Sweetwater County public defender competes in the 'toughest horse race in the world'

The Adventurists photo
Trib.com - Full Story

Elise Schmelzer 307-266-0574, elise.schmelzer@trib.com
Sep 10, 2017

It was pure joy galloping across the Mongolian grassland through cold rain and wind, a freedom unlike any other Rick Helson had experienced, a freedom worth the bowel issues to come.

Helson, a public defender from Sweetwater County, had traveled thousands of miles to try his hand at the self-proclaimed toughest horse race in the world. The event’s premise is simple and insane: draw a handful of riders from around the world, supply them with a fleet of semi-wild horses and give them 10 days to race 600 miles across the Mongolian steppe.

“The horses just ran and ran, that was an incredible feeling,” Helson recalled Wednesday, safely back in his Rock Springs office. “They just have heart like you haven’t seen.”

Helson had few expectations when he arrived for the race, modeled after a postal route created by Genghis Khan in the year 1224. Competitors even ride the same small, sturdy breed of horses that carried Khan to victories across the continent.

“I’m just old enough to know that it’s not going to be like I expect,” the 59-year-old said with a chuckle...

Read more here:
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/sweetwater-county-public-defender-competes-in-the-toughest-horse-race/article_9cc39c3f-9a77-50f4-a909-554f3128b056.html

Cambodia: KL success spurs CEF activities at home

Phnompenhpost.com - Full Article

Mon, 11 September 2017
H S Manjunath

The Cambodian Equestrian Federation is to launch a nationwide drive to spot talented young riders who can build on the goodwill and competitive interest whipped up by the success of the men’s national endurance team at the recent 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

On its first big mission in the region, the six-member Cambodian squad of Ly Sovanachandara, Lon Sopheaktra, Phay Visal, Moeung Sochea and Sim Narith, along with team leader Hoy Sopharith, returned with a team bronze medal to reward the CEF with a fitting gift to mark its 10th anniversary, formed, as it was, in 2007.

“We can not sit on the glory of this medal. We have to secure our future and build a much stronger endurance team that can aim higher,” said CEF President Mona Tep at a meet the press programme arranged by the federation for interaction with the members of the winning team at the Cambodian Country Club, the home of the City’s equestrian community, on Friday...

Read more here:
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/sport/kl-success-spurs-cef-activities-home

Australia: Melissa Longhurst and Pioneer Park Wings of Sudan win 2017 Shahzada

www.shahzada400.com

Melissa Longhurst and Pioneer Park Wings of Sudan repeated their 2016 feat of winning the 400-km, 5-day Shahzada over the week of August 21-25, 2017. The pair finished in an overall time of 38 hours. Melissa was also first Lightweight.

Finishing first Heavyweight was Robert Catlin aboard Avita in a ride time of 41:37. First Middleweight was Debbie Pevy riding Galaxy Mi in a ride time of 40:19.

44 started and 20 completed the ride.

More at:
www.shahzada400.com

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