Bouthieb (Abu Dhabi – UAE): The Revolution Goes On

Enduroonline.com.br - Full Article

Text and photos: François Kerboul - FEI 4*

The new rules introduced in Bouthieb under the leadership of HH Sh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Representative of the President and Chairman of the Emirates Heritage Club (EHC), have, so far, been implemented on three events totaling eight competitions -from December 31, 2015 to January 23, 2016, i.e. over a period of 3 weeks and two days – involving 1077 horses.

Of that number only 5 horses, whose neither life nor athletic future were in danger, required significant care. These horses all left the clinic in the afternoon.

We can only welcome such a result both because it is exceptional and also because it's simply unprecedented.

This dramatic decline in the number of horses requiring unavoidable clinical care, this disappearance of horses who died of exhaustion or were put down because of fractures, is certainly the most important and most visible consequence of the revolution taking place in Bouthieb.

But do not forget that this is part of an ongoing broad programme of education / rehabilitation which has several other aspects.

Here are a few of them.


On the Track

What can I say except that it's just as different as night and day from what went on before?

The cars have access only if they have the badge (authorization) that was given to them. Their number is limited to one vehicle for 5 horses per trainer. In order to ensure effective control, the badge is not a small discreet label that gets stuck in a corner of the windshield and that the stewards or the police will have no time to read, but a big sticker (30 cm x 30 cm) which does not allow fraud.

The riders' track is lined with linear mounds prohibiting crew vehicles to mix with horses and cross their path. Cars drive on the right or the left track, in principle, depending on the wind so as not to disturb the horses with dust. It is the third year that this provision has been introduced in Bouthieb, but it is only a first step because they are thinking of improving the tracks by making them more technical and by separating them from the vehicle assistance for the next season. The contact points (crew points) would then only be water points as in the rest of the world. Riders would be even more responsible, being no longer practically guided by their trainers. This can only be beneficial for the horses as by becoming more independent, riders will be more responsible and will certainly be more attentive to their horses.

The prohibition of continuous watering and the creation of water points has put an end to the dangerous and unreasonable 4WD race cutting and intersecting the trajectory of the horses at the mercy of the crews fantasies. We no longer see ten 4WD for one horse slaloming 5 or 6 abreast and watering continuously throughout the track...

Read more here:
http://www.enduroonline.com.br/bouthieb-abu-dhabi-the-revolution-goes-on.php

Australia: Bellingen's Isabel Foster sets sights on the endurance riding World Youth Championships

ABC.net.au - Full Article

Sometimes you want to give up because it's so exhausting, but you can't because your horse will fall and you might go off a cliff. I just have to trust that my horse has worked out the safest path, and go with him.
Isabel Foster

By Fiona Poole
Posted January 29, 2016

Bellingen's Isabel Foster and her Arabian Gelding, Sharabel Kalarney, have successfully completed three of the biggest endurance riding races in Australia.

At 15 years old, Isabel was the only junior to complete the Tom Quilty 160km, the Shahzada 400km marathon and the 160km NSW state championship.

Placing first in seven out of nine rides last year, she is now the top junior endurance rider in NSW and Australia, and has her sights set on representing Australia at the World Youth Championships in Italy in 2017.

It would be so awesome to be selected," she said...

Read more here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-29/endurance-riding-champ-isabel-foster-world-championships/7125006

Endurance GB shuts members’ online forum

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Horse & Hound
29 January, 2016

Endurance GB (EGB) has closed its online members’ forum, to the surprise of members.

A spokesman for EGB told H&H that the decision was “not taken lightly” and that the board is “working hard to enhance existing communication platforms in light of the forum closing”.

He added: “It is not the board’s wish to censor members’ views. Sadly the forum became an increasing drain on time and resources, which we could not sustain.

“Our efforts are now focused on providing an excellent ride calendar, improving our infrastructure and promoting endurance riding in the UK. Any concerned members are urged to email the board.”

The forum had been administered by volunteers.

But a statement to members said that “once again we have had issues with individuals abusing the forum guidelines and the volunteers”...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/endurance-gb-shuts-online-members-forum-525048#r1ku4khL3S2W2wZP.99

Enduring Bullwarp

Equinerescuefrance.org

Posted by ERF on Jan 24, 2016 in Association News

As has been documented elsewhere, despite the FEI short term suspension of the UAE in order for them to clean up their act, nothing has radically changed. At least 5 deaths so far this year. No information forthcoming on what happened to horses attributed the generic FTC, or horses that didn’t reach vet gates and are down as RET, or more remarkably horses that have sustained a catastrophic injury (CI) and magically not been euthanased? Even taking into account the horses whose exits are documented clearly in the results, many of those are out lame by the second vet gate. The appalling completion rates, 40kmph average speeds on loops in 160km races, footage of illegal practices such as ear twitching in vet gates and the somewhat bizarre belief that horses don’t need to drink on track if they’re sloshed with water indicates the welfare issues are still very significant.

There is one lone participant, Dr. Sheikh Sultan, who is attempting to use his influence and facilities to alter the status quo. A top class article by Pippa Cuckson details the situation HERE.

Social media has been used to highlight the cruelty in the UAE, and there has been a strong push to inform those still selling to Group VII countries of the horrors awaiting horses sent over there. As ever, there are those that prize the dollar and self-interest over the horse as a sentient being.

The big sellers suggest that those highlighting the abuse are somehow determined to destroy the sport of Endurance by creating divisive feeling within the sport. One very interesting diatribe by someone who sells a lot to the UAE concentrated entirely on how much this person and family enjoyed endurance, how selling abroad allowed them to continue and how wonderful the sport was. Not only is that entirely missing the point of endurance being at heart about partnership of rider and horse, but there is no real understanding of the sport’s financial dynamic as a result of selling the good horses abroad. Any equestrian sport wishing to be healthy nationally, and successful globally, has to keep it’s best horses within the country’s NF. This encourages flourishing competition and attracts sponsorship to grow the sport and support the grass roots whilst giving young riders something to aim for. If top horses continually leave a country, competition becomes poor, interest will wane and the sport will deteriorate. That has been proven in other countries, in other equestrian sports...

Read more here:
http://www.equinerescuefrance.org/2016/01/enduring-bullwarp/

FEI 2016 Equine Prohibited Substances List Effective January 1

FEI.org

FEI Equine Prohibited Substances List

The FEI publishes an 'Equine Prohibited Substances List' (EPSL). This enables Persons Responsible (PRs) to ensure that they are not treating or feeding horses with substances that are prohibited for use during competition and substances that are not permitted for use in the horse at any time.

Prohibited Substances are categorised as follows:
'Banned Substances' are substances that are deemeed by the FEI to have no legitimate use in the competition horse and/or have a high potential for abuse. They are not permitted for use in the competition horse at any time.
'Controlled Medication' are substances that are deemed by the FEI to have therapeutic value and/or be commonly used in equine medicine. Controlled Medication have the potential to affect performance and/or be a welfare risk to the horse.

The EPSL lists all substances that are prohibited for use during FEI events. Substances that are not listed on the EPSL are not prohibited provided that they do not have a similar chemical structure or biological effect to a substance listed on the EPSL.

The EPSL is available below as a pdf, an online database and a mobile app. Links to these tools can be found by clicking on the buttons below.


Changes to the Equine Prohibited Substances List

The EPSL is reviewed on an annual basis by the FEI List Group. Changes to the list are published in the library section below, 90 days in advance of the change coming into effect. Further details on the review process can be found here.


Medication administration proir to and at events

Before giving any substance to a horse competing at FEI events, athletes and their support personnel should always check if the substance is prohibited. If so, a withdrawal time must be observed before competing and the FEI publishes a 'List of Detection Times' which can be found below. Elective Testing is always available and the FEI organises specific elective testing programmes for horses competing in major Games. Information concerning elective testing can be found here.


General Advice

Athletes and their support teams are stongly encouraged to work closely with their veterinarians when administering substances to horses.

The FEI publishes a caution against the use of herbal supplements and products of which the ingredients are unknown. The use of any substance to affect the performance of a horse in a calming (tranquillising) or an energising (stimulant) manner is forbidden. The use of a calming product during competition may also have important safety consequences.

2016 Fortune Telling – Part One

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Blogs Straight-Up | January 23, 2016

As usual, Welly World has hijacked my life, leaving me with little free time and a hoarse voice from all the social interacting that comes from cramming half the horse world into a few square miles. Since I am making so little headway on my 2016 predictions, and since just the first one is a lengthy blog on its own, I will be meting them out in little batches of one or two as time allows during my stint in Florida-land.

So here, it is, the prediction in which I am most confident will come true in 2016:

The leopards will not change their spots – I’m talking about the federations, of course – the FEI and our own homegrown slice of disappointment, EC. In the category of ‘you couldn’t make this sh#*t up’ is last week’s FEI press release proudly announcing the honours bestowed upon a couple of past and present FEI honchos by – wait for it – Sheikh Mohammed of UAE endurance fame – nay, infamy – nay, notoriety. Yes, that’s right. Sheikh Mohammed annually hands out a set of distinctions, known as the Creative Sport Awards, in his own name. Because of course the Good Sheikh is the ultimate authority on all that is noble in sport. Extra especially equestrian sport and, very most especially of all, equestrian sport of the Endurance persuasion...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/straight-up/2016-fortune-telling-part-one/

Bouthieb (Abu Dhabi): The Mutation

Enduroonline.com.br - Full Article

Coming closer for a better understanding

May 10 2014
by François Kerboul

From far away, we often see undefined blocks, groups, masses, and we end up very quickly - if not invariably - making snap judgments and deciding, once for all, that "they are like that". Thus we have "Indians", "Blacks", "Arabs", "Chinese", etc.

From far away we see an anonymous figure, which as it gets nearer, becomes a man who is actually a woman and we soon discover that she is not the unknown one we had suspected... In short, when getting closer we become aware that reality is always more complex than the idea we had of it before.

For the Yemeni who has never left his native mountain, or for his Chinese counterpart, "Europeans" (or "Westerners ") are seen as a global and undifferentiated entity. For us, Europeans, it is clear that this is an absurd shortcut because we know that there is little relationship between a Sami (Lapp) and a Basque or even a Southern Californian. But seen from afar...

It's the same in reverse for us and we cannot completely avoid the trap created by distance.

Group VII, The Emirates, The Arabs, etc.

For many Europeans all that is about the same and one is satisfied with the recent global anathema (doping, cheating) without further questioning. You can even hear some people talk of the need for their exclusion from the FEI, which would in itself mean the beginning of the end of the international federation.

So take a magnifying glass and come closer to understand better.

Here we will talk of what is happening today in Bouthieb, one of the three endurance villages in the UAE (and also the oldest), as you would do for example to explain what we are trying to do and how we do it in Fontainebleau (FRA) or Rascafría (ESP) to an Indonesian.

Doing so, we will leave Manichaeism and monolithic thinking to replace it by the description of the real men and their intentions. A little bit of information, a gust of fresh air on the issue.

Brief And Essential Background

When in the 50s it was discovered that the underground of the northern Arabian Peninsula was full of oil, SH Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, understood very quickly that this resource required the emirates to unite (unity is strength) and that the country would inevitably be overwhelmed by the sudden change induced by this extraordinary resource and the new era to come with it.

He managed to convince his counterpart neighbors to form a federation whose name is the one we know today: UAE (United Arab Emirates).

His second priority task was to set up a body to preserve the cultural heritage for the future generations. This great idea took shape under the name of Emirates Heritage Club (EHC). Its purpose is extensive. It spreads from the preservation of the culture of the past to the latest study on the environment, youth training and education, promotion of tolerance and peace, etc.

In this context horses were of course present.

Sh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, second son of the UAE founder, the late Sh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, currently a member of the government, is the president of the EHC. He created in Bouthieb the first endurance village in the UAE, some 100 km inland among sand dunes, not far from his palace.

Each year five to six weekends of endurance competitions are held there. It is currently the largest center in the world by the number of participating horses each time. For example, on January 23rd to 25th 2014 nearly 800 horses over three days with 340 on the second day participated in the competitions.

The Prince's Will of Renewal

A few years ago, the prince told us his annoyance at seeing that the UAE had created a new type of endurance race he called "flat endurance race" in which speed was privileged at the expense of the horses' safety. That was far in advance of the recent controversy. His voice was not heard despite his conviction...

Read more here:
http://www.enduroonline.com.br/endurance_news_bouthieb_the_mutation.php