Endurance riders prepare for the Tom Quilty 2018 returning to Tasmania

Examiner.com.au - Full Article

Lucy Stone
@ljstone09

9 Sep 2017, 8 a.m.

It’s midnight, but the night isn’t quiet.

Under a cold winter sky in Wirrina Cove, South Australia, a swirling mass of horses and people are preparing, lining up to start the ultimate test of equestrian endurance.

This is the Tom Quilty Gold Cup: riders and horses are faced with a gruelling 160 kilometres of challenging tracks, across all terrain, in all weather, for the ultimate prize of the Quilty trophy.

At the end of each stage, they have to go through a rigorous, impartial vetting process to ensure each horse is fit and well to continue the next.

In Australia’s outback heritage the icon of horse and rider rings through literature and culture – the Man from Snowy River, the drover and his dog, Phar Lap and Jim Pike, the yearly spectacle of racehorse and jockey striving for the Melbourne Cup.

And the Tom Quilty is made of the same stuff of legend.

The race was created in the late 1960s by RM Williams, who wrote to horseman Tom Quilty asking for support creating a long distance horse race. From that letter came an annual endurance race and the birth of an amateur sport.

To finish a Tom Quilty, regardless of placing, is to win, with just the satisfaction of gaining a highly coveted Quilty buckle.

There’s no prize money allowed in Australian endurance riding – riders take part for the love of testing themselves and their horses against their own times, against the elements, and each other.

The midnight start launches the hopes of more than 150 riders, including several international riders joining the challenge.

By daylight, in just 10 hours, 28 minutes and 40 seconds, Brooke Brown-Cordell and Tierview Salama become the winners of the 2017 Tom Quilty...

Read more here:
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4903341/the-ultimate-endurance-race/

Coming up: 2017 the Italia Endurance Festival for YRJ

ItaliaEnduranceFestival.com

In 2017 the Italia Endurance Festival makes a name for itself again.

On Saturday September 23rd the world’s spotlights turn on Valeggio sul Mincio, in Verona (Italy), where the best under 21 binomials from all over the world will challenge one another.

For the second time in four years, the wonderful location of Parco Sigurtà, by now a synonym for endurance, was selected to host this prestigious world event, proving that its track is very much appreciated just like the venue’s high quality structures and sense of hospitality.

The origins of the Italia Endurance Festival date back to 2012, when Parco Sigurtà, awarded by the European Garden Award as Europe’s second most beautiful park in 2015, hosted the Italian Championships.

Since then, Valeggio hosted the 2013 World Chapionships for Young Horses, the 2014 European Championships for Juniors and Young Riders, the 2015 World Championships for Young Horses and this year’s 2017 World Championships for Juniors and Young Riders.

Once again, for the event that will take place on the 23rd of September, Meydan’s prestigious brand will stand by the FEI.

2012: Italian Endurance Championship
2013: World Endurance Chapionships for Young Horses
2014: European Endurance Championships for Juniors and Young Riders
2015: World Endurance Championships for Young Horses
2016: World Endurance Championships for Juniors and Young Riders - test event
2017: World Endurance Championships for Juniors and Young Riders.

Great Britain: Annie Joppe’s endurance blog: laying ghosts to rest

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Annie Joppe
10:55 - 7 September, 2017

What a good weekend we’ve just had, well and truly laying the ghost of the European championships in Brussels to rest.

This was to be our last competition of the season which had always been the plan. Originally I had hoped to do a two-star with Chiara at Euston but with all the preparation for the Europeans, attention was firmly focussed on Fantom. So I made the decision to enter the one-star, to go a little faster and consolidate her experience at this level before moving up next season.

With this in mind, I introduced some sustained canter work into Chiara’s training schedule and was lucky enough to be allowed to use the stubble fields close by to do both this type of cantering and to do interval training using a sharp hill. She revelled in this type of work, getting stronger each time until I was happy with her level of fitness for our intended goal.

Because of the holiday traffic on this, the last weekend of the school summer holidays, we decided to set off early on Friday and had a straightforward journey of about seven hours to Euston Park on the Suffolk/Norfolk borders. On the journey, unlike Fantom two weeks previously, Chiara managed to demolish a large haynet, several apples and carrots and at least a few gulps of her fibre beet tea that she likes.

It was good to be back at Euston again, not having been able to compete there yet this year. Again everything was so well organised and competitors and crew alike were made to feel very welcome with excellent hospitality provided...

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/blog/annie-joppes-endurance-blog-laying-ghosts-rest-631229#YUamvvE2Jfs9EFW3.99

Bahrain: Equine conformation in focus

BNA.bh - Full Article

09 : 20 AM - 07/09/2017

Manama, Sep. 7 (BNA): A lecture on the fundamentals of Horse Conformation will be presented by national equine judges Mahmood Faraj and Elias Faraj as speechmakers, dealing with various general aspects of horse conformation.

The event organisers at Horses Universal expressed their gratitude and appreciation to His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and President of Bahrain Olympic Committee, for his care and sponsorship to various equestrian sports, as well as Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (BREEF). They also commended the efforts of Dr. Khalid Ahmed Hassan, Director of the Royal Stables and Tawfiq Al Salehi, Director of the Media and Information Office of His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

The two lecturers, Mahmood and Elias Faraj, have extensive experience in the equestrian field. The former is a National Judge and Vice President of the Organising Committee of the BREEF’s Arabian Horse Beauty Show, while the latter is a National Judge, member of the High Committee of the BREEF’s Arabian Horse Beauty Show, as well as a holder of a Diploma from the UK in Horse Conformation and Horse Physiology...

Read more here:
http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/800431

Gobi Desert Cup: Endurance horse-trek the brainchild of western Queensland rider

ABC.net.au - Full Article

ABC North West Qld By Zara Margolis and Harriet Tatham
Posted Tue at 12:58pm

After competing in the world's longest equestrian race in Mongolia, adventurer Camille Champagne Bargenquast thought she would create her very own endurance event.

In 2015, Ms Champagne Bargenquast spent $30,000 representing Australia in the Mongol Derby; a 10-day, 1,000-kilometre endurance race that she said many competitors failed to compete.

"It was very scary at times. I remember a particular time I was fearing for my life in the race — it's tough," Ms Champagne Bargenquast said.

Undeterred by the challenge Ms Champagne Bargenquast, who lives on Linda Downs station, 220 kilometres south-west of Mount Isa and 8,000 kilometres from Mongolia, will launch the inaugural Gobi Desert Cup on September 6.

The event is a six-day, 480-kilometre, multi-stage endurance race.

"I met wonderful people there,'' she said of her fist endurance ride in Mongolia.

"Together we decided to organise an endurance event which would allow people who did not want to go through the roughness of the event to participate on quiet horses..."

Read more here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-06/western-queensland-woman-plans-endurance-horse-ride-in-mongolia/8851410

Meydan desert clean-up effort preserves Dubai wilds

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

My Arena, My Environment campaign cleans desert after endurance horse racing

Published: 16:10 September 6, 2017 Gulf News
Staff Report

Dubai: A “leave-no-footprints” eco venture is making a real difference by cleaning and recycling all waste left behind during endurance horse racing in the sandy barrens of Dubai.

Meydan Group confirmed on Wednesday that its training programme for stable grooms and staff involved in endurance racing is meeting its target to ensure an undisturbed desert remains after races.

Wastes like plastic bottles, and caps left behind after every endurance event are collected both at the Dubai International Endurance City and along the endurance racing track in the desert which is home to several species.
“The aim is to preserve the desert and its wildlife by cleaning up and recycling wastes produced during endurance rides,” the company said in a statement...

Read more here:
http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/environment/meydan-desert-clean-up-effort-preserves-dubai-wilds-1.2085995

Italy: Monaco to Compete at the World Championships

Hellomonaco.com - Full Article

4 September 2017

In preparation for the World Championships for Young Riders under the age of 21, to be held in September in Vallegiosul Mincio (Italy), a number of nations recently attended the Pôle France du Cheval et le Don in Lignières, in order to take part in the final stage of the qualifying rounds. During the CEIYJ, the International Young Rider Race, which is 121 km in length, the young riders of the world’s elite were able to measure up against one other. French riders, former world team champions in Tartas, and riders from Qatar, Bahrain and the Principality of Monaco, represented by Emma Noury, were in attendance.

Ticket to Pisa

To qualify for the world championships, the Monegasque had to rank in three international races. Mission accomplished since, at the end of March, the young rider had obtained her first qualification with her steed, Tonik de Gargassan, while she came in 5th with Urga du Sauveterre in April...

Read more here:
http://www.hellomonaco.com/news/sport-fitness/equestrian-endurance-monaco-to-compete-at-the-world-championships/