The First WEG: A New Endeavor, To The Tunes Of ABBA

Chronofhorse.com - Full Article

By: Beth Rasin
Mar 29, 2018 - 3:05 PM
Sponsored by the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina


If you’re a fan of the award-winning Netflix series “The Crown,” you probably think of HRH Prince Philip as, at best, merely tolerating the horses so adored by his wife Queen Elizabeth. But in reality, the Duke of Edinburgh, a rider and carriage driver, presided over the Fédération Equestre Internationale from 1964-1986 and is credited with developing the concept of a World Equestrian Games in 1982. In 1984, the FEI General Assembly chose Stockholm to host that first WEG, which would take place in 1990.

It’s fitting that the idea came from royalty, as nothing like it had been attempted before.

“The organization of World Championships in six disciplines within the span of two weeks in a small country like Sweden is more than a major undertaking,” said Princess Anne, FEI president from 1986-1994, according to the Chronicle report in 1990. “It is an unprecedented endeavor.”

The Swedish Equestrian Federation established a staff of 30 people who worked for five years in preparation for the Games, and they were aided by more than 2,500 volunteers, many of whom were set up to guard the horses. The event was deemed the “Horse Festival of the Century,” and a huge clock pillar in Stockholm counted down the days until the Games.

With the exception of parts of the endurance, the entire event was held within city limits...

Read more here:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/the-first-weg-a-new-endeavor-to-the-tunes-of-abba

Denmark: Icy winds and warm hearts in Feldborg

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

27 March 2018
Race Report made with the assistance of Mette Holm Halvorsen

Feldborg. Denmark. Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 March. Every year, the Feldborg endurance ride marks the beginning of the Danish endurance season, held in a large pine tree plantation in the western parts of the country.

A very popular two day event with riders from the Scandinavian and other European countries, due to the long stretches and good footing which allows a steady speed and a good way to start the new season.

This year the effects of a special weather phenomenon over the Arctic, leading to wintery conditions unusually late in the season, challenged the riders with frozen ground and very icy winds blowing, even snow at times. The cold could not dampen the spirit of the hardy endurance riders and their horses, however, and the mood was happy and relaxed throughout the event as is the norm at Feldborg. As many as 20 riders started on March 17, in the longest 120 kilometre CEI2* with participants from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Holland...

Read more here:
http://endurance-world.com/icy-winds-and-warm-hearts-in-feldborg/

Australia: Riders to tackle 320km in the Mary Valley this Easter

MySunshineCoast.com.au - Full Article

27th of March 2018

One of the longest endurance horse riding events in Australia will again take place in the Mary Valley over the Easter weekend, with riders taking on the challenging 320km marathon as part of the Far-A-Way Easter Endurance Carnival being held at Stirling’s Crossing Equestrian Complex.

The event will see over 200 competitors put their riding skills to the test across the program of eight rides ranging from the ‘tiny tots’ 5km ride to The Far-A-Way Marathon – a four-day, 320km event.

Far-A-Way Riders Club Secretary Saasha Grogan said riders competing in The Far-A-Way Marathon would cover approximately 80 km per day over four days, with the ride renowned for its technically challenging course in the forestry and hills of the Mary Valley.

“Depending on conditions, marathon front runners usually finish the ride after around 30 hours of riding time, so the level of commitment and endurance from the horse, the rider and their support teams is phenomenal.”

“While the marathon is timed and the leading rider awarded line honours, the focus of endurance riding is very much on the bond between the horse and rider, and both parties finishing in good condition..."

Read more here:
https://mysunshinecoast.com.au/news/news-display/riders-to-tackle-320km-in-the-mary-valley-this-easter,54061

The Foolproof Way to Reduce Doping Violations: Stop Testing!

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | March 26, 2018

The endurance “round table” at the 2012 FEI sports forum was the first time stakeholders started to openly shame the desert sport.

The evening before I was introduced to the UAE delegate Dr Hallvard Sommerseth. Perhaps anticipating the next day’s debate, he told me the only reason the UAE recorded far more doping violations than anyone else was because the UAE had far more horses and did far more sampling than anyone else.

While this had a simple logic, I am always sceptical when people justify their position to someone they’ve only just met. That is sometimes a good instinct; three years later the FEI suspended Dr Sommerseth for faking ride results on an industrial scale.

Dr S might, of course, have given me 100% bona fide information about the UAE’s anti-doping measures in 2012, though I wouldn’t have been able to check it out independently; back then the FEI only divulged anti-doping returns from competitions staged in Europe.

In 2012, though, you could at least get a snapshot of Dubai’s attitude to doping from a decade’s worth of sampling returns from Euston Park, Sheikh Mohammed’s satellite venue in the UK. Sampling was undertaken at just 11 (40.7%) of Euston’s 27 FEI fixtures, and the only time horses ridden by Sheikh Mohammed himself were sampled there was the 2012 world championship – compulsory testing because it was a FEI medal ride and he won it...

Read more here:
https://horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/foolproof-way-reduce-doping-violations-stop-testing/

Spain: Llanes Endurance Cup 2018

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

25 March 2018
Race Report made with the assistance of Alejandro Asensio.

Porrua, Principado de Asturias, Spain. Sunday 11 March 2018. XVII Raid club Montañas y Caballos. Llanes Endurance Cup 2018.

Porrúa, a small village of the LLanes region, located between the northern Spanish coast and the Picos de Europa national park, was headquarters of the 17th equestrian endurance race organized by the “Club Montañas y Caballos”. The 85km CEI1* event had 22 registered, along with other qualifying races (at controlled speed) of 80km, 60km and 40km.

The loops were conducted on the tracks of “Camino de Santiago”, coastal paths and the Mañanga and Cuera forests. Spring weather for much of the day, gave a respite to the previous’ weeks’ rains, and an optimal soil for the horses. This race, although without significant altitude differences, can be considered technical, since it crosses beaches, rivers and villages in the area...

Read more here:
http://endurance-world.com/llanes-endurance-cup-2018/

Four adverse drug findings in horses announced, three of them in endurance

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

March 26, 2018 Horsetalk.co.nz

Prohibited substances have been found in four horses, three of them competing in endurance, according to the FEI.

The horse Flor Del Caribe, ridden by Argentina-registered Federica Rossi, tested positive to GW1516 Sulphone after competing in a CEI3* 160km endurance contest at Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi, on February 10 this year. GW1516 is listed on the FEI drugs database base as an anabolic agent and is said to increase a horse’s exercise capacity. It is a banned substance.

The horse Bolota De Alcantara, ridden by Portugal-registered Rodrigo Picão Abreu, tested positive for O-Desmethyl Venlafaxine after competing in a CEI2* 120km endurance race in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal, on February 17 this year. Venlafaxine is listed on the database as an antidepressant agent. It is a banned substance.

The third endurance case involves a horse named Sohair Des Bruyere, ridden by Russian-registered Elizaveta Minina in a CEI2* 120km endurance race in Doha, Qatar, on January 20 this year. The horse tested positive for the banned anabolic agent testosterone...

Read more at https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2018/03/26/four-adverse-drug-findings-horses-three-endurance/#kpaTyOeVaFVB684y.99

Brooke Becomes Official Charity for FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018

Equnews.com - Full Article

March 22, 2018
Katrien Equnnews

The Organizing Committee of the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 (WEG) is proud to announce the non-profit organization Brooke, Action for Working Horses and Donkeys, has been chosen as the “Official Charity for the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018” taking place at Tryon International Equestrian Center in North Carolina, USA this September 11 through 23.

The WEG, which takes place every four years, is the major international championship event for the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) regulated-disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Para-Equestrian Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining. This year, the WEG will be held at the 1,600-acre Tryon International Equestrian Center at Tryon Resort, co-founded in 2014 by the Tryon Equestrian Partners, which is comprised of six equestrian families who are all committed to the long-term development and growth of equestrian sport: Mark and Katherine Bellissimo, Roger and Jennifer Smith, Lisa Lourie, Jenji and Diana Mercer, Howard and Gwen Dvorkin, and Joe and Cindy Mitchell.

Headquartered in the UK, Brooke is an international charity that protects and improves the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules, whose labour keeps millions of poor families in developing countries around the world out of poverty.,,

Read more here:
http://equnews.com/championships/world-equestrian-games-en/brooke-becomes-official-charity-for-fei-world-equestrian-games-tryon-2018/