FEI President Admits it's Hard to Motivate WEG Organizers

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

November 8, 2018
by: Pippa Cuckson

FEI president Ingmar de Vos has admitted it has had “to fight to motivate one organizer” to take on the World Equestrian Games in recent years.

He also says the FEI must take “courage” to review the viability of the WEG, following concerns by the delays and organizational difficulties exhibited by Tryon, which took on the 2018 WEG renewal just 18 months ahead of the event.

In a mission statement for his next, uncontested four years in office, e Vos says he will review all FEI’s championships “with an open mind in order to make the best choices for the future and sustainability.”

The FEI would promote multi-disciplinary bids, but he added: “If we want to be successful we need to have a model that creates competition and can interest a lot of organizers rather than having to fight to find and motivate one organizer for WEG...

Read more here:
https://horse-canada.com/horse-news/fei-president-admits-hard-motivate-weg-organizers/?utm_source=Enews+Nov+12%2C+2018&utm_campaign=EnewsNov122018&utm_medium=email

Waikato student Elise Stables youngest Kiwi to take on Mongol Derby

Stuff.co.nz - Full Article

Equestrian
13:44, Nov 13 2018

Waikato student Elise Stables' decision to take a year off to travel will lead her on an adventure through the toughest horse race in the world.

Stables has been selected as the youngest New Zealander to ride in the Mongol Derby, a challenge she'll have almost a year to prepare for.

Riders cover 1000km of Mongolian wilderness on semi-wild horses, changing steed every 40km.

It is the rider and horse against the world, and up to the rider to navigate and survive the wilderness...

Read more here:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/racing/108484765/waikato-student-elise-stables-youngest-kiwi-to-take-on-mongol-derby

Great Britain: Variety Is The Spice of Life For Alfie

EverythingHorseUK.co.uk - Full Article

15/11/2018 ehuknews

Ballydoolagh Alfie, owned by Huddersfield-based endurance rider, Jeni Gilbert, is proof that variety is the spice of life for this 11-year-old Connemara.

Alfie is making his mark in the sport of endurance with Jeni, a former Novice Champion, Endurance GB Senior and Supreme Champion (2007, 2011) and winner of several other titles. He has now completed more than 2300km in 48 competitions in his five year endurance career – an impressive feat for a native breed in a discipline that is dominated with Arab horses.

Jeni believes that competing in endurance gives an important advantage over other horse sports. As well as improving the fitness of your horse and regularly assessing his soundness, endurance also helps to develop a horse’s confidence and manners, and gives him great experience in learning to balance and cope with different types of terrain...

Read more here:
https://everythinghorseuk.co.uk/variety-is-the-spice-of-life-for-alfie/

"Prohibited List" Updates for 2019 Released by World Anti-Doping Agency

November 16 2018

The World Anti-Doping Agency has released its updates for the 2019 Prohibited List. You can see the complete list here:
https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/wada_2019_english_prohibited_list.pdf

Tunisia Spurs On Equestrian Sports

FEI.org - Full Story

5 November 2018

We take a look at how FEI Solidarity has helped to generate a new generation of equestrian enthusiasts in the North African country of Tunisia...

In early 2011, few in Tunisia had a real, tangible interest in equestrian sports, with the number of licensed riders idling at barely 200.

Just five years later, that total had shot up, with 1,500 nationals registered with the Tunisian Equestrian Federation, over seven times the previous count. Here, we look at how this remarkable growth has come about and the role FEI Solidarity has played in popularising the sport...

The upsurge in public interest has been brought about in no small part thanks to Maher Berrachid, President of the Tunisian Equestrian Federation (FTSE).

Maher had clear ideas on what was holding back the sport in Tunisia and how these obstacles could be surmounted.

With Tunisia itself undergoing a significant political shift in 2011, the FTSE shed its previous designation as a military federation to become one overseen by the Ministry of Sport, giving it a wider scope for self-governance and the implementation of its own strategic plan.

FTSE has since overseen a near-complete revamp of the processes that govern it and the way it structures the sport.

“Before 2011, there weren’t any real objectives for the sport in Tunisia. No national training, no long-term perspective, but from the moment we focused our objectives on an international level and implemented a calendar, interest grew very rapidly,” says Berrachid.

“There’s been an entire dynamic created thanks to the trust that the people have in the Federation since 2011. The sport becomes more attractive, parents invest and allow their children to take part from a younger age, and clubs have more incentive to develop their offerings.”

The effect of these changes is perhaps most evident in Endurance competitions, which has seen some impressive results...

Read more here:
https://www.fei.org/stories/tunisia-equestrian-fei-solidarity

UAE Endurance Season Begins with More Horse Deaths

Grandprix-replay.com - Full Article

Wednesday 07 November - 22h43 | Lulu Kyriacou

The 2018/19 Endurance season in the UNited Arab Emirates has barely begun and already two horses have been listed as dead on the FEI Database.

In the CEI 80km in Dubai today (7th November) two horses, namely HENHAM FEATHERSTONE (UAE) (FEI Reg 105JJ43) who is a 10 year old gelding originally from South Africa and DENELDAN SHANARY (UAE) (FEI Reg 105SS86), a 10 year old gelding originally from Australia, were listed on the provisional results information available from official scorers Tawqeet, as eliminated for minor injury (MI) but both horses were then listed as deceased within hours on the FEI Database (see images).

This ride was only the second FEI ride for Deneldan Shanary, who was eliminated for metabolics (ME) on the first ride at Vet Gate 1 on the 31st of October, just one week before this ride...

Read more here:
http://www.grandprix-replay.com/uk/article/5857/uae-endurance-season-begins-with-more-horse-deaths?fbclid=IwAR1fRVcRiingX8Mcxd2rPra5Uvf5TITfT_AmtAnGVyKSDO1as0WNnF_uLuY

Doping: The Figures Behind the Headlines at Tryon

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | November 8, 2018

The FEI, quite understandably, has flagged up the nearly clean sheet achieved in the extensive sampling carried out at Tryon, save for two endurance horses.

The Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Programme always goes into overdrive at WEGs and Olympic Games, when so many major players are assembled in one place. The 2018 WEG was no exception; 163 horses were sampled out of (according to other official blurb) 820 participants. That’s a sampling rate of 19.88% of horses present, five times greater than the percentage usually targeted at non-championship fixtures.

“Enhanced” anti-doping measures were rolled out before Tryon, with national federations offered pre-arrival testing and elective testing to ensure horses were clean. The FEI also launched a guide in eight languages.

Naturally, the FEI is pleased the message sunk home, and the results provide another feel-good story to counter all the negative press about Tryon.

However, the FEI press release about these comforting results was issued a week or so before we could all access the negative tests listings on the Clean Sport bit of the FEI website. This list is as interesting for who wasn’t sampled as it is for who was...

Read more here:
https://horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/doping-figures-behind-tryon/