Arabian horse legend Sheila Varian dies at 79

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

Horsetalk.co.nz | 8 March 2016

Renowned US arabian horse breeder Sheila Varian has died at the age of 79 after a battle with cancer, which was diagnosed in 2013.

Varian, who died on the morning of March 6, had been breeding horses since 1954 and was considered one of the world’s leading breeders of arabian horses, but she was also well known in western riding circles.

Ridden by Sheila, Ronteza (*Witez II x Ronna by Faronek) notched up three “firsts” at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in the 1961, the first Arabian, the first female rider, and the first amateur rider to “win the world” – the Reined Cow Horse World Championships, a contest dominated by quarter horses.

She was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2003.

The Varians were among the first to import arabians from Poland. Varian said: “I didn’t breed my stallions to follow any trends. I’ve always tried to take the best stallion and breed it to the best mare for the purposes I had in mind. I have had a deep fondness for the Arabians from Poland – however I recognize that all Arabians came from the desert originally so quality is more important than origin...”

Read more: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2016/03/08/arabian-horse-legend-sheila-varian-dies-79/#ixzz42GHYTIHH

The Rebirth of Endurance Tests

AwareWelfare.net - Full Article

by John Crandell
February 28 2016

• Prologue
• The Time Is Now
• The Genesis of Modern Endurance
• Expansion Across North America
• FEI Enters the Scene
• Back in the USA
• Our Issues are More Alike Than We Realize
• A Rebirth Begins
• Building Wise Endurance Testing Programs
• Roadmap to the Future (COMING SOON)
• Creating Healthy Goalposts and Incentives (COMING SOON)


Prologue

Endurance riding was once on the vanguard of equine welfare, generating new definition in the meaning of equine welfare itself. Now that honorable position is obscured under a mountain of saddening imagery on the internet and a growing contempt from other equestrians over the level of equitation and horsemanship displayed at endurance races.

Who’s to blame? We all are, and perhaps especially those of us that have been engaged in the discipline as long as myself. I’ve been endurance racing for over forty years now; long enough to have won two Tevis and Haggin Cups, first to finish at six Old Dominion 100 mile Rides, and FEI championship medals as early as 1986 and as late as 2010. I certainly should have known better, should have spoken out more at the right time way back when. Well, no time like the present.

It’s impossible address the governance issues we’re now facing in a way that guarantees that they’ll never return if we can’t openly identify our collective mistakes that allowed this travesty to develop in the first place. So please notice that as I dissect this calamity of errors, I offend people on both sides of highly polarized positions equally. I have been party to both camps and am therefore as culpable as anyone.

I will show that the root issue here has been brooding for a long time, and goes back to a time before the involvement of the Federation Equestrian International (FEI) and well before the Persian Gulf countries participation in internationally sanctioned endurance racing.


The Time is Now

At this time the entire world, especially the equestrian community, is aware of the alarming spectacle of endurance racing activity in the United Arab Emirates. This has devastated the already fragile reputation of the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), which sanctions these races. The FEI has been supplying the public years of image posturing and repeated announcements that is making “sweeping changes”, but the carnage has continued with its renewed sanctioning.

Meanwhile in the United States the endurance riding disciplines national governing body is in a different kind of downward spiral. The economic demography of the U.S.A. has lured the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) into a dangerous trap. When businesses and organizations here listen to their constituents too democratically what they will always hear most loudly is that “we want more quantity, less cost; and we enjoy being patronized gratuitously”. Following this mandate usually creates economic growth initially, but it then leads to departure from the organizations original purpose, alienation of its original supporters, and declining standards until there is nowhere lower to go in order to acquire new members.

This is written as a warning to other regions with developing equestrian programs not to follow in our footsteps. The following is chronical of the foolish choices we’ve made that led to this mess nationally and internationally. Review this history to learn by our mistakes as the modern endurance riding discipline begins an inevitable rebirth.

There is a great spark of hope in the initiatives demonstrated at the Bouthib racecourse in Abu Dhabi. This is essentially a step back in the discipline’s history to the point in time before we began to let it go so far astray. This is the place from where we need to start again, a little wiser this time.

Our goal needs to be much more than just a tolerable amount animal suffering for the benefit of our sporting amusement. As worldwide awareness of the animal welfare sharpens, equine sports are under increasing pressure to evolve into exercises that genuinely benefit the animals. Just to “do little harm” as the general public may see it, to have image managed by skillful public relations tactics, is no longer enough. The modern world is demanding scientifically sound definitions and equitable practices of animal welfare.

Endurance riding has potential greater than any other equestrian discipline to have a positive impact in the future health and happiness of equines. The disciplines ability to closely mimic the natural challenges that forged horses as we have come to know them makes it the ideal platform for maintaining vital knowledge in genealogy, and of naturally good husbandry of the animals. This species that has carried mankind to prominence on earth desperately needs us to get this right, and we need to get this right for ourselves as well.

I’m going to point out how at time decades ago, when the world was looking to us in North America for concepts and inspiration, we had begun to make a pivotal error in the way we were allowing the distance riding discipline to be structured and governed. That fundamental flaw became embedded into the very foundation of endurance racing as it developed into an international sport with utterly dysfunctional result.

What at first seemed small and tolerable deviation from the noble philosophies that spawned the first modern endurance races here in America half century ago as has become a fundamentally dysfunctional system. In the most recent three decades it has become layered with additional distortions of best practices in order to better support the pomp and image of an international circus.

In North America that same error has had a nearly opposite effect as elsewhere, creating a loss of motivation to pursue equestrian excellence in all its aspects. This has forfeited the disciplines potential to adequately support the best breeding practices, and caused a visible decline in basic horsemanship and equitation in the distance riding community. The impact on equine welfare here has been more insidious, but it is no less tragic for horses in the end. We have simply learned how not to see it in our midst...

Read the rest here:
http://awarewelfare.net/2016/02/28/blog-post-title/

Uproar in Arabian Horse World

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Heads of Poland’s State Studs Janow Podlaski and Michalow have been dismissed

February 24 2016
by: Horse-Canada.com

The Arabian horse world is in turmoil as it has been announced that the heads of Poland’s State Studs Janow Podlaski and Michalow have been dismissed.

On February 19th, news broke the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Property Agency has released Janow Podlaski director Marek Trela, Michalow director Jerzy Bialobok, and the Agricultural Property Agency’s chief Arabian horse specialist Anna Stojanowska from their long-held positions.

In response, the global Arabian horse community is calling for their reinstatement. Petitions in Polish and English are circulating. The English language petition has already gained more than 3,000 signatures.

Organizers of the petition claim that the removal of Trela, Bialobok and Stojanowska leaves the Polish Arabian in jeopardy. It is feared that the tradition of breeding excellence is now at risk, as these knowledgeable professionals are replaced...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/horse-news/uproar-in-arabian-horse-world/

Canada: Langley lawyer preparing to compete in world’s longest horse race

Globalnews.ca - Full Article

February 28 2016
By Jill Bennett - Reporter / Anchor Global News

Heidi Telstad has been riding horses since she was a little girl – but now the Langley lawyer is preparing for her biggest equestrian challenge yet.

She’s the only Canadian riding in this year’s Mongol Derby. Spanning over 1,000 kilometres, it roughly tracks the postal route created by Chinggis Khaan in the 13th century. It’s often called the longest and toughest horse race in the world, and this year only 44 of the 1000 applicants were chosen to compete in the race, which covers both desert and rocky terrain through the Mongolian wilderness.

“The biggest danger is the wild dogs and they say you won’t see them coming,” said Telstad.

“If you see a dog coming, it usually belongs to a family, but the wild ones will stalk you if you are on your own...”

Read more or listen in here:
http://globalnews.ca/news/2546008/langley-lawyer-preparing-to-compete-in-worlds-longest-horse-race/

Abu Dhabi: Nouf Reda wins Endurance Cup

Khaleejtimes.com - Full Article

February 27 2016

Nouf Abdul Reda, astride 11-year-old Anglo Arabia gelding RR Erebus, landed the 100km Shaikha Fatma bint Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Ladies Endurance Cup for Al Maghaweer Stables, at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Shaikha Mahra bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum headed the 108 riders who started the race under favourable weather conditions at the beautiful venue which was decked up with a lot of side activities at the 'Arts Creative Land' for young kids and especially girls.

The race was attended by Shaikha Fatma bint Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and accompanied by her two brothers Shaikh Mohammed bin Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Shaikh Hamdan bin Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Nouf and RR Erebus covered the distance in 3 hours, 26 minutes and 34 seconds at an average speed of 29.04kmph. Polish rider Kamila Anita Karet was second on Thaalob and in third was Argentine Sabrina Mendiz on H C E Magfalcada Su...

Read more here:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/horse-racing/nouf-reda-wins-endurance-cup

New UAE endurance rules fail to slow down riders

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Pippa Cuckson10:55 - 26 February, 2016

“Strong” new measures applied in the UAE from 13 February failed to reduce speeds in the first two endurance rides to apply them.

The Gamilati Cup for mares on 18 February, and a juniors’ race the next day both recorded some of the fastest aggregate speeds over 120km this season.

Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum won the Gamilati Cup with a final loop speed of 32.11kph and average speed of 27.05kph...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/speed-still-an-issue-in-uae-endurance-despite-rules-527979#KCSheMfEP5EOm0Wl.99

UAE: Just Who is in Charge?

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | February 22, 2016

Well, as an American endurance chum put it, that was as useful as a bucket of warm spit.

I don’t know a single sceptic who wouldn’t have been ecstatic to be proved wrong about the efficacy of the “strong new measures” put in place on February 13th for the remainder of the UAE winter season.

There has been no dancing for joy this week among the “clean” endurance community, though. The FEI’s stated aim is to reduce the speeds associated with catastrophic injury. But at the first two rides last week under the “new” constraints, some of the fastest aggregate speeds of any national or FEI 120km ride this season were recorded, with completion rates as dire as ever.

Endurance is about training horses for recovery, and thus a mystery to most other horse disciplines. I have only recently grasped enough of it to appreciate why the correlation is so fascinating and absorbing to those who love classic endurance.

But in the UAE, it’s taken to extremes. They can afford to buy the very best selectively-bred Arabian super-horses. Their agents round the world target horses who are not just fast but that can present at vet gates within minutes, a trait the UAE trainers then refine through methods the rest of us can only imagine.

But presumably the FEI’s own endurance experts don’t understand it, because otherwise they would have foreseen this: if you set a lower heart recovery rate (60bpm in final loop compared with 64 before), but with no other complementary constraint as enacted at Bou Thib, riders will simply delay a few minutes in presenting, having belted along even faster on the loops!...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/just-who-is-in-charge/