee, the officials, the participants, etc. everyone felt authorized to say, with undisguised pleasure and black humor, that this was a true disaster ... for the employment of treating veterinarians, who were overwhelmed with joy having spent a very boring day.

It's clean, it's all ready, it's empty. In the background, a "desperate" veterinarian is waiting.

The second day of competition, January 1, was similar with 2 events (CEI 1* 80 km Emirates Heritage Club Cup in 3 phases and 89 competitors, plus a CEN 1* 100 km Emirates Heritage Cup for Pvt. Owners in 4 phases with 39 competitors) accumulating a total of 128 horses on the track. The day passed with a single mild metabolic case receiving only a treatment of 5 liters of fluid without any additives, a sort of comfort treatment. And nothing else.

The third day, January 2, there was a CEIJY 2* 120 km Emirates Heritage Cup in 5 phases with 55 starters on the track. Only 3 horses were presented, they had lost their riders who had fallen down on the first phase in the light sandstorm with reduced visibility and which were caught and taken to the clinic, then immediately released as nothing justified their presence. On the third day 3 there were 3 metabolic cases, 2 without any treatment and 1 receiving 10 liters of fluid without any additives, plus 3 lamenesses of which one only was treated with a small dose of anti-inflammatory. And that's all.

So, in three days of racing, four competitions, 242 horses, only 3 horses received a light medical treatment mainly out of caution.

This was a remarkable way to end 2015 and start 2016 in Bouthieb Endurance Village. The new competition parameters, implemented regularly for the first time (including 10 minutes of recovery time, even for the finish with a maximum heart rate of 56 bpm and hold time of 50 minutes each loop) produced more effect than we all hoped and there reigned an unprecedented atmosphere of surprise, satisfaction, analysis and research, intellectual ferment mixed with a previously unknown joy. For the first time HH Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan (photo), who usually did no more than pay one or two visits per season, remained permanently on the site during the three days and even chaired the Wednesday briefing of the first competition.

The new president of the national federation – a show jumping rider - came many times, to visit the clinic, going around the venue, to go on the tracks, unlike its predecessor who had never been seen there...

Read more here:
http://www.enduroonline.com.br/Disaster-in-Bouthieb-Empty-clinic-result-of-the-new-parameters-enforced.php

UAE: Jeremy Reynolds and Danire Finish 71st in Sheikh Mohammed Endurance Cup

January 9 2016

Jeremy Reynolds and Danire were the only pair of the 4 USA entries to complete this year's 160-km Sheikh Mohammed Endurance Cup in Dubai. They finished 71st in a time of 10:00.22

Heather Reynolds' mount Bound for Honor was eliminated at Gate 3 for Irregular Gait.

Meg Sleeper and Syrocco Rabia were eliminated at Gate 3 for Irregular Gait.

Melody Blittersdorf and CA Iceman were eliminated at Gate 3 for Metabolics.

Winning time for the desert race was 6:32.50 for the UAE's HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum aboard the 14-year-old mare Ajayeb.

81 horses out of 227 starters finished the race (35%).

For complete results see:
http://www.endurance.net/international/UAE/2016MaktoumCup/

Dubai Endurance Mobile App launched in Arabic and English

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Features of App will allow users to share information of ride with others and via social media

Published: January 9, 2016 Gulf News
Staff Report

Dubai: As part of the ninth renewal of the His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Cup, the Dubai Equestrian Club, the organizing body for the sport of endurance riding in Dubai, launch an Arabic language version of the mobile phone app, Dubai Endurance.

The Dubai Endurance App allows the user to follow all endurance events held at Dubai International Endurance City, including the HH Endurance Cup that was held on Saturday, January 9.

In addition to the app being available in both Arabic and English languages, a new feature will allow users to follow the locations of horses when they have returned from a loop of competition. The feature includes a diagram that includes representations of the start /finish gate, veterinarian inspection enclosure and cooling off area that will pinpoint the horses’ location for users...

Read more here:
http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/dubai-endurance-mobile-app-launched-in-arabic-and-english-1.1650782