New Zealand: Smith and Vixen win at Aotuhia

NZEquestrian.org.nz

PUBLISHED 06 DECEMBER 2017

A new venue and track, provided by the Kohuratahi Endurance Riding Club, had riders driving into the back blocks of Whangamomona to Aotuhia Station for the first FEI event of the season.


The riders in the CEI 1* 80km headed out at 5am for what proved to be a challenging course but all navigated the hills in the very hot conditions to make it to the end with just one horse having the misfortune to vet out lame. The winner was the highly successful combination, and current national champion, Georgia Smith and Glenmore Vixen. Starting hot on the heels of the senior riders were two JY riders (one open, one novice) who started their ride at 5,15am with Jayden Loveridge riding a careful ride on Makahiwi Phoenix to win the JY 80km.


The prize giving that followed on Saturday was a feast to behold with Robert Reid doing a fine job of supervising the cooking of a hogget on the spit.


Everyone awoke to another hot day on Sunday with the Open 80km senior riders heading out at 5am with some of those who rode on Saturday on different horses to enjoy the track again. This time it was Deirdre Bartlett riding Craig Royston Zaria who headed home the field to complete a successful weekend after the long drive from Wairarapa.


In spite of the tough track several novice horses and riders qualified in the 40km and 80km novice rides as well as some of the locals doing a 20km which they thoroughly enjoyed.


The hospitality from the Kohuratahi Club members, local residents and friends was superb as usual with riders, crew and officials all looking forward to returning next year. And many thanks must go to the owners of this lovely property who allowed endurance folk to move in and take over the excellent facilities for the weekend.



Saturday Results

CEI 1* 80km: G Smith & Glenmore Vixen 1, S Trafford & Rivergum Dark Knight 2, Pip Mutch & Mauku Bella 3, D Bartlett & Craig Royston Xmas Star

Open JY 80km: J Loveridge & Makahiwi Phoenix 1

Sunday Results:

Open senior 80km: D Bartlett & Craig Royston Zaria, Daryl Owen & Miro Bay Plenty 2, A Smith & Glenmore Tango 3, G Smith & Glenmore Style Ish 4

Intermediate senior 40km: R Reid & Kowhai Martini 1

Australia: New Endurance Horse Of The Year and Arabian Racehorse Of The Year Awards Announced

AHSA.asn.au

Prestigious New Endurance Horse Of The Year and Arabian Racehorse Of The Year Awards

The Board of Directors have recently announced two very prestigious new awards for outstanding representiative horses in both Endurance and Arabian Racing.

The inaugral presentation of these awards will take place at the Annual General Meeting to be held in Adelaide in April 2018.

Nominations for these awards will close on Friday 9th February 2018.


In order to win The Arabian Horse Society of Australia Ltd Endurance Horse Of The Year Award:

· The nominated horse must be a living Purebred Arabian, Arabian Derivative or Arabian Performance Index horse, born and resident in Australia.
· The horse must have been an outstanding representative in ARABIAN endurance, with performance that ideally would be recognised overseas and/or outside the Arabian industry.
· The horse must be a registered/recorded with the AHSA Ltd and in the current owners name.
· The current owner needs to be a financial member of the AHSA Ltd.


In order to win The Arabian Horse Society of Australia Ltd Arabian Racehorse Of The Year Award:

· The nominated horse must be a living Purebred Arabian, born and resident in Australia.
· The horse must have been an outstanding representative in ARABIAN racing, with performance that ideally would be recognised overseas and/or outside the Arabian industry.
· The horse must be a registered Arabian and in the current owners name.
· The current owner needs to be a financial member of the AHSA Ltd.


The Owner of the Endurance Horse Of The Year and the Owner of the Arabian Racehorse of The Year will receive

1. An AHSA/Aricon rug
2. Voucher to the value of $200 to be used via the AHSA.
3. Award Certificate
4. Recognition in the Arabian Horse News.


The Breeder of the Endurance Horse Of The Year and the Breeder of the Arabian Racehorse of The Year will receive

1. Voucher to the value of $200 to be used via the AHSA.
2. Award Certificate
3. Recognition in the Arabian Horse News.


Nomination Forms for both of these awards can be found here.

Australia: Lancefield’s Alison Noble is riding high

StarWeekly.com - Full Article

DECEMBER 12, 2017 1:08 AM
BY SERENA SEYFORT

Lancefield’s Alison Noble is riding high – on and off her horse.

The 13-year-old’s idea for a memory foam helmet insert that molds to the wearer’s head has been selected as a winner in the national Samsung STEM competition Make My Idea.

Alison’s idea is one of only three out of 5000 entries being developed into a 3D prototype.

The keen horse rider said her idea came from the challenge of finding a helmet to fit. She said helmets that were too tight caused headaches, but bigger helmets could fall over riders’ faces.

Alison’s mother Kim, who also rides, said they knew of people whose helmets had slipped when they fell off their horse, causing them to break their nose.

Alison spends a lot of time wearing a helmet as an endurance horse rider...

Read more here:
http://www.starweekly.com.au/news/lancefields-alison-noble-is-riding-high/

NBC Sports Group To Televise FEI World Equestrian Games In September 2018

ChronOfHorse.com - Full Article

By: Edited Press Release
Dec 11, 2017 - 5:00 PM

NBC Sports Group to Present More Than 60 Hours of Coverage Across NBC, NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. NBC Sports Group’s Coverage of the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018 Will Be Streamed on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com and Olympic Channel App

NBC Sports Group has reached an agreement for exclusive multi-platform United States media rights to the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018, Sept. 11-23. The agreement includes an unprecedented amount of national equestrian sport coverage. The FEI World Equestrian Games return to the United States for the second time in eight years and will be held at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, NC.

The FEI World Equestrian Games, one of the biggest events on the global sporting calendar, is held every four years in the middle of the Olympic cycle, combining eight World Championships at one event. The eight equestrian disciplines –show jumping, dressage, para-equestrian dressage, eventing, driving, endurance, vaulting and reining—will all be contested.

An anticipated 1,000 athletes, 1,500 horses and 500,000 spectators from more than 70 countries are expected to attend. Tickets to the event have already been sold to people from all 50 U.S. states and 31 countries. The WEG is projected to be the highest-attended sporting event in the United States in 2018...

Read more here:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/nbc-sports-group-to-televise-fei-world-equestrian-games-in-september-2018

Closing race in Punta del Este for the Uruguay National Championship

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

8 December 2017
Race Report made with the assistance of Lucia Olascoaga

Sede Audee, Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay. Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 December 2017. After 12 CEI Endurance events the 2017 Uruguayan endurance season came to an end.

Races of CEI3* 160km, CEI2* 120km and CEI1* 80km were held, both in major and young riders categories.

On Saturday the CEI3* 160km was divided into five stages of 39.8km, 39.8km, 28.7km, 28.7km and the last loop of 23km. The race was led by the Brazilian rider Monica Pinto Lima, riding Caetec CSM, who was out to the last loop 12 min in front but trot lame in the last vet control handing over victory to Pilar Saravia – URU (Baraka Nassim). The leader’s average speed was 20.19km/h.
Michaela Superkova from Slovakia, riding IFO Maghera arrived second and in third position came the Chilean rider Lukas Bukel (Che Niebla). Lukas got the elite status after qualifying with the Uruguayan mare Che Niebla owned by Pilar Saravia.

Pilar told us about the race: “I didn’t have the intention to win, I knew Monica was also good and we were leading the entire race, I just wanted to qualify with a good speed. At the end I was glad we made it, my horse responded very well and in the last loop we went faster (23km/h) to get a decent average speed. This was a very nice way to finish the season...”

Read more here
http://endurance-world.com/closing-race-punta-del-este-uruguay-national-championship/

Bullioh Australia's Tracy John completes Virginia City 100 Mile endurance race

Bordermail.com.au - Full Story

December 9 2017
by Jodie O'Sullivan

She was the only Aussie to saddle up for a gruelling 100-mile race across the rocky plains of the US.

Bullioh’s Tracy John re-traced the route of the old pony express trail as part of the Virginia City 100-Mile 50th anniversary race on September 16.

Riding an Arabian horse borrowed from a friend, Tracy rode for nearly 20 hours to arrive 31st across the finish line in a starting field of 71 horses.

The race had been on her bucket list since she competed in The Tevis Cup in 2015, another US race regarded as the “granddaddy” of endurance rides.

The 49-year-old, who runs Berwick Endurance Stud with her husband Peter John, said the appeal of endurance riding lay in the partnership between horse and rider.

“I love it because it’s one on one,” she said.

“I love the Arabian breed – I love their speed, their intelligence and the fact they are such beautiful horses to work with.”

Tracy’s steed on the ride was no exception.

The sure-footed Al Marah Land Robin, otherwise known as “Robin”, carried her faithfully across the rugged and stony terrain in 19 hours and 45 minutes...

Read more here:
http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/5106484/us-horse-race-a-test-of-endurance-and-true-grit-for-this-aussie-gal/?cs=11

UAE: Chopita scores on Tehama Souveign for National Day glory

Khaleejtimes.com - Full Article

December 6 2017

All the top six riders won a 4X4WD car each and were among the 33 who completed the ride from the 156 starters

Argentina's Daiana Yamila Chopita riding 12-year-old grey gelding Tehama Souveign won the prestigious National Day Cup 120Km Endurance Ride held on Saturday at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi.

The ride was attended by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and other VIP guests.

Chopita came up with a consistent performance to stave off a strong set of UAE riders who took eight of the 10 spots in the 120-km ride which was run in four stages.

Hitting the front early, Chopita and Tehama Souveign, took the lead after the second stage and from there on did not look back to win in 4hrs 16mins 57secs at an average speed of 28.02 kmph...

Read more here:
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/local/chopita-scores-on-tehama-souveign-for-national-day-glory