The epic horse race across the Mongolian steppe

BBC.com - Watch the video

In 2009 the first ever Mongol Derby was raced across the vast expanse of the Mongolian Steppe.

Riders from across the world race local, semi-wild horses in a bid to cross the finish line first.

The horses are owned by nomadic herder families and the team behind the race employ the families to host the riders.

Tom Morgan spoke to Witness History about organising the world's longest equestrian endurance competition.

Witness History: The stories of our times told by the people who were there.

Watch the video here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-49676573/the-epic-horse-race-across-the-mongolian-steppe

(Official) Demise of the World Equestrian Games and New Championships

HorseSport.com - Full Article

Pippa Cuckson is relieved the next world championships have been awarded to specialist organisers – though endurance 2022 may still present a dilemma.

By: Cuckson Report

Given my long-held dislike of the all-sports-in-one basket World Equestrian Games format, various friends have asked why I hadn’t immediately celebrated WEG’s demise, when the FEI announced its multiple 2022 world championship allocations on November 16th.

I’d held off, waiting for the delayed decisions on endurance and reining. Their 2022 world championships were to be announced after make-or break-votes at the FEI General Assembly (GA) in Moscow on November 19th, over new rules and retention within the FEI respectively.

But it turns out that deciding “after” November 19th did not mean while everyone is still in Moscow. The FEI board won’t finalise these last two world championships until its December tele-conference. I’ve also been half-waiting for news that bidding will be re-opened for endurance 2022, because options shrink by the day – more of that below.

The FEI has a proclivity for self-harm, so I would not have been surprised if it had gone for another full-blown WEG, despite conceding after Tryon that the format isn’t sustainable. It must have been very tempting to choose WEG Italy or Saudi Arabia.

But luckily, common sense prevailed. World championships for 2022 have so far been split between two countries with a strong heritage in the Olympic disciplines, especially. Jumping, dressage, para and vaulting goes to Herning, Denmark, and eventing and driving to Pratoni, Italy...

Read more here
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report/demise-world-equestrian-games-new-championships/

Vets talk of challenges in identifying horses as lame during Endurance competitions

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

November 30, 2019
Horsetalk.co.nz

Official veterinarians at FEI Endurance rides have confirmed to researchers how difficult it can be to detect subtle lameness in horses during evaluations in competition.

Elimination rates in Endurance competitions are high, especially so in higher-level competitions in which FEI-accredited veterinarians are required to make the call over lameness.

Such decisions can affect the race outcome and commonly draw objections from competitors.

Monica de Mira, from the University of Évora in Portugal, and her colleagues from Portugal, Australia and Britain, set out in a study to assess the views of FEI official endurance veterinarians around the challenges in assessing lameness.

They also wanted to learn about the occurrence of confrontations with riders when horses are eliminated because of lameness, and to get their thoughts on the use of user-friendly technology to help detect lameness...

Read more here:
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2019/11/30/vets-challenges-horses-lame-endurance/

New Zealand: A first as South hosts endurance event

ODT.co.nz - Full Article

27 November 2019

April 2020 will be the first time the New Zealand Endurance and Competitive Trail Riding Championships will be hosted further south than Christchurch.

Organised by champion endurance rider Susie Latta and a small committee of volunteers, the championships will take place over Easter weekend next year across four properties in the Nenthorn Valley in Eastern Otago.

Competitive endurance riding and competitive trail riding covers various distances on horseback. The longest distance in endurance is 160km, shorter distances are also offered. The winner is first over the line.

Competitive trail riding has a different set of rules. Riders are given time to complete a marked course and penalty points are given for arriving at the finish earlier or later than the optimum time.

The horse’s heart rate is taken upon crossing the finish line and then up to 30 minutes later once the heart rate has dropped to as low as the rider thinks it will. These heart rates are added to any time faults from finishing early or late to produce a final score. Lowest score wins.

The championship had never been south of Christchurch because getting venues was quite difficult, Mrs Latta said...

Read more here:
https://www.odt.co.nz/rural-life/rural-events/first-south-hosts-endurance-event

‘My period wasn’t my top concern’: Lara Prior-Palmer on bleeding on the saddle during world's longest horse race win

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Story

By Molly McElwee
25 NOVEMBER 2019

here is a paragraph in Rough Magic, Lara Prior-Palmer’s memoir on becoming the first female, and youngest, winner of the Mongol Derby, the longest horse race in the world, that any woman can relate to – the unexpected, wholly inconvenient arrival of her period.

“As of this morning, I’ve been bleeding onto the saddle,” she writes. “I forgot to take the pills that keep my period away. Its ­arrival strikes me as odd, ­perhaps because I feel the Derby has suspended ordinary life’s monthly cycles.”

Prior-Palmer had not been the best prepared for the six-day 1,000 -kilometre race across the Mongolian Steppe, riding around 25 wild ponies along a route based on the horse-messenger system developed by Genghis Khan in 1224. She had signed up seven weeks before the start, about 10 months after every other competitor, and was ignorant of the most basic practicalities. From forgetting to pack toilet roll and naively asking the organisers, “Will anyone be waking us up in the mornings?”, tampons and the contraceptive pill fell pretty low on her agenda...

Read more here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/womens-sport/2019/11/25/period-wasnt-top-concern-lara-prior-palmer-bleeding-saddle-worlds/

FEI Votes for Changes Affecting Safety, Welfare

Thehorse.com - Full Article

Mandatory headgear, bitless bridle ban, imposed endurance rider weights, and frangible devices for eventing jumps are among new FEI rules.

Posted by Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA | Nov 21, 2019

Safety and welfare were the top priorities discussed at the 2019 General Assembly of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) held Nov. 16-19 in Moscow. Delegates of national federations from 91 member nations convened Tuesday to vote on proposed rule changes affecting the international governing body’s broad base of equestrian disciplines. The policy revisions aimed toward making international equestrian sport safer, fairer, and more respectful of the horse, said FEI leaders.
“I would like to reiterate that we cannot compromise on horse welfare, and we have to be held accountable for our actions as decision-makers,” said FEI president Ingmar de Vos as he opened the floor Tuesday morning. “We have the responsibility to uphold the values of our sport. … The decisions we make here today will have lasting repercussions in the equestrian world and those connected to our sport.”

Here are highlights of this week’s decisions:...

Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/181766/fei-votes-for-changes-affecting-safety-welfare/

FEI Drops High Profile (UAE) Steroids Case After Two-Year Legal Wrangle

HorseSport.com - Full Article

The FEI has dropped a steroids case against a top UAE endurance trainer Ali Khalfan al Jahouri, after a two-year legal battle. Find out why.

By: Pippa Cuckson | November 20 2019

The FEI has dropped a steroids case against a top endurance trainer after two years of wrangling over a legal point that potentially exposed the FEI to a damages claim.

Ali Khalfan al Jahouri, 44, long-time trainer at Al Wathba stables in Abu Dhabi, had been scheduled to appear before the FEI’s independent Tribunal in January 2019. Three endurance horses in his care – the former President’s Cup winner 8 Minute, plus HLP Gadafi and JLB Noche – tested positive to various banned substances at the end of 2017.

Under the Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMRs) the “Person or Persons Responsible” are strictly liable for the presence of a banned substance in a horse, even if someone else admits fault.

8 Minute had tested positive to three steroids, nandrolene, stanozolol and EA-ESTRANE-3B,17A-DIOL and Al Jahouri might normally have faced two years suspension.

But the 8 Minute case alone was prosecuted under the clause of EADCMRs Article 2.2, which covers “Use or Attempted Use of a Banned Substance or a Banned Method.” Proof of “intent” is required in an “attempted use” charge; after Al Jahouri produced witness statements about management practices at Al Wathba FEI legal conceded there was “insufficient evidence that Mr Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri was actually involved in the doping violation or used Nandrolone on the horse in this specific case” and dropped the 8 Minute charges...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/fei-drops-high-profile-steroids-case-two-year-legal-wrangle/