UAE: Fine, suspension for Endurance rider over positive drugs test in horse

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

November 13, 2019 Horsetalk.co.nz

A young Endurance rider from the United Arab Emirates has been fined 7500 Swiss francs and suspended for two years after his UAE-registered horse tested positive for muscle-building compounds.

Khalifa Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri, who was aged 19 at the time of the drugs breach in September 2017, had competed the horse 8 Minute, who was not trained by him, in a 120km event for junior and young riders in Valeggio sul Mincio, Italy.

Samples taken from the horse confirmed the presence of nandrolone and stanozolol, which are listed as banned substances under the FEI’s anti-doping rules...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/11/13/fine-suspension-endurance-horse/

Endurance riding in Ukraine on the rise

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

10 November 2019
Race Report made with the assistance of Lesia Gordiienko

Shchilin Endurance Equestrian Club, Iatski, Kyiv region. Sunday 6 October 2019.

Endurance riding in Ukraine is becoming more and more popular throughout recent years.

Due to the great enthusiasm of the famous endurance rider and Shchilin Endurance equestrian club owner Mr Czhou Zhuisi, who organizes FEI rides every autumn.

The rides of CEI2* 120k and CEI1* 80k were organized for both senior and young riders. Three loops of 12, 20 and 34km involved a mix of long plane field roads, moderate hills, forest paths and picturesque countryside. The track was rather technical and challenging with long speedy stretches and slopes to walk down...

Read more here:
https://endurance-world.com/endurance-riding-in-ukraine-on-the-rise/

Survival of Endurance rests on crucial vote, says advocacy group

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

November 6, 2019
Horsetalk.co.nz

The very survival of Endurance as an FEI discipline is at stake when national delegates vote on new rules for the sport at the upcoming FEI General Assembly, a respected advocacy group says.

Clean Endurance is urging all national federations to approve the 2020 FEI Endurance Rules during the annual gathering, being held in Moscow in mid-November.

The group, a global collective which combats fraud and doping in Endurance, and seeks to restore the traditional values of the discipline, says it has written to all 134 national federations ahead of the Moscow meeting.

It is asking them to vote in favour of the rules in order to ensure the survival of Endurance as an FEI discipline.

They told secretary generals around the world that their letter was a last resort to try to convey the emergency faced by Endurance, saying that a positive vote was of the utmost importance...

Read more here
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/11/06/survival-endurance-vote/

UAE: Former endurance rider Ana Mendez revels in new role as a flat-racing trainer

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Argentine scores a double at Sharjah Racecourse’s first meeting of the new season

Published: November 02, 2019 18:54
Leslie Wilson Jr, Racing & Special Features Writer

Dubai: Former endurance rider Ana Mendez is revelling in her new role as a flat-racing handler where she is in charge of the Al Wathba Stables owned by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

The Argentine horsewoman, who only took out an ERA’s training license two months ago, matched reigning champion Ernst Oertel win-for-win at the Sharjah Equestrian Club’s first meeting of the 2019-2020 UAE racing season on Saturday.

Mendez did not waste time to get off the mark at Abu Dhabi last week when she sent out Saarookh to secure a career-first victory that will always remain very close to her heart.

As the action turned to Sharjah, Mendez began the afternoon in fine style when Rawaa ran out a comfortable winner of the opening Sharjah Sports Maiden.

She then doubled the score with Fandim in the Longines Conquest VHP Maiden.

Mendez, a regular on the endurance scene, has for the past five years been honing her flat-racing skills that are essentially focused on Purebred Arabians, as an assistant trainer...

Read more here:
https://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/former-endurance-rider-ana-mendez-revels-in-new-role-as-a-flat-racing-trainer-1.67564907

Australia: Endurance riders raise funds to support drought relief

CowraGuardian.com.au - Full Article

October 31 2019

The Lachlan Endurance Riders Club has donated $4000 to drought relief efforts in NSW, following through on a commitment made earlier in the year.

The club decided to contribute to attempts to alleviate the drought's effects earlier in the year, and after careful consideration, decided to do so through Lions International, who have more than 600 volunteers donating thousands of hours of their time servicing Central NSW.

There are several steps in the Lions International aid process, which made it clear that it was the right organisation for us to direct our energy towards assisting.

First and foremost, it is co-ordinated through the Geurie Lions Club, and with assistance from Wellington Lions, all money donated is used to purchase hay direct from farmers, as well as stock lick blocks, while delivering both items to communities in need...

Read more here:
https://www.cowraguardian.com.au/story/6468398/endurance-riders-raise-funds-to-support-drought-relief/?cs=594

Clean Endurance urges National Federations to approve 2020 FEI Endurance Rules

5 November 2019
Immediate Release

Clean Endurance has written to all 134 National Federations invited to the FEI General Assembly in Moscow on November 19th 2019, asking them to vote in favour of the 2020 Endurance Rules Proposals in order to ensure the survival of Endurance as a FEI discipline.

They told the National Federation Secretary Generals that their letter was a last resort to try and convey to them the absolute emergency situation Endurance is in today, and that a positive vote was of the utmost importance.

Clean Endurance sketched the dire straits Endurance is in as follows:

‘Back in 2014, the FEI created the Endurance Strategic Planning Group (ESPG) which concluded that emergency measures were needed to reduce the numbers of doped, injured and dying horses at Endurance competitions. Only a few of their 41 recommendations were implemented and no improvement was seen.

In fact, the situation kept getting worse and worse, with ever increasing Catastrophic Injuries and the FEI Tribunal overwhelmed with doping and abuse cases. Currently, two thirds of all suspensions are for Endurance riders and trainers, over half of the Administrative Sanctions for doping involve Endurance horses ( and the winter season is only just beginning), over half of all doping cases treated by the FEI Tribunal in 2019 were Endurance related, and 80% of horse abuse sanctions imposed by the Tribunal this year were for Endurance. Numerous other abuse cases involving Endurance horses are queuing up to be heard by the Tribunal. An ever-increasing number of horses are collapsing and dying during Endurance competitions all over the world. This endangers ALL horse sports including the Olympic disciplines by bringing them into disrepute.

The continuing problems led the FEI to create the Endurance Temporary Committee in 2018 which was charged with creating rule proposals to protect the horses by putting them first, and thus ensuring Endurance could survive as a FEI discipline.’

Clean Endurance than pointed out that prior attempts at improving the Endurance Rules (in 2017 for example) failed, but that this time, commercial or political interests could not be allowed to prime over horse welfare, nor could a lack of involvement from those National Federations not actively participating in Endurance. They also mentioned that National Federations had no doubt, as was the case in 2017, received presentations from those National Federations who prefer to continue with racing horses at high speeds over very long distances and who will have tried to persuade them that this is the future. But that instead, they should ask themselves why the career span of a young horse sold to take part in these races is less than two years, and why the rate of positives to prohibited substances in that region is 12% - nearly 10 times greater than any other horse sport in any other country.

Clean Endurance went on to quote FEI President Ingmar de Vos from his opening speech at the 2019 FEI Sports Forum:

“Regardless of all actions undertaken, all the decisions, and all the resources made available we still have the same issues: horse welfare and the integrity of the sport remain huge concerns in Endurance. There are still too many injuries and fatalities, and I can only talk about those that we know of. We collectively hold our breaths when the season in the Middle East starts again. After Tryon, the FEI board unanimously agreed this had to stop. We need to bring horsemanship back to the heart of Endurance. It is our responsibility AND THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE. Endurance has great potential for the future, but NOT AS IT CURRENTLY EXISTS”.

Ingmar de Vos also stressed the fact that “We need to be courageous to make the right decisions in November”.

Clean Endurance wrote that ‘regardless of whether you as a National Federation are actively involved in Endurance or not, we urge you to vote a resounding YES to ALL the Endurance rule propositions the FEI submits to you. These proposals are not perfect, but an important steppingstone to finally get Endurance under control and build a sustainable future for it, within the FEI’.

They concluded their letter by stating they trust that the National Federations will support the FEI in its efforts for clean and fair sport.

Clean Endurance is a global collective which aims to restore the traditional values of their sport. It combats fraud, doping and abuse in collaboration with the FEI, National Federations and numerous other stakeholders.

Clean Endurance is happy to supply links for further reading, including coverage in bona fide news media.


Clean Endurance also welcomes comments and suggestions.

Find them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cleanendurance and contact them through the message button, or email contact.cleanendurance@gmail.com

Advice from a 70-Year-Old Endurance Champ

FEI.org - Full Story

31 October 2019
Words by Noelle Maxwell

70-year-old Bob Long reveals how preparation helped turn him from western rider to Endurance champion!

When it comes to Endurance, longevity is clearly an advantage.

That’s certainly the case for Bob Long, the 70-year-old American who – like his horses – just keeps on going!

Bob, of Boise, Idaho, just recently became the oldest ever winner of the 2019 Mongol Derby. That’s a 650-mile trek through the wilderness of the East Asian country.

As with all Endurance athletes, Bob puts his success down to readiness. “Age is just a number – preparation trumps youth,” he said recently.

We found out more about how Bob's preparations took him from long-distance novice to champion!

Read more here:
https://www.fei.org/stories/endurance-bob-long