Endurance.Net: World News

Monday, September 28, 2020

Strong performances at first Endurance GB FEI competition of 2020 at Lavenham Ride in Suffolk

EverythingHorseUK.co.uk - Full Article

26/09/2020
Suzanne Ashton

Britain’s leading endurance riders were out in force as the sport staged a return to FEI competition for the first time in 2020 at Suffolk’s Lavenham Ride.

The popular Lavenham Ride (19-20 Sept) saw strong performances and given the lack of competition over the past year, encouraging completion rates across the classes.

Organisers and riders alike were delighted to have been able to meet stringent COVID guidelines to enable the competition to take place from the grounds of Semer Manor near Ipswich. Sponsors over the two days included; RiderCise, Zayin Arabian Stud, Gadebrook Stud, Lancashire Group Endurance GB, Haygain, Elm Farm Arabians, Equine Exceed and On The Hoof Distance Training

In the top FEI CEI 3* 140km class, Dorset-based Nikki Malcolm and Oso Arabian’s Oso Spiralling Wind, who made their mark on the 2019 season with wins in the RiderCise Southern Championship and at the British Horse Feeds Red Dragon, maintained their record with a superb victory. The pair won by a nose after a racing finish ahead of second-placed James Dickinson with Magdy, who train in West Sussex with Powys rider Fiona Griffiths with Balishla who followed in third...

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Poland: Kliczków; an excellent ride in historic location

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

22nd September 2020
Race Report made with the assistance of Paweł Górski

Kliczków, Poland, Friday 11 and Saturday 12 September 2020.

Kliczkow is a small village located in the Lower Silesian part of Poland. It is mostly known for its XIII century Castle where the horses represent a large part of the castle’s 700-year history. In the historic park there is the remaining bit of a full 800 meters horse track. More than 100 years ago, the one and only horse cemetery was built in the middle of the track.

Castle Kliczków was the central point for the whole event. The scenery for the endurance event gave everybody a special and unforgettable experience. For the third time, the castle as well as the Lower Silesian Forest were hosting the endurance event. Thanks to the Polish National Forests, Equestrian Club Brawura and local authorities it was possible to organise an endurance ride in cooperation with Polish equestrian federation. For the second year in a row competitions were in the rank of Polish National Championship...

Monday, September 21, 2020

Mongol Derby Diary #4

TheAdventurists.com - Full Story

August 6 2020

The Adventure Continues...

Rosie Bathhurst ~ ” Coming into HS2 at the end of Day 1, I was riding in a big group and most people decided to stay there than risk going on, but Alice, Marie and I got on our steeds and off we went. Along we trotted, hopping back and forth across a river. We saw some camels, got excited by camels… then realized we had a long-ass way to go until HS3 and not much time. We debated whether we should go left or right of a big rock. We went left. Shoulda gone right! Got chased by some big scary wolf dogs because we got a bit close to a ger!

After riding away we saw some wooden buildings in the distance. We realized that we were going to get penalized to hell if we kept riding past curfew, so we investigated and decided we were here for adventure. Camping it was! Turns out it was a goat shed with a little corral. Marie and Alice hobbled their horses and put them on one side of the shed. I had lost my hobbles along the way – great job on Day 1!

Once the horses were happily settled, selfies were taken, and we went to find where we could sleep. We stepped into a hut filled with goat poo, picked our way over the decaying goat carcasses, and settled down for the night! We tucked into dinner… chocco protein bar for the win. It was nice and dark when we saw car headlights through the shed walls and we SHIT ourselves! We definitely thought we were in trouble! Thankfully, it was just the Derby crew checking on riders. The crew was followed by another car with the family whose scary doggos had chased us earlier. They had taken in rider Chips Broughton earlier in the evening and saw us ride over the hill, so came over to check on us as it was forecast to rain like crazy. What legends!...

Saturday, September 19, 2020

Strong entries as FEI Competition returns for Endurance GB

EGB.Myclubhouse.co.uk - full article

17 September 2020

Press Release for Lavenham

Strong entries as FEI Competition returns for Endurance GB this weekend at Lavenham Ride in Suffolk

A strong entry of nearly 30 of Britain’s leading riders will take part in FEI International level competition under Endurance GB auspices for the first time this season at Lavenham, Suffolk (19-20 September).

Organisers of the 2020 endurance season’s first and only FEI event which takes place this weekend at Lavenham in Suffolk say they are delighted to have been able to meet stringent COVID guidelines in order to stage the competition.

The ride starts off in the grounds of Semer Manor, 12 miles to the West of Ipswich and offers an undulating course under the wide Suffolk skies.

The ride has previously been described by riders taking part as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of East Anglian competition combining both technical sections as well as faster elements.

Lined by trees and hedges, the track is almost entirely on wide grass margins which have been prepared for hunting and team chasing or on grassland. There are some very short road sections but remarkably the distance on tarmac is no more than half a mile in total.

Ride co-organiser Heather Weston who has been shielding previously and is therefore running the event in conjunction with Shelley Bates said: “This is a lovely course but more testing than it appears. Riders have to be aware that although it is potentially fast, there are a lot of tights turns along the way, and in some places there are ditches. The going has been spot-on in recent weeks but with the hot dry spell, riders need to be aware of the ground conditions.”

The FEI classes will see riders compete at one star 100km (CEI *), two star 120km (CEI **) and three star 140km (CEI ***) level. The 140km CEI 3* class will give some combinations the chance to secure vital qualifiers for both next year’s World and European Endurance Championships...

Friday, September 18, 2020

Great Britain: Llanidloes mum to join horse race on Genghis Khan's route

Cluntrytimes.co.uk - Full Article

17th September 2020
by Matt Jnmes

A MUM-of-two is gearing up to take on a gruelling endurance challenge in which she must solely navigate a team of 25 horses across 1,000km of untamed Asian wilderness.

Zoe Geddes, 26, will take on the Mongol Derby next August – renowned for being the longest and toughest horse race on earth.

The race has been organised since 2009 and traces the steps of the Mongolian postal message system set up by legendary Mongol Empire leader Genghis Khan in 1224 – whose mighty horse messenger system connected half the planet.

For the last decade, race chiefs have been rebuilding this ancient network to stage the world’s greatest equine adventure race.

The Mongolian horses used are semi-feral and well suited to the extreme and varied terrain. The race covers high passes, deep valleys, wooded hills, rivers, wetland, sandy dunes, rolling hills and the vast expanse of the Mongolian steppe.

Zoe, from Llanidloes, says it has long been a dream to compete in the race, even if her invite took her completely by surprise...

Great Britain: The 'highly addictive' joys of endurance racing

BBC.com - Full Article

By Padraig Coyle
BBC Sport NI
Last updated on17 September 2020

The mysterious and mystical woodlands of South West Brittany are famous for the legends that connect them to the ancient dolmens - Merlin's tomb and the Knights of the Round Table.

On a recent walk in the Forêt de Floranges, we came upon ribbons hanging tantalisingly from trees and strange, arrow symbols painted at crossing points on some of the paths.

The sudden emergence of cantering yellow-gowned figures, who disappeared back into the morning mists in an instant, was startling.

As we discovered later, these ghost riders were French, Belgian and German competitors in an endurance race over a 100km controlled course that had been organised by the Fédération Équestre Internationale.

Dungannon-born horse woman, Avril Bray, knows the terrain well. On that particular day though, she was involved in another endurance riding event nearer to the Normandy farm she runs with her husband Anton.

"I began riding when I was three and would spend several hours a day in the saddle. When I was 17, I made the choice to focus on judo," explains Bray, better known as Avril Malley back in the days when she was winning Commonwealth gold in Edinburgh and competing in the Seoul Olympics...

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Great Britain: Red Dragon Cancelled

EGB.MyClubhouse.co.uk

15 September 2020

Cancellation Announcement

We are very sorry to announce that the British Horse Feeds & Golden Paste Company Red Dragon Festival of Endurance due to be held at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells on 3 & 4 October has been cancelled. This is because, due to the spike in positive Covid 19 cases in Wales over the last fortnight, the Welsh Government have had to delay their rollout of the relaxation of restrictions for larger events in Wales and they are now unable to give us assurance that the restrictions will be sufficiently lifted by 3 & 4 October to enable the event to take place. Full refunds will now be issued to entrants and these will be processed over the next 48 hours or so.

We are so grateful to John and Jane Hudson (organisers), Steve Hughson (CEO of the Royal Welsh Showground), Iain Graham (British Equestrian CEO) and the numerous volunteers and local landowners who worked so hard to try to make the event happen, but unfortunately the event has fallen victim to the unpredictable Covid 19 situation in which we find ourselves. Our thanks also go to British Horse Feeds and the Golden Paste Company for their loyal and unwavering support.

Our other Welsh events are restricted to 30 entrants at a time and are currently going ahead as planned.