Spain: Completion of the file to Ignasi Casas

BlogElRaid.com

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After arduous complaints to different instances of the FEI and TAS. Ignasi Casas has been suspended only three months, which has more than fulfilled his punishment, although he has kept, at this time, to exercise its federal charges and as an officer in the tests.

This is all the information:

CAS Ends at record FEI vs Ignasi Casas

The claim Ignasi Casas vs the International Equestrian Federation regarding Unfortunate Events Tryon (USA) WEG 2018 has been favorably resolved the claims of the Spanish by the CAS / TAS (Tribunal Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.)

This long and hard process began in October 2018 when the FEI Ignasi Casas communicated to the opening of the disciplinary proceedings where he was asked 2 years disqualification in all its functions related to the FEI.

In November 2018, even with all the open, the FEI informed him his suspension as vice president of the ETC (FEI Endurance Technical Committee).

This suspension and the proposed penalty of 2 years were not accepted by Ignasi Casas and RFHE, which led them to proceedings before the FEI Tribunal where the final resolution was 1 year sanction against the 2 proposed initial years.

This time the national coach and team leader RFHE Raid did not agree with the resolution and reported the case to the CAS, sports highest legal authority.

Finally, this body has clearly resolved in favor of Ignasi Casas, only 3 months reducing the initial proposal for suspension of the FEI 2 years. Also it indicates that the FEI must pay 5,000 CHF Ignasi Casas as a concept of aid to legal costs and expenses also recommends reinstatement in the ETC (FEI Endurance Technical Committee).

However, the final and definitive resolution of the TAS, gone forth when Ignasi Casas had already 11-month ban, so it has been 8 months more disabled, with not allowing, injury later in the 2019 season, to be head of the Spanish Raid team, or act as an officer in FEI and national tests. In addition to attending the FEI prohibit Sports Forum 2019 and the 2019 General Assembly decisive in Moscow, where the new regulation was approved Raid.

Despite being the final judgment from the exit of the resolution on 10 January 2020 and after several allegations by the FEI, the CAS letter on February 14 terminated the case without accepting the amendments proposed by the FEI and gives the resolution definitively closed and non-confidential, so since 10 January, Ignasi Casas has all its functions fully recovered FEI (TAS will shortly publish the full resolution full details of the trial). "

Source: RFHE.

New Zealand: HYGAIN ESNZ Endurance South Island Champs 2020

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

17 February 2020
Race Report made with the assistance of Heidi Bulfin

Marlborough Endurance and Trail Riding Club, New Zealand. Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 February 2020.

The Marlborough Endurance and Trail Riding Club played host to New Zealand’s HYGAIN ESNZ Endurance South Island Champs with the venue being just outside the small town of Renwick at the top of the South Island. The ride programme featured classes of all levels, starting with Introductory Endurance and CTR 15km and right up to 160km Endurance. The FEI events were combined with National, so those in the combined classes were competing for the same title over that distance.

All loops over the weekend travelled over many of Marlborough’s top winery vineyards – starting with Spy Valley wines, into Delegats, Hunters and Mudhouse, Pernod Ricard (Stoneleigh), and finishing up on smaller blocks of Saint Clair, Johnson Estate and Isabel Estate. The vineyards in this area are flat but feature many creeks and ditches throughout, with the tracks winding around them, maze-like in some parts, meaning riders had to always keep checking which way the marking was taking them. Despite the heat and dry conditions, the underfoot was surprisingly good thanks to the decent grass covering over the vineyards’ many headlands.

Saturday 1 February started at 1am with two HYGAIN 160km CEN Senior riders making their way out in the dark to negotiate the 35km loop while the temperatures were still relatively cool. This loop was repeated before doing two 25km loops and finishing with two 20km loops...

Read more here:
https://endurance-world.com/hygain-esnz-endurance-south-island-champs-2020/

New Zealand: Kohuratahi endurance rider wins title for the second year

NZHerald.co.nz - Full Article

12 February 2020

A Kohuratahi horse rider has won a endurance title at the North Island Championships.

Pip Mutch attended the Dunstan North Island Endurance and CTR Championships based at the National Equestrian centre in Taupō in January.

Pip won the 160km event for the second year in a row.

"Winning for the second time is awesome. To finish a 160km ride is an amazing feeling and to win as well just makes it that much better..."

Read more here:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=12305858

Riders at UAE President’s Cup Emirates Reminded Not to Abuse Horses

HorseSport.com - Full Article

A list of extra rules for last Saturday’s big desert endurance race shines a light on the true extent of past abuse and cheating on the field of play.

By: Pippa Cuckson | February 10 2020

Horses may not be “intimidated by any kind of electric shock device” or the “hooting” of cars, the latter a feature of the accompanying motorcade at desert rides.

It is “strictly forbidden to drag and pull horses by the tail to stimulate them to walk” or to “twitch the horse’s skin or grab his ear at any time during the ride” – the latter a widely used technique to hasten a reduction in heart rate prior to metabolic checks at vet gates.

Unauthorized assistance is often seen in the closing stages of a race, with grooms running onto the field of play to chase and strike tiring horses. Under new special rule President’s Cup riders were warned not use electric shock devices to intimidate horses or beat them with “wire” in an astonishing list of extra rules for the big 160km endurance race at Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/riders-presidents-cup-emirates-reminded-abuse/

Are the Days Finally Numbered for Faux ‘International’ Horse Events?

HorseSport.com - Full Article

Scandals over Olympic jumping qualifications and endurance races have prompted the FEI to review what is meant by national, international and minor events.

By: Cuckson Report // Pippa Cuckson

So: a 2* jumping event involving half a dozen riders of moderate achievement can be deemed “international” and qualify you for the Olympics. Yet the world’s second-most gruelling 160km endurance race with a $2 million purse and 300 riders from 24 nations is allowed to run under “national” rules.

These cock-eyed scenarios have always been possible under FEI protocols, but it’s almost unheard-of for organisers or riders to exploit that loophole. Most decent people have a basic respect for fair play or, failing that, a semblance of personal pride. Winning world rankings points for a 28-fault jumping round, or being simultaneously in the top five AND bottom-placed, are not achievements most people would boast about, after all.

These nonsenses are finally in the spotlight at the same time, for widely differing reasons...

Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report-1/days-finally-numbered-faux-international-horse-events/

New Zealand: Championship series kicks off with Dunstan Horsefeeds ESNZ Endurance 2020 North Island Champs

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

9th February 2020
Race Report made with the assistance of Daryl Owen

The National Equestrian Centre, Taupo, New Zealand. Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 Janaury 2020.

The National Equestrian Centre in Taupo was again the location for this season’s ESNZ Endurance North Island Champs. This venue has been the host for endurance events regularly and in the past has seen wittingly hot humid conditions. There has been hail and heavy rain. There have been frosts and severe wind, and nearly every year there is fog. This year the weather was near perfect, with mild temperatures throughout the whole weekend and a light breeze to keep the horses cool, although dry conditions leading up to the event did nothing to soften the notoriously hard ground. The milder temperatures may have had an influence in no horses requiring treatment over the whole event, with a few mild gait irregularities adding up to a very good completion rate...

Read more here:
https://endurance-world.com/championship-series-kicks-off-with-dunstan-horsefeeds-esnz-endurance-2020-north-island-champs/

Clean Endurance witnesses continued disrespect for FEI Endurance Rules at Al Ula (KSA) CEI 2*

PRESS INFORMATION FROM CLEAN ENDURANCE

6 February 2020

Clean Endurance is disappointed and extremely concerned that despite the new 2020 FEI Endurance rules, the al Ula CEI 2* 120 KM ‘The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup’ in Saudi Arabia on February 1st showed no improvement in terms of rule abidance, horse welfare or horsemanship.

The 2020 FEI Endurance rules were approved in November 2019 by an overwhelming majority of National Federations. Given that the most active endurance country, the UAE, decided to only run events under National Rules this winter season, the Al Ula competition is the first time the FEI’s new welfare measures were put to the test.

This event with record prize money of 3,6 million Euros is a high-risk competition attracting inexperienced and unskilled riders, thus subjecting horses and other riders to the risk of injury. This competition clearly requires highly diligent, competent and conflict-of-interest-free Officials, stringent rule application and FEI oversight of the highest level. The first edition in 2019 saw a record number of 7 doping positives, at least 1 dead horse hidden in the results, and speeds of over 30 kmph.

This year, the panel of Officials was largely unchanged from 2019: 16 out of 21 Officials were awarded (key) roles again. Clean Endurance regrets that the FEI did not send an evidently much needed independent observer (IGA) to monitor the event and report on rule breaches, horse welfare issues and the performance of the Officials. The increased involvement of Europeans such as the organiser of the upcoming European and Junior/Young Rider World Championship in the organization of the Al Ula competition visibly failed to improve matters, nor did the presence of FEI Endurance Temporary Committee member Tarek Taher (KSA) who had a horse in this competition.

The specially prepared and bulldozer-flattened track filled with cars driving among the horses, the unauthorised assistance and unidentified grooms handling the horses, the many irregularities in the results as reported by the UAE-owned results app such as missing heartrates for dozens of eliminated horses, horses forcefully being held by the ears during cooling, harsh long shanked bits used with a single rein and tight triple nosebands, and a horse with henna covered legs ranked in 5th place are some examples of the rule breaches shown in the livestream of the event.

The 2020 edition saw high levels of eliminations for lameness and/or metabolic issues again, no doubt largely due to a lack of control and horsemanship amongst many of the 189 starters. Some needed to steady themselves by holding the front of the saddle or by hanging on to the reins – unacceptable at high level competitions and a poor advertisement for horse sport in general.

The provisional results show 2 Serious Injuries, 2 Minor Injuries, 7 Disqualifications for not presenting at the Vet Gate and 85 finishers out of 189 starters.

Perhaps the most concerning issue of all was the appalling amount of dust (mainly generated by cars driving along the track) in which horses were ridden hard: at an average speed of over 25 kmph for over 120 kms, with final loop speeds of close to 32 kmph for the first 9 combinations. Riders protected themselves by wearing dust masks and clearly had no concern for the discomfort and potential long-term damage to the eyes and lungs of their horses. The Officials at this competition had the duty and the authority to remedy this on the day, but they visibly failed to even attempt to do so.

Clean Endurance asks the FEI to revisit this issue urgently, on the grounds of horse welfare.

It is of the opinion that Officials who do not uphold horse welfare by failing to take appropriate measures as defined in the FEI rules and the FEI Codex for Officials, must be severely sanctioned and their qualifications withdrawn with immediate effect.

Footage of the competition can be seen here: https://youtu.be/2lQzDXE_agI