Has Endurance Racing Morphed Into ‘Win At All Cost’ Flat-Track Racing?

PaulickReport.com - Full Article

by Paulick Report Staff | 10.01.2018

The American The American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) executive committee, in a letter to the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), the governing body of horse sport in the United States, has requested immediate withdrawal of funding to the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) endurance events held outside U.S. borders.

An international discipline, the sport of endurance is based on long-distance races that are completed at controlled speed, with the care and health of the horse key in riders' minds. Horses must pass veterinary inspections as specific intervals during the competition. Flat-track endurance riding has evolved in the last decade and is vastly different than endurance riding; it focuses on much faster, prolonged speeds on groomed courses. Endurance riding is held on natural terrain.

The letter states that the committee feels that riders of extreme flat-track racing “know nothing about riding their horses within their capabilities according to the weather and terrain of the day. Their objective is often ‘winning at all costs.'” The committee feels that this approach is vastly divergent from the traditional endurance competitions, where “to finish is to win...”

Read more here:
https://www.paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/has-endurance-racing-morphed-into-win-at-all-cost-flat-track-racing/

South Africa's Race the Wild Coast Begins Oct 13

RocketHorseRacing.co.za

From 13-21 October 2018, Race the Wild Coast will return for its second edition amid the iconic wilderness of South Africa’s east coast.

It's a new breed of horse race. Riders, with a team of three horses, compete for victory over 350km of rugged paradise on the remote east coast of South Africa; navigating through this challenging wilderness, swimming rivers and keeping horses fit for vet checks in this complex multi stage race will challenge the endurance of any horseback adventurer.

This five-day, multi-stage challenge is one of the most dynamic tests of endurance horse-riding, navigation and survival skills in the world.

For more information, see:
http://rockethorseracing.co.za/race-the-wild-coast/



(Video link: https://vimeo.com/234684258)

China: 2018 Dangshan International Equestrian Endurance Race kicks off

AnhuiNews.com

Pub Date:18-09-30 14:54 Source:ah.gov.cn
The 2018 China·Dangshan International Equestrian Endurance Race was held at the International Racecourse of the Old Course of the Yellow River in Dangshan County, Anhui Province from September 27th to 28th.

It attracted over one hundred riders from home and abroad and nearly 10,000 equestrian enthusiasts.

In the two days, the FEI one-star (87 km), two-star (120 km) endurance races and 48 km and 87 km qualification competitions were held and wonderful equestrian performances were presented.

The FEI 2-Star Endurance Race is the highest level international equestrian endurance race held in China. (source: ah.gov.cn)

American endurance officials condemn “extreme” flat-track form of discipline

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

September 30, 2018 Horsetalk.co.nz

America’s top endurance officials have warned about the “dangerous disconnect” between the extreme flat-track racing over extended distances and the more traditional version of the discipline.

They want the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) to immediately withdraw all funding to FEI endurance events outside of the US for two years or until significant changes are made within the FEI. Funding should instead be directed toward US national events.

The American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) executive committee, in a letter to the USEF, described events at the endurance ride during the recent World Equestrian Games in North Carolina as chaotic and disturbing. (The race was shortened after some competitors were misdirected on the first loop, and later cancelled because of heat and humidity.)

“WEG has brought clearly into focus the dangers of flat track racing for extended distances being attempted in the framework of traditional endurance …

“While we agree that the start mix up and the incomplete facilities were a major issue in this particular WEG, as noted above, the decade-plus erosion of traditional endurance behaviors and equine welfare criteria are the greatest threats to the discipline.”

The committee, which wrote to USEF president Murray Kessler and secretary-general William Moroney, said their letter arose out of grave concern about not only the recent events of WEG, but also the years-long evolution of the sport of endurance in general...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2018/09/30/american-endurance-officials-flat-track-discipline/

First FEI event ever-held in Bragado, Buenos Aires

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

Info@endurance-world.com
30th September 2018

Bragado Endurance Club, Bragado, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Thursday 20, Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September 2018. This was the first FEI event ever-held in Bragado. The Bragado Endurance Festival (BEF) was in charge of and organized by the Bragado Endurance Club. Whereas, Chacras del Bragado sponsored and hosted the three-day event.

Argentinian teams particularly enjoyed a professional as well as a relaxed atmosphere, since not only did they compete but also share a long weekend among friends recalling previous races held in different parts of the country. Likewise, the settings offered peace and tranquillity to all horses. The joyful faces, the great number of important prizes, the new HR system (hired from Uruguay) and the viewing of live race results with the Yamamah App made this international event date a unique one in Argentina.

The first start was given on Thursday morning, which ended with the classification of 14 horses in the 40 and 80 km qualifiers. Later in the afternoon, the pre ride for CEI1* seniors and YR took place. While the CEI1* ladies race by Setzi Saddles was held on Friday. Saturday was allocated to CEI1* and CEI2* seniors and YR. At this event Argentina landed a record for a total number of 116 horses during the two race days.

Friday, at 7:00am, 26 riders started the all-female 100km race. It was divided in 4 loops (33km, 25km, 22km and 20km for the last respectively). Winner was Nadia Fernandez Cid riding FG Suavecita, in a post-race interview the rider described her horse as being “very energetic and very pleasant to work with every day...

Read more here:
http://endurance-world.com/first-fei-event-ever-held-in-bragado-buenos-aires/

Endurance Trainers to Face Automatic Suspension for Doping

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

September 25, 2018
by: Pippa Cuckson

Registered endurance trainers will be given automatic provisional suspensions when horses in their care test positive to prohibited substances, as the FEI beefs up measures to deal with ongoing doping issues in the Middle East.

This in the first time a FEI anti-doping rule will be discipline-specific – subject to ratification at the FEI General Assembly in November. Endurance still returns more positive samples than any other FEI sport.

In equestrianism, because the rider is usually the horse’s trainer and stable manager he is regarded as the prime “person responsible” (PR) and thereby liable for suspension and/or fines if the horse tests positive.

However, endurance in the Middle East is run on similar lines to Thoroughbred racing. Many hundreds of horses are kept in large barns and prepared by professional trainers – who must be registered with the FEI and competed by staff riders or visitors from overseas who have had little prior contact with the animal. Two riders currently awaiting FEI Tribunal decisions are South American visitors who accepted rides in the UAE last winter on horses which then tested positive to banned substances. One of them rode two different horses failing dope tests within a fortnight of each other.

The FEI Tribunal first warned in 2005 about the anomaly of the trainer not being the rider in endurance. More recently, FEI legal obtained discretionary powers to join extra persons – including trainers, owners, vets and grooms – in doping sanctions where there was clear evidence of complicity. If the new rules are approved, trainer suspension will be non-negotiable...

Read more here:
https://horse-canada.com/horse-news/endurance-trainers-face-automatic-suspension-doping/

What Happened at the 2018 WEG Endurance Championship?

Thehorse.com - Full Article

The ill-fated WEG endurance competition was abandoned amid delays, disruptions, and dangerous heat. Here’s a look back at what went wrong.

Posted by Jennifer O. Bryant | Sep 25, 2018

Medals in each of the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s (FEI) eight disciplines are awarded at the 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG), which wrapped up at the Tryon International Equestrian Center, in Mill Spring, North Carolina, over the weekend.

Make that seven disciplines.

The very first competition to get underway at the FEI WEG Tryon 2018 on Sept. 12, endurance, suffered delays and chaos at the start, was hastily revamped into a shortened version of the race, and, within hours, was canceled altogether.

Officials with the FEI cited three primary reasons for the cancellation:

A sudden brief downpour that made the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills of North Carolina feel like a torrid jungle after Mother Nature turned off the spigot and the late-summer sun emerged with a vengeance;
An unusually high number of horses exhibiting signs of metabolic issues; and
Deteriorated footing conditions on the trail following the rainstorm that required even more exertion from the endurance horses...

Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/160866/what-happened-at-the-2018-weg-endurance-championship/