Spain: Sabotage blamed for positive drug test in Endurance horse

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

September 11, 2019
Horsetalk.co.nz

An Endurance rider from Spain whose horse tested positive for a controlled medication blames sabotage, but says he cannot prove it.

Miguel Vila Ubach was suspended for six months and fined 3000 Swiss francs over the drugs breach. He was ordered to contribute a further 1500 francs towards the cost of the case, heard by the FEI Tribunal.

Ubach had ridden TBO Joy in a CEI3* 160km ride at Fontainebleau, France, on March 30 last year.

TBO Joy was selected for testing and returned a positive urine test for salbutamol, a bronchodilator used in the treatment of inflammatory airway disease. It is classified as a controlled medication under the FEI’s anti-doping regulations.

Ubach was advised of the drugs breach through the Spanish Equestrian Federation.

He explained to the tribunal that the horse was usually stabled in a private stable. TBO Joy has always been “in perfect condition” without any respiratory problems or allergies.

He talked of a 30-year involvement in endurance, and said he had never used salbutamol in his entire career for any of his horses...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/09/11/sabotage-blamed-positive-drug-endurance-horse/

From the Eastern Shore to East Asia

Stardem.com - Full Article

September 8 2019
By CHRISTINA ACOSTA cacosta@chespub.com

EASTON — Eastern Shore native Rachel Roman, an avid equestrian, wanted a riding journey unlike any other she has participated before, and the Mongol Derby gave her the opportunity of a lifetime.

“I got to witness the rolling steppe with no trees, marshy bogs, jagged mountains, the mini gobi (desert plateau), and some forested mountain areas that made you think you were in Switzerland,” said Roman.

Before participating in the grueling derby, Roman spent her entire life riding, training, competing and caring for horses. When she discovered what the Mongol Derby was and what it entailed: “horses, wilderness and adventure,” she said. She vied for a chance to compete, along with hundreds of applicants from around the world...

Read more here:
https://www.stardem.com/life/from-the-eastern-shore-to-east-asia/article_e6bf43ed-1215-5013-a0db-5a18cbf21bcc.html

Great Britain's Jeni Gilbert Talks Endurance with Everything Horse

EverythingHorseuk.co.uk - Full Story

22/08/2019
ehuknews

In this article we talk to HorseHage & Mollichaff-sponsored endurance rider, Jeni Gilbert, who is based in West Yorkshire, to find out how she became involved in the sport of endurance. Jeni is a former Novice Champion, Endurance GB Senior and Supreme Champion (2007, 2011) and winner of several other titles. She competes on her Connemara, Ballydoolagh Alfie, who 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.

When and how did you first discover your love of riding?

I started riding as a youngster but due to moving around a lot it was difficult to continue so it was in the background until middle age arrived with the right job, money and time! I started riding at a riding school with lots of other adults and we had a great time, then one by one we bought our own horses.

How did you first get involved with endurance?

I started endurance riding in the early 80’s, spurred on my reading about the Golden Horseshoe Ride on Exmoor and being fully aware I wasn’t brave or talented enough for jumping and dressage. However, we did like riding for hours and exploring. I could also map read!...

Read more here:
https://everythinghorseuk.co.uk/jeni-gilbert-talks-endurance-with-everything-horse/

Seeing the world on horseback

ICL.co.za - Full Article

6 SEPTEMBER 2019, 12:00PM / CLINTON MOODLEY

South African Wiesman Nels wears many hats. Not only is he the owner of Moolmanshoek Private Game Reserve in Ficksburg, but he also loves “travelling on a horse.”

The 40-year-old recently participated in Mongol Derby, known as the world’s longest and toughest horse race.

The course started south-west of Arvaikheer in Mongolia and ended north of Jargalthaan in Mongolia. At 1000km, the race is believed to be the toughest test on the planet for equestrian endurance riders...

Read more here:
https://www.iol.co.za/travel/world/asia/seeing-the-world-on-horseback-32256438

Great Britain, Talking Horses: BHA must respond over trainer's doping suspension

TheGuardian.com - Full Story

Chris Cook
Thu 5 Sep 2019

The Newmarket-based Ismail Mohammed has been suspended from endurance racing for two years by the FEI

Readers may be surprised to learn that bans imposed on people by one horsey sport are not automatically reciprocated by others. Whether this situation should be allowed to continue has become a pressing one for the British Horseracing Authority, following the news that Ismail Mohammed, a trainer based in Newmarket, has been suspended from endurance racing for two years over a doping offence involving testosterone.

In a decision reached last month by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), Mohammed was disciplined, along with one other, for a positive test taken from the horse Shaddad at an event in Suffolk last year. The test found 35 nanograms of the anabolic steroid per millilitre of urine taken from the horse, compared to the FEI’s threshold of 20ng. The FEI described testosterone as “one of the most old-school anabolic steroids, which was known to be used in the build-up period for competitions in Endurance”...

Read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/sep/05/talking-horses-bha-must-respond-over-trainers-doping-suspension

Meet the Western Australians who took on the Mongol Derby, the world's toughest horse race

ABC.net.au - Full Article

September 4 2019
By Ellie Honeybone

It is known as the longest and toughest horse race on Earth, but for two Western Australians who just returned from competing in the Mongol Derby, it was one of the best experiences of their lives.

Jesse Byrne and Sarah Brown finished third in a field of 40 riders after racing across 1,000 kilometres of vast Mongolian landscapes mounted on semi-wild racing ponies.

The annual adventure race follows the world's first long-distance postal transmission route, laid down by Genghis Khan in 1224.

Sturdy Mongolian horses, used to life on the steppes where temperatures range from minus 40 degrees Celsius in winter to 30 degrees Celsius in summer, carry the entrants on the course.

The object of the event is to ride a series of horses along the route, swapping your mount every 40 kilometres at stations crewed by teams of veterinarians.

It is not a challenge for the faint-hearted but the Aussie duo has returned home in one piece with just a couple of sore knees between them...

Read more here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-05/meet-the-west-australians-who-took-on-the-mongol-derby/11467864

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/