Endurance.Net: World News

Monday, August 17, 2020

Endurance Report – No Rides, But Still Bad News Days

An 18-year ban for abuse, exposure to CAS and dilemmas over the WEC keep endurance in the headlines during the Covid hiatus.

By Cuckson Report // Pippa Cuckson | August 15, 2020

An endurance friend recently asked if I was ill, as I haven’t blogged about their sport for months. While pointing out that I write about other horse sports too, I checked and it’s true! No lengthy endurance blog since February.

Alas, it hasn’t needed me to keep endurance in headlines. Despite ride cancellations in the pandemic, endurance has continued to attract attention, for all the wrong reasons.

In June, the 18-year FEI ban on a sheikh for horse abuse was reported in the global media. The likes of Yahoo Sport, Associated Press and Eurosport don’t usually cover endurance. They still might not know what endurance is. But when a governing body sends you a graphic press release about animal abuse and a 18-year ban, you twig that it must be Very Serious Indeed, and so give it some prominence.

That case involved Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Qasimi, a member of the ruling family of Sharjah, UAE. It confirmed FEI suspicion that nerve-blocking is routine in certain stables, with resultant orthopaedic weaknesses being fractures-in-waiting...

Bahrain: New endurance season calendar approved

GDOnine.com - Full Article

16 Aug 2020

Bahrain’s new endurance season will start officially on October 16.

The opening day will feature the first international endurance qualifiers, covering a distance of 100km and a local 40-80km qualifying race.

His Majesty’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs, National Security Adviser and Supreme Council for Youth and Sport chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa endorsed the 2020-2021 programme...

Friday, August 14, 2020

Latest Issue of Arabian Horse Intl Endurance / International Endurance Races 2020 is available

See the latest issue of Arabian Horse International Endurance, featuring the stories

• Miguel Pavlovsky: There is No Age for Endurance
• South African Eoné Willems wins in the 160 km Broxton Bridge Race
• Bronco Wins with Thonsik CW in Sao Paulo
• Carmine Villani, #1 in the World FEI Ranking
• Toth Jozsef Wins Race in Hungary in Times of Pandemic
• FEI Tribunal Applies Biggest Suspension of Horse Abuse in its History: 20 Years
• Endurance Reports from Chile, Uruguay, Spain, UAE, Bahrain, France, New Zealand, Sweden
• Marina Mata, Andalusian Young Rider Champion

and much more at:
https://issuu.com/arabianhorseintl/docs/endurance_international_2020

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Endurance GB Finance Director Chris Wray steps back pending disciplinary enquiry

Everythinghorseuk.co.uk - Full Article

11/08/2020
Suzanne Ashton

Endurance GB Finance Director Chris Wray steps back pending disciplinary enquiry Endurance GB has announced that the organisation’s Finance Director, Chris Wray, is to step back from his duties on the Board of Directors pending the outcome of a disciplinary enquiry. The move came following the organisers of the Tilford Ride filing a disciplinary report with Endurance GB’s Disciplinary Committee.

A spokesperson for Endurance GB said:...

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Ireland: ILDRA returns to the trail

Farmweek.com - Full Article

By Bree Rutledge - August 10, 2020

THE Irish Long Distance Riding Association (ILDRA) held their first event since the start of lockdown at the much-loved and beautiful venue of Shane’s Castle, Antrim on Sunday, July 26. Under the new normal, a range of COVID protocols had been introduced prior to this ride, including the requirement of all riders to pre-enter and a restriction of the numbers of riders able to ride together on the day. All of the organising committee at ILDRA would like to thank the attending riders for the adherence to the new guidelines and their ongoing support.

Riders (and their horses!) enjoyed seeing old friends (socially distanced, of course) and reuniting after several months apart. All of those attending on the day enjoyed riding around the scenic trails in the Shane’s Castle Estate and into Randalstown Forest Park, where deer and buzzards could be spotted...

Friday, August 07, 2020

COVID-19 Postponed the Mongol Derby—Here's What You Can Watch Instead This Month

HorseNetwork.com - Full Article

Liz Brown
August 3, 2020

It’s August and for some of us, it’s that time of year when we’re glued to our social media feeds following that 1,000 kilometer jaunt across Mongolia—the Mongol Derby. As with many events this year, COVID-19 forced the organizers to postpone the 2020 edition of the world’s longest and toughest horse race. Next year they’ll run two races—one in July and one in August. That means the summer of 2021 will be Mongol Derby all day every day.

But this year there’s no middle of the night Twitter checks to find out who’s currently being chased by wild dogs, who’s currently chasing their missing horse, and who’s currently lost in the mountains somewhere just south of Siberia.

Sigh...

Horse People: The Longest Horse Race—The Story of the Oldest Mongol Derby Winner

Sarah Farnsworth photo
HorseIllustrated.com - Full Article

At 70, Robert Long became the oldest rider to win the 600-mile Mongol Derby this year.

By Micaela Myers -August 6, 2020

To win the world’s longest horse race, Robert Long employed equal parts preparation and smarts. In August, the 70-year-old became the oldest winner of the Mongol Derby, which involves racing more than 600 miles across the Mongolian Steppe, recreating Genghis Khan’s horseback messenger system of the early 1200s. Riding approximately 12 hours each day for eight days, Long beat out 41 top riders from around the globe.

Preparations

Endurance riders make up most of the Mongol Derby crowd, but Long—more of a cowboy—grew up in Wyoming and lives in Idaho. As a kid, he worked cattle and went on horse-packing hunting trips with his family in the Yellowstone-Tetons area. Competition wise, ranch horse versatility is his main sport. It involves ranch riding, ranch trail, ranch reining, ranch cow work and ranch conformation. Long has started many competitive horses for the sport.

So what prompted this cowboy to join the endurance riders a world away?...