FEI Bureau sets up Temporary Committee to create roadmap for the future of Endurance

FEI.org

22 Oct 2018

The FEI Bureau has set up a Temporary Committee with a remit to urgently assess the issues currently affecting the sport of Endurance and carry out an in-depth review of the rules in order to identify the most effective way of bringing the discipline back to its original roots of Endurance riding as opposed to Endurance racing, with horse welfare and horsemanship at its core, while still maintaining the competitive aspect of the sport.

The Temporary Committee, which has been established under Article 36.1 of the FEI Statutes*, will be chaired by Dr Sarah Coombs (GBR), a top FEI Endurance veterinarian who has many years’ experience of officiating at FEI Endurance events. Dr Coombs was formerly the British Endurance team vet, is a Trustee of the global equine charity World Horse Welfare and is also chair of its Veterinary Advisory Committee.

The members are Tarek Taher (KSA), an international Endurance athlete and recently-elected by his peers as a member of the FEI Athletes’ Committee; Pieter Wiersinga (NED), chef d’équipe of the Dutch Endurance team, a Police Commissioner and former Head of the Mounted Police in the Netherlands; Dr Margaret (Meg) Sleeper (USA), who has competed in FEI Endurance since 2005 and is also a trainer, official veterinarian and veterinary cardiologist; and Dr Tim Parkin (GBR), who heads up the scientific research conducted at the University of Glasgow as part of the FEI’s Global Endurance injuries Study (GEIS) and is a candidate for election as a member of the FEI Veterinary Committee.

In order to underline the importance of this discipline review and to facilitate communication between the Temporary Committee and the FEI Bureau, FEI 2nd Vice President Mark Samuel (CAN) will also be involved in the work of the Temporary Committee.

“We need to bring the discipline back to the principles of the FEI where welfare of the horse and horsemanship prevail”, FEI President Ingmar De Vos said. “The Temporary Committee will conduct a thorough review of the discipline with the aim of getting back to real Endurance riding with the focus on horsemanship and the partnership between horse and human.

“The sport has evolved and there needs to be a recognition of that, but the essence of the sport must remain the same. What we need are rules that place greater emphasis on completion of the event, rather than the ‘win at all costs’ mentality that is more and more threatening our sport.

“We have a strong Chair in Dr Sarah Coombs, who has a long-standing and in-depth understanding of the sport, particularly the horse welfare and veterinary aspects. With this new role she will be helping steer this crucial next step by leading a committee of extremely knowledgeable members that is focused on regulatory change driven by science with horse welfare at its heart.”

Prior to the creation of the new Temporary Committee, the FEI Bureau had received and accepted the resignation of Dr Brian Sheahan (AUS) as Chair of the Endurance Technical Committee due to ill health. His eight-year term in office was due to expire in 2020. The President has thanked Dr Sheahan for his dedication and passion for the sport and wished him a speedy recovery.

In a further development, the Bureau has provisionally relieved Ignasi Casas Vaque (ESP) of his rights and duties as Deputy Chair and Member of the Endurance Committee due to pending legal proceedings for alleged incorrect behaviour at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2018.

The FEI Legal Department last week initiated a disciplinary action against Dr Casas Vaque, based on evidence provided to the independent Equestrian Community Integrity Unit during its investigation into the cancelled Endurance event in Tryon (USA) on 12 September 2018. Any additional disciplinary actions against other individuals involved in events at Tryon last month will be announced in due course.

Due to the resignation of the Chair and the pending legal proceedings involving the Deputy Chair, the Endurance Committee is currently unable to function as a full committee. However, the remaining members of the Endurance Committee – Shanie Bosch-Fourie (NAM) (2014-2018), Rocio Echeverri (CRC) (2015-2019) and Stéphane Chazel (FRA) (2016-2020) – will remain as members for their terms and until further notice. The Temporary Committee will be asked to consult with them to ensure their expertise is not lost during the review process.

The Temporary Committee will start work as soon as possible, with the plan to hold a session dedicated on Endurance at the FEI Sports Forum 2019 allowing the Temporary Committee to provide an update to delegates.

To Finish is To Win’: AAP Employee to Compete in World’s Longest Horse Race

CornellSun.com - Full Article

October 19 2018
By Callie McQuilkin and Hnin Ei Wai Lwin

When asked what her goals were for next summer, when Cornell employee Kelsey Eliot will spend 10 days racing across mountains, rivers and rough terrain on the back of a semi-wild horse in the 600-mile Mongol Derby, her reply was simple: “To live.”

Eliot, a program assistant in the Department of City and Regional Planning, is one of 40 applicants selected from a pool of hundreds for the competition, which pits riders against each other, the elements and the very horses they’re riding.

“Mongolia horses are jackhammers. I’m trying to build my leg strength so I can withstand that,” Eliot told The Sun.

“It’s scary because a lot of [the horses] probably want to kill me,” she continued.

As they navigate the rugged Mongolian terrain — riddled with marmot holes and crisscrossed with rivers — competitors are likely to slip off their horses, which are often already skittish from the unfamiliar riders.

As a 2014 National Geographic article reported, about 50 percent of racers each year are not expected to cross the finish line, due to dysentery, broken bones and other complications...

Read more here:
https://cornellsun.com/2018/10/18/to-finish-is-to-win-aap-employee-to-compete-in-worlds-longest-horse-race/

2 Endurance Riders and Trainer in UAE Races Suspended

Inside.FEI.org

FEI Tribunal issues Final Decisions

18 Oct 2018

The FEI Tribunal has issued its Final Decisions in four cases involving prohibited substances.

Three of the cases involve the substance Trometamol, a diuretic listed as a *Banned Substance under the FEI’s Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMRs) but which is due to be reclassified as a Controlled Medication on 1 January 2019.

As a result of the pending reclassification, the athletes have each been handed down a six-month suspension and costs, as well as disqualification from all placings at the events at which the positive samples were collected.

Argentinian athlete Daiana Chopita (FEI ID 10107027/ARG) rode the horse JC Cahuel (FEI ID 105UO02/UAE) at the CEI1* 100 in Abu Dhabi (UAE) on 9 December 2017 and HLP Gadafi (FEI ID 105AP09/UAE) at the CEI2* 120 in Abu Dhabi (UAE) on 23 December 2017. Samples from both horses tested positive for Trometamol. As Ms. Chopita was not notified of the first adverse analytical finding until after the second ride, the two charges were considered together as one single first violation.

The third Trometamol case involves the horse JLB Noche (FEI ID 104KB96/UAE) ridden by United Arab Emirates’ athlete Waad Nadim Bou Moghlbay (FEI ID 10113241) at the CEI2* 120 in Abu Dhabi (UAE) on 23 December 2017.

The two horses, HLP Gadafi and JLB Noche, are both trained by Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri (UAE), who has been provisionally suspended since the date of notification (10 January 2018). The case against him is still ongoing.

The fourth case involves the horse Concordia 7 (FEI ID 103ZZ97/AUT) competed by Austrian athlete Andreas Ruschitzka (FEI ID 10007005) at last year’s European Driving Championships in Gothenburg (SWE). Samples taken from the horse tested positive for the Banned Substance Oripavine, and the Controlled Medication substances Morphine and Codeine.

A sample taken on 20 April 2018 from a second horse, Solo Rygata XXI 17 (FEI ID 105WE35), driven by Mr Ruschitzka at the Czech CAI3* at Kladruby nad Labem, tested positive to Morphine. Oripavine, Morphine and Codeine are all are classified as Specified Substances** under the EADCMRs.

The athlete was able to prove that the presence of the three substances was due to contaminated feed and, as a result, the Tribunal found that he bore no fault or negligence for the rule violations. No period of ineligibility was imposed, but the athlete has been disqualified from the results with both horses.

The athletes have 21 days to appeal the decisions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) from the dates of notification of the Final Decisions.

More at:
https://inside.fei.org/news/fei-tribunal-issues-final-decisions-0

Australia: Canobolas Endurance Riders to host Bullio carnival for 120 riders in November

[CentralWesternDaily.com.au - Full Article

October 18 2018
Central Western Daily

Combine horses and riders, a marked course through incredible countryside, camping, families and friends and you have the recipe for endurance riding.

Canobolas Endurance Riders Club is hosting the inaugural Matar Stables Bullio Cup Endurance Carnival on November 3 and 4, with 120 people from all over Australia and even New Zealand coming to compete.

The Carnival includes an 80km event for international rankings and an 80km ride for domestic riders as well as a 40km training ride, introductory 20km social ride and two shorter five and 10km rides.

A Perpetual Bullio Cup has been commissioned and a unique riding buckle and medallion have been struck for this Ride. These will be awarded to successful completions of the 80km and 40km rides...

Read more here:
https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/5710558/canobolas-endurance-riders-to-host-bullio-carnival-for-120-riders-in-november/

Round Up of Recent Endurance Doping Case Rulings

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

October 12, 2018
by: Pippa Cuckson

Two endurance riders whose horses tested positive to Trometamol have been suspended for six months each – a reduced sanction for a banned substance because Trometamol is being re-classified as a controlled medication.

The FEI Tribunal also noted that neither could have known their borrowed horses – supplied by Al Wathba Stables in Abu Dhabi – had ingested Trometamol. It was not listed as an ingredient of a product called “Endurance,” administered by the stables’ veterinary assistant before their respective races.

One rider is top Argentinian Daiana Chopita, who rode two horses both testing positive in Abu Dhabi last winter. JC Cahuel placed third in a CEI* 100km race on December 9, 2017, and HLP Gadafi third in the CEI** 120km on December 23rd.

The other rider, Waad Nadim Bou Moghlbay, won the December 23rd race for riding JLB Noche, also testing positive to Trametamol. Miss Moghlbay is a Lebanese national competing under UAE administration.

The six-month suspensions were credited against provisional suspensions already served, meaning both may compete again immediately. They were also fined 3,000 Swiss francs ($3,950.)...

Read more here:
https://horse-canada.com/horse-news/endurance-doping-case-rulings/

South Africa to host the wildest adventure horse race in the world

Sport23.co.za - Full Article

2018-10-10

Cape Town - From October 13-21, 2018, Race the Wild Coast, a new breed of long distance horse racing, will return for a second edition amid the breathtaking scenery of the South African east coast.

Over the course of five days a host of experienced international riders, each with a team of three horses, will compete for victory over 350km of rugged paradise from Port Edward to Kei Mouth.

This complex multi-stage race, in which riders must brave this untamed wilderness and swim rivers while keeping horses fit for vet checks, will challenge the endurance of any rider. Adventure sports enthusiasts will be able to keep close tabs on the race by checking each stage of the competition via live tracking and social media updates.

Race the Wild Coast blends the spirit of the frontiersman and the modern horseback adventurer - a test of endurance, horsemanship, survival and navigational skills across an iconic wilderness that is set to become a South African, if not a global, sporting classic. Due to the terrain - it is not known as the “wild coast" for nothing - Race the Wild Coast is currently the toughest horse race in the world...

Read more here
https://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/South-Africa/sa-to-host-the-wildest-adventure-horse-race-in-the-world-20181010

World Equestrian Games - Will Tryon Be the Last Edition?

GrandPrix-replay.com - Full Article

Friday 05 October - 10h08 | Sébastien Roullier

It has been much debated, before, during and after the recent World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Tryon, USA, but were those Games, the last? Grand Prix's Sebastien Roullier looks at the issues surrounding the future of WEG.

Too expensive, too complicated to organize, not enough publicity: the World Equestrian Games – a fantastic concept on paper – have always sparked debates within the horse sport community. And those who have taken on the challenge of putting them on over the years have rarely managed to deliver a flawless event.

While the inaugural edition of the Games in Stockholm, which featured 'only' six disciplines in 1990, and those of Jerez de la Frontera and Aachen, which brought together seven in 2002 and 2006, provided very good and sometimes excellent memories for participants and spectators, that has not been the case for others. In 1994, the organizers of the Games in the Hague went bankrupt. In 1998, those in Rome kept their promises against all expectations but could not host an endurance race, which was relocated to Abu Dhabi. In 2010, the WEG in Lexington, Kentucky were saved by significant last-minute budget infusions – and even then all was not perfect. In 2014, Normandy created a great regional project, but experienced various logistical problems. Not to mention all the organizers, chosen by the Fédération Équestre Internationale, who have thrown in the towel along the way: Paris for the 1994 edition, Dublin for the following and Bromont for 2018.

After the small town in Quebec bowed out a little over two years ago, Mark Bellissimo came to the rescue of the FEI, offering a new host site for its flagship rendezvous. Indeed, Bellissimo promised that the Tryon WEG, to be held on his large property in nearby Mill Spring, North Carolina, would be the best yet. And convinced of the merits of his project, the American raised enough capital to invest nearly $250 million for a stadium and other site features – not to mention an operational budget of millions to deliver the event...

Read more here:
http://www.grandprix-replay.com/uk/article/5814/world-equestrian-games-will-tryon-bethe-last-edition-