Great Britain: Teenager to tackle 240-mile ride in memory of best friend

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Rachael Hook
06:55 - 12 June, 2016

A teenager will be tackling a 240-mile ride next month in memory of her best friend.

17-year-old Lucy Harley plans to ride from Princes Mead, Winchester, to Daymer Bay, Cornwall.

The Newbury A-level student decided to take on the challenge to raise funds for Allegra’s Ambition.

The charity was set up in memory of her friend, Allegra, who died suddenly in February last year, 16 days before her 16th birthday.

Allegra had a passion for sport and Allegra’s Ambition aims to help other young people enhance their lives through sport and outdoor activities.

Lucy and Allegra enjoyed hacking and hunting together.

“Allegra loved horses,” Lucy told H&H. “I wanted to do something special in her memory — we were at prep school in Winchester and Allegra loved going on holiday every year to Daymer Bay...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/teenager-tackle-240-mile-ride-memory-best-friend-allegras-ambition-542985#XAb3zX8ozzuwKidL.99

India: Galloping in a solo saddle

Ratheesh Sundaram photo
NewIndianExpress.com - Full Article

Babu Kunnumpuram’s 15-acre lush green farmhouse in Vaniyampara, 100 km from Kochi, is hardly a noticeable one. But behind his modest house, a muddy road leads to open land enveloped by huge trees, where a stable that houses five horses stands. This is Stallion’s Valley Horse Riding Academy, Kerala’s only horse riding school. Babu leads us inside where the steeds of Kathiawari and Marwari breed, sourced from Bengaluru and Mysuru, stand ready to gallop.

Today, the academy is trotting towards a makeover. Babu has sought the Kerala government’s permission to start Green Farm, a tourist resort which will be equipped with adventure rides, trekking, a rifle-shooting course, walk-in aviary of exotic birds and pets, forest and hill camping, a homestay for horses and dormitary facility. The permission is likely to come next month.

“We will develop the academy into a huge tourist destination. The inspection team will be here next week. Some people are willing to invest and a management consultant has been roped in,” says 31-year-old Babu.

It all began in 2010 when Babu bought an English Breed from Mysuru for `50,000. “I learnt riding on my own, but when the prospect of starting a school popped up, I sought the help of Nharoth Ali, a US-trained professional rider currently involved with the Qatar Equestrian Federation. Just like driving, there are certain principles that we need to adhere to while riding a horse,” he says...

Read more here:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/Galloping-in-a-solo-saddle/2016/06/11/article3474344.ece2

FEI announces two banned substance positives for UAE Riders

FEI.org

3 Jun 2016

The FEI has announced two adverse analytical findings involving prohibited substances.

Samples taken at the CEI1* in Doha (QAT) on 22 April 2016 from the winning horse Centurion, FEI ID 102RM71/QAT, ridden by Abdulla Mubarak Rashed Al Khaili, FEI ID 10076760/UAE, have returned positive for the banned substance human Erythropoietin (EPO). EPO is a banned substance under the FEI’s Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMRs).

Samples taken at the same event from the horse SUR (Mabrouk), FEI ID UAE01796/QAT, ridden to second place by Mohd Butti Ghemran Al Qubaisi, FEI ID 10092584/UAE, also returned positive for human EPO.

EPO is a peptide hormone that is produced naturally in the body. It is released from the kidneys and acts on the bone marrow to stimulate red blood cell production. An increase in red blood cells improves the amount of oxygen that the blood can carry to the body’s muscles.

Under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Rules, EPO has been banned as a performance enhancing substance for human athletes since the early 1990s, but a reliable testing method was not in place until 2000. EPO has been banned for equine use under the FEI’s EADCMRs since 2010.

“EPO is well known in human endurance sports in which an increased number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells is an advantage, but the substance has little benefit in equestrian sport and this is the first time we have seen FEI horses testing positive for EPO”, FEI Veterinary Director Göran Akerström said. “Horses have a large natural reserve of red blood cells stored in their spleen, and the use of EPO would actually have a negative effect in many horses as the increased level of red blood cells would slow down blood circulation.”

“Clean sport is a top priority for all governing bodies”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said, “and a key part of that is protecting our clean athletes. So we will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that there is no room in our sport for those who attempt to gain a competitive advantage through the use of prohibited substances.”

Both athletes have been provisionally suspended from the date of notification (2 June 2016). The two horses have also been provisionally suspended for a two-month period.

Further details on these cases can be found on this page.

Canada/Bromont 2018: Overdue Diligence

Horsecanada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | May 27, 2016
by Pippa Cuckson

In a long career you can’t remember every news story you ever wrote. However, one from the early 1990s sticks in my mind because it involved a conversation with Jacques Chirac, and it’s not often that a humble equestrian journalist gets her call put through to one of the most famous statesmen of his generation.

At the time M Chirac was the long-standing mayor of Paris. The reason I telephoned his office was because Paris had been awarded hosting rights for the 1994 World Equestrian Games, yet everything had gone awfully quiet aside from growing rumour there was no financial backing after all from the French capital….

Anyway, the gist is that when I explained I was asking about the Jeux Mondiales Equestre his immediate reaction was “what JEM?” Not only was M Chirac unaware of the notion of a WEG, JEM or anything else answering to that description, he was even more surprised to learn this enormous spectacle, at a time of year when Paris is already chock full of tourists, was supposedly being staged on his patch in three years’ time.

I can’t remember without looking it up exactly how the French bid unravelled thereafter, but 1994 ended up in The Hague, and I am pretty sure that if The Hague had been the first ever WEG the concept would have been trashed straight away.

Anyway, I had a strange sense of déjà vu reading recent coverage of the resignations of the five senior members of the Bromont JEM organising committee. A number of media had some of the departees blaming federal government for not coming up with an expected $8-9 million funding, claiming this in turn caused a loss of confidence in any other potential investors.

No one, though, seemed to have got the federal government’s point of view. It now seems neither Bromont, nor the FEI definitely said there was confirmed support from Ottawa at the time of the bid, but there is certainly an inference it had been promised soon after. So had Ottawa reneged on any deal? And if not, what might they have said to Bromont that could possibly have been interpreted as even a gesture of moral support?...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/overdue-diligence/

Dr Jane Greatorex wins the inaugural Scottish Horseshoe Endurance Ride

Lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk - Full Article

26 May 2016

Dr Jane Greatorex, Undergraduate Tutor & Fellow, wins the inaugural Scottish Horseshoe Endurance Ride. This endurance horse ride is 186 km ridden over 2 days (the longest distance ever achieved competitively in the UK) and includes 13,200 ft of climbing for horse and rider...

Read more here
http://www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/news-blog/latest-news/dr-jane-greatorex-wins-the-inaugural-scottish-horseshoe-endurance-ride

Western Australia Endurance Riding Association season kicking off, welcomes riders of all abilities

Communitynews.com.au - Full Article

May 27th, 2016, 01:00AM
Written by Lynn Grierson

RIDERS of varying abilities are encouraged to learn more about an upcoming endurance event in the Avon Valley.

The WA Endurance Riding Association kicks off the season with a challenge on July 30 in Mokine, near Northam.

Co-ordinator Amanda Rayner said organisers were anticipating a big turnout due to the growing popularity of the event in the past two years.

“Local farmers have graciously opened up their properties for the running of this event,” she said.

“This will allow minimal travelling on gravel roads.”

She said the Kep Track and Spencers Brook heritage trail would also be used in the event.

The ride will comprise distances of 80km, 60km, 40km and 20km to cater for qualified endurance riders through to social, trail and pony club riders...

Read more here:
http://www.communitynews.com.au/hills-gazette/news/wa-endurance-riding-association-season-kicking-off-welcomes-riders-of-all-abilities/

Mongol Derby dream come true for ‘adventure junkie’

Langleytimes.com - Full Article

by Monique Tamminga - Langley Times
posted May 25, 2016

Racing 1,000 km through the Mongolian desert, riding wild horses in blazing heat — with a chance she’ll have to fight off packs of feral dogs — is everything Langley’s Heidi Telstad signed up for.

Lawyer by day and daredevil by night, 43-year-old Telstad is taking her love of extreme sports to the next level this August as the only Canadian accepted into the Mongol Derby.

“My family is used to me doing crazy things, often coming back with a broken hand, ribs, but I got some strange looks from my colleagues, some saying ‘I hope you make it back,’,” said the self-described “adventure junkie...”

Read more here:
http://www.langleytimes.com/news/380705951.html