Rider from Bahrain suspended and fined over endurance horse’s positive drug test

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

August 2, 2017
Horsetalk.co.nz

A rider from Bahrain has been suspended from competition for six months and fined 2000 Swiss francs after his endurance mount tested positive to five substances not permitted under FEI equine anti-doping rules.

The Bahrain-registered horse Ultreia Larzac, ridden by Othman Abduljaleel Al Awadhi, competed in the CEI2* 120km ride at the Bahrain International Endurance Village, Sakhir, on January 14 this year.

The horse was selected for drug testing. The blood sample revealed the presence of caffeine, theophylline, phenylbutazone, oxyphenbutazone, and dexamethasone.

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. Theophylline is used to open airways in the treatment of respiratory disease. Phenylbutazone and its metabolic byproduct oxyphenbutazone are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with painkilling effects. Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid drug with anti-inflammatory effects...

Read more at https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2017/08/02/rider-bahrain-suspension-fine-endurance-horse/#OoSjzXMdLBQybC4j.99

World Arabian Organization Shames Desert Endurance

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

July 28, 2017
by: Pippa Cuckson

Endurance racing in the Middle East is sacrificing Arabian horses “on the altar of sport” and the FEI must take “firm and prompt action to definitely prevent another dismal catalogue of catastrophic injuries” next season.

Those are the views of Peter Pond, president of the World Arabian Horse Organisation (WAHO), who has written a forthright letter to FEI president Ingmar de Vos about the ongoing welfare crisis in the Middle East and the UAE in particular.

The WAHO executive resolved to approach the FEI during its annual conference in Bahrain in February, which was attended by delegates from 34 of WAHO’s 65 member countries. There Mr Pond gave an address underlining that the executive committee was “extremely disturbed by the chain of events” and that the “rate of attrition is serious abuse of all the horses taking part.” At that stage, there had been 11 reported deaths in the UAE national and international sport since the turn of the year.

He added: “Arabian horses have tremendous heart, tremendous courage and tremendous bravery, which is why they are the chosen breed for endurance. To stay silent and effectively abandon them to the fate would be to go against our core values and objectives...”

Read more here:
https://www.horse-canada.com/horse-news/world-arabian-organization-shames-desert-endurance/

Online course for grooms covers anti-doping rules in horse sport

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

July 28, 2017 Horsetalk.co.nz

Grooms around the world are able to access an online course to help them understand the anti-doping and medication rules that apply in equestrian sport.

The course was developed by the British Grooms Association with the help of industry professionals. It is used by the British Equestrian Federation for its team grooms.

The association’s communications director, Liz Daniels, highlighted the course following recent cases before the FEI Tribunal in which well meaning grooms or other helpers used substances that resulted in horses returning a positive blood test...

Read more at https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2017/07/28/on-line-course-grooms-anti-doping-horse/#C0YzwgmTXYOIOscS.99

Mongol Derby awaits Canadian

Simcoereformer.ca - Full Article

By Jacob Robinson, Simcoe Reformer
Wednesday, July 26, 2017 4:57:50 EDT PM

When Long Point's Olivia Wood first told her family what she planned on doing after graduating university it was almost too crazy for them to comprehend.

“My mom thought I was pregnant and I was covering it up with some outlandish excuse,” the 24-year-old laughed. “She thought she was being punked... she was not so keen on the whole idea but she's come around and been super supportive.”

Earlier this year Wood, a Cambridge, Ontario native, completed her final year of studies at Niagara University in New York State before moving to Norfolk. Knowing the window to travel freely was quickly closing, Wood decided to combine her love of horses, athletics, and nature into one high-risk, high-reward activity.

She soon got accepted to what's known as the Mongol Derby, a 1,000km (621 mile) endurance horse race that aims to recreate Genghis Khan's empire-busting postal system. The Aug. 6-19 event claims to be “the longest and toughest horse race in the world”.

“Your chances of being seriously injured or dying as a result of taking part are high,” the derby website reads. “Individuals who have taken part in the past have been permanently disfigured, seriously disabled or lost their life.”

The trek sees 40 riders from around the world head out into the wild with nothing more than a GPS and 11 pounds (5kg) of gear atop semi-wild Mongolian horses...

Read more here:
http://www.simcoereformer.ca/2017/07/26/mongol-derby-awaits

Great Britain: Annie Joppe’s endurance blog: last ever event and the big selection

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Annie Joppe
10:55 - 26 July, 2017

Little Chiara earned her three weeks’ holiday after completing her one-star competition and my attention reverted to Dilmun and, of course, Fantom’s ongoing fitness programme.

Fantom is possibly the most difficult horse to train. At home he seems to have the mentality of a riding school hack where all the motivation is kept for the return journey. However, this is coupled with the ability to perform Jekyll and Hyde-like transformations with incredibly spectacular Aires above the Ground!

Now, how to read these extremely exciting moments? A case in point today was a lungeing session over raised poles where, to start off with, he was pretty indifferent then in the blink of an eye he was Pegasus, the winged horse, with the snort of an express train going into a tunnel! They do say a good horse has to have attitude don’t they?...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/blog/annie-joppes-endurance-blog-last-ever-event-big-selection-626979#mhEYpggXYlVuupWY.99

Forgery City

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | July 25, 2017

I don’t know what is worse, the imagination applied to forgery in international endurance or the fact the FEI seems resigned to it.

Of course, passing off a horse as something it isn’t is as old as time itself. And forging people’s signatures on documents is not exactly unknown in FEI endurance, either; one such incident even reached the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

But fakery that compromises welfare again and again is plain evil. No horse sport is 101% squeaky clean, but I am staggered the other equestrian disciplines are still prepared to belong to the same international federation that ‘governs’ desert endurance when the rot we actually do know about is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

The infamy of endurance is spreading to unexpected quarters anyway. Ullrich Raulff, recently retired literary editor of famous German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, has just written his own book Farewell to the Horse: The Final Century of Our Relationship.

It must be a relief that so few reviewers have picked up this paragraph: “The Emirate of Dubai in particular and the United Emirates in general have gained a reputation for harsh endurance rides in the desert at high temperatures which have risked or indeed caused the deaths of countless horses. Here, too, the curious can take on the role of passer-by, watching online as horses are so badly flayed and severely injured that they collapse and have to be put out of their misery by a vet.” I guess the general reader could not imagine that Raulff is actually talking about a sport regulated by a body affiliated to the International Olympic Committee. Anyway, I digress.

This past week there has been a disturbing development in the Bahrain controversy raging since April which, like the Marmoog and Pang horse swaps and the bogus rides, also has at its core fakery aimed at masking welfare concerns.
The FEI seems determined to take a blind eye on this one, falling back on the “this was a national ride so nothing to do with us – phew” excuse, despite evidence the incident did occur in a FEI ride and that the horse they say died wasn’t even there...

Read more here:
https://www.horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/forgery-city/

South Africa: Fauresmith 2017, three days of racing with 400 starters

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

Text provided by: Susan Koekemoer

Fauresmith, Frees State Province, South Africa. Tuesday 4, Wednesday 5 and Saturday 6 July 2017.
During this weekend, the majority of the endurance riding community of South Africa descended on the tiny town of Fauresmith in the Frees State province of South Africa.

The Fauresmith 204km National Championship and Interprovincial event started on the 4th of July 2017. This was to be the 44th running of the event which started in 1974 with only 17 competitors.

The 204km is ridden over 3 days: Day 1 and 2 are 75km (23.5km/27.3km/24.2km) with the grooming points for loop 1 and 2 being on small farms on the outskirts of Fauresmith. The final inspection on all days is held in front of the grandstands at the ride base in Fauresmith. Day 2 is ridden in the opposite direction to day 1. Day 3 is 54km (27.2km/26.8km) with the grooming point after loop 1 at Sandymount Park.

One of the heroes of South African endurance, Oom (Uncle) Ami de Wet, at the age of 79 was attempting his 41st Fauresmith 200km. He has completed 35 of his previous 40 starts which is a track record any rider would love to claim.
400 riders started in uncharacteristically warm weather on Tuesday the 4th of July. Amongst these were 11 international riders: Rebecca, Teresa and Peter Birkett from New Zealand and Isabel and Sharon Foster, Peter and Victoria Bice, Natasha Willemse, Karen Winkel, Sally Fenner and Kenneth Moir from Australia. 72 competitors FTQ on day with 65 lameness and 3 metabolic...

Read more here:
http://endurance-world.com/fauresmith-2017-three-days-racing-400-starters/