Tom Hagis and Indian Reinman Top FEI World Open Combination Rankings

June 15 2016

USA's Tom Hagis, from Fries, Virginia, in the Northeast region, and his gelding Indian Reinman, rank at the top of the FEI World Open Combination Rankings with 269 points.

Indian Reinman also holds the top spot in the Open Horse World Endurance Ranking with 269 points.

Their 2016 record is 7 for 7, with 1 100-mile completion and 1 Best Condition award. All of their 2016 finishes are in the top 5: 2nd place in the 50-mile Goethe Benefit; 1st place in the 55-mile On the Edge; 2nd place and BC in the 75-mile Broxton Bridge; 3rd place in the 50-mile Down Under Youth Benefit; 5th place in the 100-mile FITS; 4th place in the 75-mile Indian Springs; and 4th place in the 75-mile Biltmore Challenge.

By Czar Nickolas out of Dancing Sunlight by Electryon, Indian Reinman is a 10-year-old gray gelding with 1485 miles in 5 seasons of endurance, and a record of 25 finishes in 28 starts.

Longines FEI World Endurance Championships 2016 Allocated to Slovakia

FEI.org

15 Jun 2016

The Longines FEI World Endurance Championships 2016 will be held in Samorin (SVK) following a decision at yesterday’s FEI Bureau monthly teleconference meeting. A unanimous proposal from the FEI Endurance Committee recommending the Slovakian venue received the support of the full Bureau.

Three bids to host the Championships were received when the bid process was reopened in April of this year following the decision to reallocate the event. Also bidding were Fontainebleau (FRA) and San Rossore, Pisa (ITA), but the Bureau ruled that neither of these two venues were suitable due to concerns over welfare and safety. Both venues proposed mid-October dates, meaning that the rides would start and finish in the dark, potentially putting horses and riders at risk. There is also increased potential for heavy rain in these areas at that time of year.

Samorin Equestrian Centre, the brain-child of Slovakian businessman Mario Hoffmann, staged very successful FEI European Endurance Championships last year. The 2016 World Championships will run from 15-18 September, with the qualification period ending on 16 July.

The Championships had originally been allocated to Dubai and were scheduled to be held in December of this year, but at its spring in-person meeting on 6-7 April, the FEI Bureau voted to remove the Championships from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as it felt that the UAE National Federation is not currently in a position to guarantee that horse welfare would be fully protected.

“We were very happy to receive three bids and appreciate the willingness to support the FEI at such short notice for this year’s World Championships”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said, “but the Bureau had no hesitation in opting for Samorin. Horse welfare has to be the most important element in the allocation of these major events and Samorin has a proven track record, having already run both the young horse and European Endurance Championships very successfully.

“The timing of the Championships was also important and, with the three bids all coming from Europe, the Bureau felt that a September date was more appropriate. Both Fontainebleau and San Rossore were proposing mid-October when the reduced daylight hours could potentially have an impact on safety. Safeguarding the safety and welfare of the equine and human athletes is our top priority in all our disciplines.”

Driving Championships

Additionally, the Bureau allocated the FEI World Driving Championships for Young Horses 2016 to Mezöhegyes (HUN). The Championships, which were reallocated following the withdrawal of original host venue, Conty (FRA), will run from 8-11 September.

Will the FEI break its own rules?

Fair-endurance.com - Full Article

June 9 2016



5. No NFs shall be allocated two (2) consecutive FEI World or FEI Continental Championships in the same Discipline for the same Category of Athletes, unless there are no other suitable applications.

How do you understand this point?

Option 1: No country is allowed to host 2 consecutive World Championships or 2 consecutive European Championships, right?
If World Endurance Championship 2014 was held in France in Normandy, so, World Endurance Championship 2016 can’t be held in France again, right?

Option 2: Or can we interpet this point as “no country is allowed to host the Championships for 2 consecutive years”?
If Samorin was the host of European Championship 2015, it can’t be the host of World Championship 2016, isn’t it?

As we know now, there are three bidders for the World Endurance Championship 2016: Fontainebleau (FRA), Samorin (SVK), San Rossore (ITA).

If we interpret the Article 106.5 in first supposed way, then Fontainebleau is ineligible, because in such case France will host two consecutive World Championships (2014 and 2016).

If we interpret the Article 106.5 in second supposed way, then Samorin is ineligible, because in such case the same venue will host the Championships for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016).

Both Fontainebleau and Samorin are ineligible, because we have another application from third bidder: San Rossore.

So, if the FEI Bureau will announce the new venue of WEC 2016 in Fontainebleau or Samorin, it will be the violation of own rules of the FEI...

Read more here:
http://fair-endurance.com/will-the-fei-break-its-own-rules/

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/