Australia: Fenech takes out Australian Endurance Championship

Gympietimes.com.au - Full Article

Tom Daunt | 18th Aug 2017

ENDURANCE RIDING: The region is celebrating, with four out of the top five riders being local at yesterday's 80km ride at the 2017 Australian Endurance Championship being hosted at Stirling's Crossing Equestrian Complex in Imbil.

Fiona Fenech from Kilkivan took out top honours, closely followed by Sorsha Stuart-Rokvic from Table Top in New South Wales, Stephen Gray from Coopers Plains, Leigh Ann Sample from Kenilworth and Akhmed Pshunov from Imbil.

Conditions were tougher than expected, with temperatures being unseasonably high for this time of year, but event organiser and complex owner Matthew Sample said he was delighted with how the event was progressing.

"We have about 150 people on-site at Stirling's Crossing Equestrian Complex, with competitors battling it out in today's 80km ride and in the 120km and 160km rides starting at 3am and 3.30am respectively tomorrow morning,” Sample said...

Read more here:
https://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/fenech-takes-out-australian-endurance-championship/3214114/

Belgium: Super-Mum Sabrina Endurance Champ!

FEI.org - Full Article

August 18 2017

Germany’s Sabrina Arnold has claimed her first major individual Championship win as she and Tarzibus were crowned FEI European Endurance Champions 2017 in Brussels.

The German pair, who are based near Marseilles, led from the first loop and completed the 160-kilometre course in a time of 7.14.52, with an average speed of 22kph.

The 10-year-old gelding was praised throughout for his fast recovery times and the pair finished more than 15 minutes ahead of their closest rivals...

More at:
http://www.fei.org/stories/super-mum-sabrina-equestrian-endurance-racing-champion

Belgium: Arnold claims European endurance crown

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

German rider ends 22-year wait for her first major title

Published: 19:01 August 18, 2017 Gulf News
Staff Report

Brussels: Germany’s Sabrina Arnold won her first endurance ride in 1995 but it took her 22 years to win her first major international championship and that happened on Thursday in the European Championship (CH-EU-E).

The 160-km Four star ride, which was held under the banner of the HH Shaikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival, was held at the at the Bois de la Cambre, an urban public park situated on the edge of the Sonian Forests in Brussels.

Arnold and 10-year-old Tarzibus made it a start to finish affair.

Arnold on Tarzibus, a horse trained by Frenchman Jean-Philippe Frances, staved off the Spanish challenge to complete the 160-km ride in 7 hours 14 minutes and 52 seconds at an average speed of 22.53km/h...

Read more here:
http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/arnold-claims-european-endurance-crown-1.2076352

Great Britain: Record field for Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Cup Festival

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Euston Park braced for over 600 athletes from over 35 countries

Published: 19:09 August 18, 2017 Gulf News
Staff Report

Suffolk, England: The largest and most impressive mass participation of riders and horses representing over 35 countries will compete for top honours in the HH Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Cup Festival UK Endurance Masters at Euston Park on Saturday.

The Festival, which is the third and final leg of the Endurance Cup series, will feature four rides in four categories over distances of 160 km, 120 km and 80 km.

With over 600 riders set to compete in all categories, it is the biggest and most exciting endurance festival to be held in the UK.

Rider from far away Australia, Argentina and Uruguay have arrived at the Suffolk venue while hosts Great Britain have a record 80 riders ready to compete alongside some of the discipline’s finest competitors in a world class setting boasting impressive facilities and generous rider incentives...

Read more here:
http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/record-field-for-shaikh-mohammed-bin-rashid-al-maktoum-endurance-cup-festival-1.2076360

Ireland: Dundalk man proves yet again that age shouldn't a barrier to sporting success

Sportsjoe.ie - Full Story

Tom MacGuinness is a national treasure

August 18 2017

Staying the distance.
Dundalk man Tom MacGuinness competed in his first FEI (International Equestrian federation) European Championships when he took part in the 160km Endurance Championship in Brussels recently.

The 66-year-old was the only Irish man to take part in the event, but one man was all it took to set the Irish flag flying high among Europe's elite.

85 competitors toed the line in Belgium, but the Louth debutante wasn't fazed by the sizable competition, and finished a creditable 11th place aboard his mount Sasha D'Allais.

This is just another box ticked off Tom's growing and wide-ranging CV when it comes to equestrian events.

Having enjoyed success in eventing, show-jumping and polo, MacGuinness took up the demanding sport of endurance racing in 2013, aged 60...

Read more here:
https://www.sportsjoe.ie/horse-racing/dundalk-man-proves-yet-age-shouldnt-barrier-sporting-success-134195

Mongolian Derby: Australian Olympian Ed Fernon wins world's toughest horse race

A young Australian Olympian has won the longest and toughest horse race in the world.



Twenty-nine-year-old Ed Fernon conquered the gruelling Mongolian Derby, crossing the finish line with South African Barry Armitage in equal first after a nail-biting race to the finish.

The 2017 race saw 12 men and 24 women from nine countries riding 1,000 kilometres across Mongolia on semi-wild horses.

Mostly riding full tilt, they charge through the rugged terrain of the Mongolian Steppes, forging rivers, deserts and wide open plains on a course that is designed to recreate Genghis Khan's ancient postal system.

It puts to the test the competitor's survival skills, horsemanship and sheer endurance.

Competitors change horses every 40 kilometres and camp out under the stars or stay with local herders.

Horses will often injure the participants if badly handled, and riders are also given penalties if they overwork the tough Mongolian ponies.



Fernon is a young man who cannot resist a challenge.

Although city born, he spent time on a family farm near Wagga Wagga in NSW where he first threw his leg over a horse.

His love of riding inspired him to take up the modern pentathlon, mastering the five disciplines of swimming, fencing, running, shooting and show jumping.

He started the sport as a 20-year-old and four years later represented Australia in the 2012 London Olympics.

Needing a new challenge post-Olympics, Fernon did a charity ride across the snowy mountains.

The ride retraced the 1,100 kilometre journey of Archer, the legendary horse that walked from NSW to Melbourne before winning the inaugural Melbourne Cup in 1861.

"Following the Legend of Archer" raised over $50,000 for The Black Dog Institute, offering support for people suffering from depression and bipolar disorder.

[Read full article at abc.net.au ...]

Mongol Derby Day 8

TheAdventurists.com - stories, photos and more

Day 8. August 16th, 2017
Underwater Love - Smoke City

Dumpling has been sent to the finish camp to sniff the fresh mutton air of the steppe and the stories it is still to yield from this year's Mongol Derby. As the finishers congregate at Khangal Nuur (Lake) in faraway Khentii province she'll be collecting the story-dust before it settles. And standing around on horses arses, as in the photo above. Updates posted by Chief Willings, in the office another day, by correspondence. Mainly pigeon.

Says Dumpling: "Bromance Will Comiskey and Warren Sutton rode into joint fourth place this morning. Upon passing the vet (immediately), Will stripped down and rode bareback into the lake, jumping off his horse's bum for the first "bath" he's had in a week. Overheard at the finish: Ed to Will: "Jakkie is a fucking legend. What a hero." Sportsmanship and camaraderie at its absolute finest."

"On JM's last night riding, he stayed with local family. Wanted to help the woman of the house churn butter, and found himself stuck w that chore... for 40 min. Very sore arm in addition to everything else upon finishing."

MOre news, stories, photos at:
https://www.theadventurists.com/the-jibber/2017/8/9/mongol-derby-2017-rolling-news