Australia: WERI Wicked Wheatbelt Challenge

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

1 September 2019
Race Report made with the assistance of Cara Allan

Merredin WA, Australia. Saturday 17 August 2019. The rejuvenation of CEI competition in Western Australia was brought about by the Acharon Challenge, held in Collie in May last year.

his was the first international (CEI) ride held in Western Australia for five years; a tribute to the late West Coast Acharon (affectionately known as Acky), the stallion sadly laid to rest three years ago. Last year’s ride was the preamble for the recent CEI2* event, hosted by the Wheatbelt Endurance Riders Incorporation (WERI) and held in Merredin over the weekend of the 17 August 2019...

Read more here:
https://endurance-world.com/weri-wicked-wheatbelt-challenge/

Maktoum Family Endurance Horse Trainer Banned for Steroids Offence

HorseSport.com - Full Article

Ismail Mohammed, a longstanding endurance trainer for the Maktoum family has received a two-year suspension for a banned steroids offence involving Shaddad.

By: Pippa Cuckson | September 3 2019

One of the Maktoum family’s longest standing trainers has been suspended for two years by the FEI for a banned steroids offence involving Shaddad, who was the world number-one ranked endurance horse at the time.

Ismail Mohammed, 56, was also fined 7,500 Swiss francs and ordered to pay 2,500 Swiss francs towards costs. The same suspension, fine and costs order was handed down to Shaddad’s rider Saeed Mohd Khalifa Al Mehairi, 22. The suspensions are backdated to take account of provisional suspensions already served, meaning the pair are ineligible to compete in FEI through August 2020.

The testosterone positive was returned on July 13, 2018, at a Maktoum-sponsored FEI ride at Euston Park, UK. The gelding Shaddad is owned by MRM, the premier endurance stable of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum.

Ismail Mohammed has previous anti-doping violations in both endurance and horse racing. He blamed this latest incident on accidental “contamination” by the horse’s groom on the day, Saleem Khan, who was using a cream containing testosterone to treat muscle soreness on his own shoulders. Khan had worked “diligently” for MRM six years but on this occasion failed to advise MRM management he was using the cream...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/maktoum-endurance-trainer-banned-steroids-offence/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Maktoum+Endurance+Trainer+Banned+%7C+Inevitable+Tokyo+Jumping++Mess++%7C+Ingrid+Klimke+Golden+at+Euros&utm_campaign=HS+Enewsletter+-+MONDAY+-+LATEST+NEWS+-+Sept+4

St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride 2019 – Ireland’s Emerald Jewel of Endurance and Pleasure Riding

Farmweek.com - Full Article

By Bree Rutledge - September 3, 2019

THE most eagerly anticipated equestrian event of the year is coming up soon and has been on many riders’ minds and training programmes. The annual St. Patrick’s Coast Endurance Ride is the perfect horse-riding event, whether you are an avid eventer, dressage diva or someone who enjoys exploring the glorious countryside on horseback! Now in its sixth year, this event hosted by the Irish Long Distance Riding Association (ILDRA), has become established as Ireland’s premier endurance event offering stunning off-road riding in the scenic County Down landscape.

On Saturday, September 7, the ride will commence at the excellent venue of Downpatrick racecourse, offering ample parking and on site toilets. The ride meanders across the rolling drumlins of County Down through numerous fields before reaching the East Down Gallops...

Read more here:
https://farmweek.com/st-patricks-coast-endurance-ride-2019-irelands-emerald-jewel-of-endurance-and-pleasure-riding/

Fines, bans imposed over testosterone level in Endurance horse in Britain

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

September 3, 2019 Horsetalk.co.nz

Excessive testosterone levels found in an Endurance horse who competed over 160km in a contest at Euston Park, England, have result in both the rider and trainer being fined and banned by the FEI Tribunal.

The rider, Saeed Mohammed Khalifa Al Mehairi, who is registered with the United Arab Emirates, rode UAE-registered Shaddad in the CEI3* 160km ride held at the venue on July 13 last year.

Shaddad, a gelding, had blood and urine samples taken for testing. Analysis revealed the presence of testosterone in the urine sample. The internationally agreed threshold for free and conjugated testosterone in a gelding’s urine is 20 nanograms per millilitre.

Shaddad’s concentration of testosterone was found to be 35 nanograms per millilitre...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/09/03/fines-bans-testosterone-endurance-britain/

Better welfare outcomes seen in domestic-level endurance

Horsetalk.co.nz - full article

August 30, 2019 Horsetalk.co.nz

Endurance rides ridden at slower speeds over technically challenging terrain have fewer eliminations and better horse welfare outcomes, the authors of a New Zealand study have found.

Massey University researcher Kylie Legg and her colleagues, writing in the open-access journal Animals, noted that international media recently raised awareness around horse welfare during endurance competitions.

However, much of this attention has been focused on international-level FEI competitions.

Little, they said, is known about domestic-level competitions and their risk factors for elimination...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/08/30/better-welfare-outcomes-domestic-endurance/

Long distance riders take to Cariboo trails

Quesnel Cariboo Observer
Long-distance horseback riders from all corners of the province made the Hangman Springs Trails their home this weekend (Aug. 24-25) while competing in the Quesnel Canter endurance race.

Almost 70 endurance horse racers, ranging in age from 10 to 75, took their steeds along a series of looped trails in the Cariboo wilderness just north of Bouchie Lake.

Some of the contestants rode up to 50 miles a day, while others opted for fun rides of 12.4 miles.

Welfare of the animals is of utmost importance to the organizers as well as the competitors.

If the horse is not deemed to be in tip-top shape, the contestant cannot win the race.

The day before the ride, the horses come in and are pre-vetted to ensure that they are sound to ride, and for each loop that a rider and their horse completes, there is a detailed vet checkup to ensure the animal is capable of running the next leg of the race.

“We have two vets here and a treatment vet on call,” says co-organizer Erin Wilde.

She adds the number of vets is dependent on the amount of riders that take part.

“And each vet has a scribe, so it’s all documented and they have a working baseline of the horse’s condition.”

The goal of the sport is to finish quickly with your horse in excellent shape.

“A big part of it is being a team with your animal,” says Cambria Volonte, who came to Quesnel from Bridgelake to race on her horse, Toby.

“You want to make sure that they come in healthy and strong and tired. We always say it’s a healthy horse if it will eat, drink, pee and poo on the trail, so you’re watching all those things.”

The sport of endurance riding is an old one that is still in practice in many places throughout North America, the Middle East and Europe.

One of the most famous races is the Tevis Cup, which is a 100-mile race that follows the coastline of California. This year’s competition was won by an 18-year-old girl on a horse her family had acquired for free off of an ad they had seen on Craigslist.

While the Hangman Springs Trails are not quite the same, the consensus among organizers and riders was the course was a technical one.

“There’s some road riding, but the majority of it is double track,” says Wilde.

“There’s roots, there’s rocks, there’s some mud, and there’s the elevation gain. Our 50-mile riders have climbed an average of 2,000 feet and descended 2,000 feet in one loop, and both the other two loops are about an 1,800-foot elevation gain, so it’s a little hard on the horses.”

She adds the best breed for the contests are often Arabians, as they are known for their ability to recover quickly.

“Vets are looking at horses’ CRI [cardiac recovery index], so you take the horse’s resting heart rate and you ask them to trot down to a certain distance and come back and measure it again, and the average will give you where they’re at metabolically,” says Wilde. “Typically, Arabians recover a lot faster than a lot of different breeds.”

The Quesnel Canter was an Endurance Riders Association of B.C. race. There are about a dozen other races being held by the organization across the province.

For riders like Wilde, there is plenty of enjoyment to be had in checking out new trails.

“I love exploring new terrain,” she says, adding the people and the campsites also add to a sense of community among riders.

“We’re all here because we love horses. The biggest thing is exploring and finding new trails and seeing what our horses can do.”

Bucket List Ride: Meg Sleeper Checks off the Quilty




August 20 2019
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

When you see her stats: over 15,000 AERC miles, being a member of the USA squad that attended every World Endurance Championship from 2004-2016 (Dubai, Germany, Malaysia, USA, Great Britain, France, Slovakia), finishes and medals in multiple World and Pan American Championships, AERC Championship and National Best Condition titles, 2015 nomination by the Arabian Jockey Club for the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies International Award in Endurance, and the 2017 Maggie Price award for excellence in Endurance - just to name a few accomplishments - the only thing surprising is that Meg Sleeper just rode in Australia for the first time this year.


Crossing the ocean to set foot and ride on her final continent (not counting Antarctica “I don’t think there are any rides there”), Meg - well known in the USA and around the world for riding her highly successful homebred endurance Arabians - completed the 100-mile Tom Quilty, Australia’s premiere 100-mile ride, on July 13, in Imbil, Queensland.


Her mount was Jay Randle’s Follydown Gai Emerald, a 21-year-old mare by Gai General X Formosa Park Faberge. The mare - the oldest horse in this year’s Quilty - had previously completed the Quilty in 2013 and 2015. Meg said, “I got to ride her two days before the Quilty when I got to the farm. She was great. She definitely thought she knew a lot more than I did. And she may have, I don’t know,” Meg laughed. “We did kind of come to terms in the ride, that I got to pick too. She actually accepted that very gracefully and she was simply fantastic all day. She was very experienced. She’s packed tons of kids around on different rides. She was just really professional and totally knew what she was doing.”

Seven of Jay’s Splendacrest endurance horses started the Quilty, with five finishing. Numerous ‘students’ of Jay’s accompanied the horses to ride and crew. “Jay has quite an amazing program, bringing kids along, from basic beginner riding to 100 mile rides. It was really fabulous just watching and meeting her and all the kids.” 

299 horses and riders lined up at the starting line of the Quilty at midnight. Why the midnight starting time, common in Australia and New Zealand for 100 milers? “Because it is so much fun starting in the dark on a fresh horse!” joked Aussie endurance rider Linda Tanian. But seriously. “It is about utilising cooler weather conditions, tradition, [and] getting finished in daylight if possible,” Linda said, “as it can be mentally tougher going into the dark when both rider and horse are getting tired.”

Meg rode “Emma” at what she felt was a very easy moderate pace throughout the Quilty. “The mare felt really strong, but I had never ridden her before. So I ended up deciding partway through the ride that if we’re walking down a hill - there was a lot of elevation change in the ride - I’m just going to get off and walk her. And I let her eat as we went along.

“I hadn’t really realized we were pretty competitive. We weren’t anywhere near the front, but it was interesting, because I came in thinking, wow, I just had this really mellow lovely day; I got to see beautiful birds, the trail was gorgeous, and it was impossible for me to tell who was in what weight division. That’s not why I was there, I didn’t particularly care that much anyway. 

“Coming in on that last loop, another rider asked me, ‘How many more loops do you have?’ I said I was on my last loop. And he said ‘Oh, wow, I hope someday I can finish in the daylight.’ 

“And I suddenly felt so lucky! I’d had a great day, it just felt very peaceful and comfortable.”

Meg and Emma did finish in the daylight, after just under 14 hours of riding, around 50th overall (of 194 finishers), and 23rd in the middleweight division. Five of the seven Splendacrest horses finished the Quilty, and Emma was the toast of the stable. 


Meg had high praise for the facilities at Sterling’s Crossing Endurance Complex, built by long-time endurance rider Matthew Sample three years ago. The premises have a 60m x 40m fully lit, undercover area; a large pavilion for horse exams and jogging; permanent overnight camping sites; air-conditioned amenities block with toilets and showers; bathrooms with radiant floor heating; large, level, well-maintained and grassy outdoor areas; and direct access to some of Australia’s most desirable forestry trails.

Meg ranks the Quilty as one of the tougher 100-mile rides she’s done - and one of the most enjoyable. “The ride was amazing on so many levels. One thing I have always found special about international riding is learning how similar we all are and how friendly everyone is on trail.

“Everybody, all day, whoever you passed, would say, ‘Good luck to you.’ It was really striking to me how encouraging everybody was.”


When asked what’s next on her Bucket List, Meg indicates the horizon is limitless. “What i’m trying to do is, any opportunity that comes, I’m trying to take it,” she said. “That’s my goal. 

“There are always some rides that you just go - wow - that was a rough day. But I learn something from every ride, and the people are always great wherever I go. I just love going different places, and this one was definitely one of the most special things that I’ve ever done.”