Yvette Vinton Headed to Longines FEI World Endurance Championships

HOrse-canada.com - Full Article

September 10, 2016
by: Equestrian Canada

Dr. Yvette Vinton, who currently resides in Ocala, FL, is set to represent Canada at the Longines FEI World Endurance Championships, taking place Sept. 16-18 in Samorin, SVK.

A veteran endurance rider, Vinton has been involved in the sport for 24 years, competing around the globe for Canada. Vinton is also a veterinarian who specializes in general surgery and chiropractics for horses and small animals. No stranger to the international stage, Vinton has competed for Canada on the world stage many times, most recently the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in France and the 2012 FEI World Endurance Championship in Great Britain...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/horse-news/yvette-vinton-headed-to-longines-fei-world-endurance-championships/?utm_source=Enews+Sept+12%2C+2016&utm_campaign=EnewsSept122016&utm_medium=email

Slovakia braced for FEI World Endurance Championships after stepping in for axed Dubai

Insidethegames.biz - Full Article

By Liam Morgan
Wednesday, 14 September 2016

A total of 136 riders are due to compete at the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) World Endurance Championships, which get underway with the Opening Ceremony in Samorin in Slovakia tomorrow.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar are all expected to do well at the event, which remains shrouded in controversy after Dubai was stripped of the hosting rights earlier this year following horse welfare concerns.

Uruguay and Spain are also sending strong teams to Samorin, which was confirmed as the replacement for Dubai in June, while Mario Hoffmann of Slovakia will be looking to make full use of home advantage.

The FEI have confirmed 46 countries from five countries will be represented at the World Endurance Championships, with the main bulk of the action due to be held on Saturday (September 17).

The Samorin Equestrian Centre, the venue for last year’s European Championships, was chosen to stage the event ahead of rival submissions from Fontainebleau in France and Pisa in Italy by the FEI’s Endurance Committee.

Both the French and Italian bids were rejected after they proposed mid-October for the Championships, meaning rides would start and finish in the dark.

Dubai's axing came after the Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF) was suspended by the FEI for "major horse welfare issues" in March 2015.

Read more here:
http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1041631/slovakia-braced-for-fei-world-endurance-championships-after-stepping-in-for-axed-dubai

USA Riders, Horses Preparing for World Endurance Championship

September 14 2016
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

USA's Meg Sleeper and Shyrocco Rimbaud, and Tom Hagis and Indian Reinman are in Samorin, Slovakia, finishing last minute conditioning and preparations for the 2016 World Endurance Championship, which will start at 6 AM on Saturday, September 17.

Sleeper will be represented by two of her horses at the WEC. She also owns Syrocco Rabia, who will be ridden by Fernando Paiz for Guatemala. Additionally, Colin for Gold, owned by USA's Valerie Kanavy, will be ridding by Hirofumi Ono of Japan.

Days are filled with caring for the horses - riding, hand walking, hand grazing, feeding, bandaging, lasering (MR4 ACTIVet cordless, cold laser made by Multi Radiance Medical), and team meetings and meals. Horses moved to a main barn at the venue on Monday. "We are in 'The Hague' barn," said Meg, "which I am hoping will be good luck since Val [Kanavy] won the championship there [in 1994]."

Also on Sunday, the horses were able to pre-ride the blue loop (about 12 miles), the last phase of the event. "The trails for endurance are very firm and in fact there are places it is so well packed it looks almost like concrete. We knew concussion was going to be an issue for the horses with this trail, and ours are all padded to try to minimize the concussion," Meg said.

Currently the forecast for Saturday is 75 degrees with no rain.

Meg discussed the competition aspect of the event. "The scuttlebutt is that the winning speed will be 25kph (or 15.6 mph). That’s a blistering pace over 100 miles, and I don’t doubt there will be people doing it. It is going to be a very interesting event.

"To give some more perspective, the awards ceremony is scheduled for 6pm the night of the race (12 hours after the scheduled start time). I have no doubt that there will be those that attempt it and some will be successful.

"The speeds that some can and have achieved, and to be honest the abilities of all high level equine athletes, keep me in constant awe of the horse. And I suppose that’s what sport and competition is: to push the limits of our capabilities.

"All I am able to say for certain is I will do my absolute best in regards to the competition, but also in regards to trying to keep Rim healthy and happy.

"And I can speak for the USA team (and Guatemala and Japan) when I say we will do it clean."

Stay tuned for more updates at
http://www.endurance.net/international/Slovakia/2016WorldEnduranceChampionship/

4 Days till the 2016 World Endurance Championship in Slovakia

WECH2016.com

September 13 2016

46 countries, 5 continents, 136 riders, 149 horses ! The World Endurance Championship of Samorin promises to be a great event!

The best riders are gathered in Slovakia for the highest level of competition that exists in endurance.

If Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed al Maktoum is considered to be the ultra favorite, other rider can take the supreme title. Which one? This is very hard to say!

Unquestionably, UAE, Bahrain and Qatar are to be taken seriously. For the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum arrives with the best M.R.M Stables’ team.

The countries of the Gulf have very good horses with beautiful and long career, like Leonardo, Ajayeb, Napoli del Mar and many others.

Uruguayan riders are known to be fast, but Spain presents a strong team with its two stars riders, Maria Alvarez Ponton and Jaume Punti Dachs.

Other countries have good chances too like France with Jean-Philippe Frances, and Slovakia with Mario Hoffmann, who can be galvanized by running at home.

Before the race, nobody can say who the winner will be. There are too many parameters to be taken into account: how did the horse travel, the configuration of the race, the weather, the fitness of both rider and horse the day of the race …   
And the coach can change riders and horses until the pre vet check and equestrianism is always a matter of the horse plus rider.

All that can be said is that this Championship will offer a very nice show.

So let’s meet on next Saturday at the x-bionic® sphere – Samorin !

Definite Entries Announced for 2016 World Endurance Championship

September 12 2016

Definite entries have been announced for the 2016 World Endurance Championship to be held this weekend in Samorin, Slovakia.

136 riders and 149 horses are on the entry list representing 45 countries.

The complete list can be seen here: http://www.endurance.net/international/Slovakia/2016WorldEnduranceChampionship/DEFINITE-ENTRIES.pdf

Opening ceremonies will take place at 8 PM on Thursday, September 15. Horse inspections will begin at 2 PM on Friday, and the race begins at 6 AM on Saturday. A live stream of the race will be available at http://www.feitv.org/live

Funds being raised to help Kingwood equestrian compete in Slovakia

NJ.com - Full Article

By Lillian Shupe | For NJ.com
on September 02, 2016

Kingwood Township resident Meg Sleeper is headed back to the FEI World Endurance Championships and friends are helping to pay for the trip.

In August, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) named Sleeper and her horse, Shyrocco Rimbaud, or Rim for short, to the United States team. The championships will be held in Samorin, Slovakia, Sept. 16-17.

Getting a horse and a support crew to Slovakia is not an inexpensive task. Although Sleeper got a grant for $10,000, her friend Robyn Farrington set up a GoFundMe account to raise the more than $18,000 more needed to fund the trip...

Read more here:
http://www.nj.com/horsenews/2016/09/njs_sleeper_named_to_us_endura.html

Spanish Sweep FEI European Endurance Championship for Young Riders and Juniors in Portugal

Paula Muntala Sanchez (ESP), aged 21, riding 10-year old part-Arabian Echo Falls secured individual gold and also guided her team to gold at the 120km FEI European Endurance Championship for Young Riders and Juniors in Rio Frio, Portugal on 3 September. (FEI/Endurance in the World) FEI.org

5 Sep 2016
By Pamela Burton

The Spanish athlete Paula Muntala Sanchez riding 10-year-old part-Arabian Echo Falls emerged victorious after the 120km Meydan FEI European Endurance Championship for Young Riders and Juniors in Portugal, leading the Spanish team to gold as well.

Held at the Rio Frio Equestrian Centre, 38 athletes aged between 14 and 21 from 11 countries left in a mass start at 06:30 on Saturday, 3 September. The competition circled in four loops of 40, 30, 30 and 20kms, with gates and veterinary inspection areas on each loop.

The young but seasoned, Sanchez, aged 21, completed the ride in 05:14:57 with an average speed of 22.86 kph riding though the heat of the day, which reached 30°C with 40% humidity.

The all-female Spanish team came into each vet gate within minutes of each other, pulsed down and left in the same way, and arrived at the finish just after Sanchez, placing 2nd - 5th individually in this order: Laura Fernandez Piña on Cadigaam, Bruna Pujols Aumatell on Lludriga De Masferrer, Raquel Costa Condina on Kalima Casanova and Naroa Calvo Ibáñez on Escarsi.

“The plan was to be strong with all the team from the beginning to ensure that at least one of our team members could be in the medals,” said Sanchez after the ride.

Although this did not happen to her, Sanchez stated what might have been the biggest challenge on the ride: “To lose a shoe is a problem because you lose time, and it is difficult to recover in such flat terrain as the one in Rio Frio. The biggest strength of my 10-year-old Appaloosa is in his character. He saves energy during the competition, which allows him to have a quick recovery at the end of each loop.”

When asked about her future endurance goals, Sanchez replied: “My goal is to improve my performance and hopefully to continue as a team member for Spain.”

Echo Falls is by the full Arabian stallion Tango D’Ayres by the legendary Persik out of the Appaloosa mare, Song of Wind.

Spanish cavalry led the way

Heading out in the first wave of the mass start, Spain’s Sanchez and her teammates blended like a grey cavalry into the low fog of early morning as they led the way for the first 40km loop.

The five athletes took possession of the race from the start, never leaving first position throughout, but knew they were being chased by France’s Henriette D Ursel on Wloszka Fontanel and Emma Frances on Quokin De PSA.

João Maria Moura riding Distinto for Portugal kept within five minutes of the first seven riders throughout the course and he was followed by Italy’s Costanza Laliscia on Rok and Camilla Coppini on Veinard Secondo. Great Britain’s hopes were dashed early on as they lost all three riders by vet gate two.

Besides host Portugal, athletes represented Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Spain.

Seven teams started and five teams completed. A course completion of 57% finished the last rider, Imke Lamsma from The Netherlands riding Sjacour in the ride time of 07:43:12 with an average speed of 15.54 kph.

The FEI European Endurance Championship for Young Riders and Juniors is an important foundation for future top Endurance riders. The last edition of this Championship was in 2014 in Verona, Italy. To compete, athletes must have successfully completed at least 3 CEI 2* events or higher.

Manuel Bandeira de Mello, FEI Endurance Director said of the competition: “It was a fantastic day of top quality sport. The Spanish team led the ride from the very beginning showing their supremacy, and the high skill of the athletes and the horses proved that even with a very technical track, a 57% completion rate could be achieved.”

Rui Amante, President of the Ground Jury in Rio Frio commented: “The venue is fantastic and the event went very smoothly. The most important aspect is that the fair play of the 37 competitors was truly amazing for Juniors and Young riders. I am very happy with the outcome of this event.”

Rio Frio - the venue

The trails of mostly sandy soil went through ancient cork oak forest, around thriving vineyards and between irrigated rice paddies, allowing for many natural water spots and easy access points for crews. The public could also view the athletes in viewing areas designated along the national roads. This route has been in use and tested since 2014. The Rio Frio Equestrian Centre is located on the southern bank of the Tagus Estuary, 30km from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.

Results - top ten individuals

1. Paula Muntala Sanchez, Echo Falls (ESP) - finish time 05:14:57
2. Laura Fernandez Piña, Cadigaam (ESP) - finish time 05:14:58
3. Bruna Pujols Aumatell, Lludriga De Masferrer (ESP) - finish time 05:14:59
4. Raquel Costa Condina, Kalima Casanova (ESP) - finish time 05:15:00
5. Naroa Calvo Ibáñez, Escarsi (ESP) - finish time 05:15:05
6. Henriette, D Ursel, Wloszka Fontanel (FRA) - finish time 05:34:10
7. Emma Frances, Quokin De PSA (FRA) - finish time 05:34:11
8. Maria Moura João, Distinto (POR) - finish time 05:45:18
9. Constanza Laliscia, Rok (ITA) - finish time 06:08:32
10. Camilla Coppini, Veinard Secondo (ITA) - finish time 06:08:33

Results - top three teams

*Teams count the highest-placed three members for classification
1. Spain - finish time: 15:44:54
2. Italy - finish time: 19:04:10
3. Portugal - finish time: 19:40:47
*Also finished: Belgium (finish time 19:57:53) & Netherlands (finish time 20:42:03).