Edaran Endurance Classic 2006

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006



The Edaran Endurance Classic 2006 was launched today at the Corus Hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Two Arab horses were brought in especially for this launch. Desert Queen and Desert Princess, recently imported from Australia, were ridden by Tuan Hj. Mohd Shu?aib?s ?princesses? Nabilah and Nabihah.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Edaran Endurance Classic is being held. It takes place at ar-Raudhah Equine Centre, Jalan Kampung Bunga Raya, Kuang Selangor, from 5th to 7th May.

Earlier, Yang Berbahagia Dato? Abdul Hamid Mustapha, chairman of Edaran Endurance Classic welcomed the media and guests to the press conference. This year the Edaran Endurance Classic?s main ride is a CEI*** 120 km event. It is one of 5 qualifying events for the Doha Asian Games this year. There are three other rides, an 80 km, a 40 km and a 15 km Young Riders Guided Ride.

With RM45,000 in prize-money they have still managed to attract international interest. American Stephanie Teeter, most famous as the person behind Endurance.Net makes her second visit to Malaysia. Begian Leonard Liesens is a veteran endurance rider who competed in the World Equestrian Games in 1998. He is Belgian national champion and recently won the WEG Trial at Aachen.

Both Teeter and Liesens are expected to ride in the 80 km ride. They will ride on Sabah horses that are being brought in and specially conditioned for the Edaran Endurance Classic.

Sixty-three entries have been received so far for this year?s event. For more information about how you can enter the Edaran Edurance Classic, please visit their website at www.edaranendurance.com.

Dato? Abdul Hamid said that the Edaran Endurance Classic had a role to play in the run-up to the World Equestrian Championships that will be held in Terengganu in 2008. ?We believe that endurance riders, both local and international, aiming to participate in the prestigious WEC 2008 will seek out opportunities in Malaysia to train and build up their endurance skills for the 2008 event.?

EAM Executive Secretary Major Yap, who is on the Ground Jury of this event, answered a few questions from Equestrian.Com.My about the significance of the event. He confirmed that it is one of five qualifiers for December?s Doha Asian Games. Two of the events have previously been held. Edaran Endurance Classic is the third. After Edaran there will be two more qualifiers left, in Kelantan in June and in Terengganu in August. He said the qualifier that was held in Mardi will not be taken into account as the distance had been shortened. He said that the best five riders and horses would be short-listed for the Doha Asian Games. Overseas results would also be taken into account, providing it was at 120 km or longer.

When asked about current standings after two events, Maj. Yap said that the EAM had the results of the first two events and would publish qualification standings ?soon.?

Final race of endurance season is set

OP riders from Bahrain and the GCC will take part in the last endurance race of the season, organised by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef), on Wednesday starting at midnight at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir.

The race, to be held under the patronage of Breef president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, will be over 100 kms and divided into four stages. The first two stages will be over 30 kms each, 25 kms for the third and 15 kms for the fourth.

Shaikh Nasser welcomed the participants from across the Gulf and wished them the very best in the championship. The awarding ceremony will take place right after the race.

Meanwhile, the Breef will be assisted in organising the race by officials from the Oman Equestrian Federation (OEF) who are expected to arrive in the Kingdom on Tuesday.

The Omani team delegation will be headed by OEF president Mohammed bin Isa Al Fairooz and will include eight riders.

Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE) files an appeal

FEI News

29/04/2006 - Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE) files an appeal

The FEI has received notice that Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE) has filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which had disqualified him as the winner of the 2005 World Endurance Championship.


Note to the editor :
On 10 March 2006, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued its decision in the matter of the appeal concerning the winner of the 2005 FEI Endurance World Championship, Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE). The rider was disqualified after his horse Hachim tested positive to the prohibited substance Methylprednisolone.

The FEI Judicial Committee had dismissed the positive medication case concerning Hachim, due to an irregularity in the usual legal procedure, whereby Sheikh Hazza was denied the possibility to send a witness to the laboratory to attend the confirmatory analysis.

In this case, the CAS panel was faced with determining where the delicate balance should lie between the strict liability afforded to riders by the FEI?s medication control rules and the due process rights of athletes. The FEI Judicial Committee panel that initially considered the matter decided on the basis of the facts and law before them that under the circumstances, Sheikh Hazza?s procedural rights prevailed. After considering very substantial briefs as well as new written and oral testimony from all parties, the CAS panel decided that the balance rather lies in favour of the rules enacted by the FEI General Assembly to ensure a level playing field.

The decision of the Judicial Committee is published on the Legal section of the FEI website www.horsesport.org. The decision concerning the appeal will be published in due course on the CAS website: www.tas-cas.org.

Competitive trail riding trotting to popularity

BRIGHTON -- When Sandra Wright started participating in competitive trail rides with her horse, Skky, two years ago, she knew she was taking up the right hobby.

Her first 15-mile ride on the trails in Brighton was so enjoyable, Wright logged 240 miles in her first year of entering competitions. She said she could feel a change in her horse's attitude and behavior when they got on the trail.

"Three miles into the ride I realized this was what my horse wanted to do," said Wright, a Howell resident. "He was so happy. It just felt like that was what he was made to do."
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Famed Lord Fauntleroy is put out to pasture

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

When I first heard about Lord Fauntleroy I thought, that?s a pretty fancy name for a mule. But Leroy (as most of his fan base called him) was a pretty impressive mule. And many in the New Almaden area say his death last month at 37-years-old marked the end of era.
With still a lot of race to go, (left) Leroy, Virl Norton and Lady Eloise pose for a photo. Photos courtesy of Quicksilver Endurance Riders

So who was Lord Fauntleroy?

Maryben Stover, president of the Quicksilver Endurance Riders, cared for Leroy the past 11 years of his life.

?Leroy was one of the real pioneers of modern endurance riding,? said Stover. ?He finished Tevis many times. In 1976, he won the Great American Horse Race from New York to Sacramento. In those days, you trailered your horse to the starting point from California to New York. The GAHR is the longest legitimate horse race ever.?

In 1974, Lord Fauntleroy finished in 58th place at Tevis. Since 1955, the Tevis Cup Ride is the oldest modern day endurance ride. The goal of the trail ride is to complete the 100-mile course from Tahoe to Auburn in 24 hours. In 1975, Leroy took 40th place with a time of 19 hours and three minutes. He finished the endurance race again in 1977 and in 1978.

Stover recently shared the story of another run at Tevis that he would have finished if it wasn't for his rider.

?They changed the course that year and Leroy did not want to go what he knew was the wrong way after 80 miles,? said Stover. ?So being a mule and smarter than the rider he simply refused to go down what he knew was the wrong trail. His rider had been bopping him with a crop the whole way and refused to give it up when the crew told her to do so. She finally gave up fighting him. He simply refused to budge. She would not go the right way, and Leroy would not go the new way. I am told they rescued her the next morning.?

Before Stover cared for Leroy, he was owned by Virl Norton who was known as a cowboy?s cowboy. He lived in the New Almaden area since the mid-l970?s caring and training his beloved horses, mules and even zebras. Leroy was one of the equines. And at 16 hands high the half thoroughbred donkey mix was big for a mule.

But probably Leroy?s most crowning achievement was winning the 1976 Great American Horse Race [GAHR] from New York to Sacramento. With no Federal Express or Jet Pet, Leroy and Lady Eloise were transported by horse trailer with Norton and his crew: 16-year-old son Pierce.

The GAHR is the longest legitimate horse race. In 1976, there were 105 riders from 32 states and eight foreign countries entering 14 different breeds of horses and eight mules. Only 53 finished the endurance race through the country?s mountains, plains and deserts.

With Norton at the reins, the two mules traveled across country, a 3,200-mile journey. Riders were allowed two mounts at the start of the race. When the racers entered Red Cloud, Neb. only 58 riders and 80 horses remained. Norton held the lead longer than any other rider with his two mules and rode Leroy much of the time. They were first at Kankakee, Ill., Hannibal, Mo. and Cheyenne, Colo. They were never lower than third place at any time during the race after the second week.

Norton alternated mules until Lady Eloise became lame at Winnemucca, Nev. Leroy was the mule who brought Norton to the finish line of the Cal-Expo State Fair in Sacramento and won the coveted first prize of $25,000. There was even a book written about the event, "The Great American Horse Race of 1976." The GAHR broke the world record and still is the longest legitimate horse race. And the record still stands today.
Lord Fauntleroy relaxes in retirement at Maryben Stover?s pasture. Circa 2003.

Norton was known as ?the Mule Man? at GAHR. He expected to win and explained how he would.

?Watch the mules,? said Norton in one of the many interviews during the cross country GAHR. ?They?re tougher and can take tough terrain and blacktop better than a horse.?

Since the GAHR, Norton rode the Tevis eight times, three times on a horse but five times on Leroy. When Norton died in 1995, Stover promised her friend that Leroy would have a pasture for the rest of his life. Leroy spent the last 11 years on Stover?s pasture surrounded by other horses and a mule off McKean Road.

?We are only a mile away or so from Virl?s old place so Leroy was very happy,? said Stover. ?I?d turn him loose in the yard and he?d run and buck and take off to where he used to live. He was very smart. I sometimes have flights of fancy that Virl knows that Leroy is happy and healthy.?

Sadly, Leroy died in March. He was old, colicky, missing many teeth and at 37 not a candidate for surgery. Stover says ?his body just gave out.?

?When the vet came, Leroy knew he was there and with one last effort got to his feet and walked out of the barn,? said Stover. ?We laid him on the grass in the yard. He just knew it was his time.?

Equestrian panel for FEI meet

A DELEGATION from the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation left yesterday for Malaysia to attend the International Equestrian Federation's (FEI) general assembly meetings.

The delegation consists of federation's second vice-president Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa and director Haider Al Zo'bi. The meetings will conclude on Tuesday.

At the meeting, a new FEI president will be announced from a list of three officials representing Jordan, Greece and Denmark.

The schedule of the World Showjumping Champion-ship is also to be confirmed at the meeting. Two Arab riders - Saudi Arabian duo Ramzi Al Duhami and Abdulla Al Sharbatli - have already booked berths in this prestigious event after taking the top two positions in the Arab League qualifier.

Bahrain is one of many countries interested to host the next year's general assembly meeting of the FEI which has around 120 countries taking part in its programmes.

North America Loses PanAm Championship

( by Endurance.net)

Mary Lutz, Director of Endurance for the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), has verified that recent changes in FEI policies have led to the cancelation of the scheduled 2007 Pan American Endurance Championship.

In the past, FEI has viewed the United States as being composed of 5 Zones and Canada as composed of 2 Zones. Each of these zones has been treated as a "country" with respect to entry into the Continental (North American) and Intercontinental (Pan American) Endurance Championships.

The recent FEI policy change results in United States and Canadian representation in Intercontinental (Pan American) Endurance Championships being limited to 6 individual participants, one team, from each participating National Federation - plus 6 additional individual participants from the hosting federation.

This effectively means that Pan American Championship events, when held in North America, will have a smaller field of competitors. (a total field of 18 individual riders, two teams, from United States and Canada).

In addition, each Central or South American country that participates may field 6 individuals, one team, - but given the expense and logists of competing in North America, South American participation is usually minimal.

This effect has led the Organizing Committee for the 2007 Pan American Championship in Manitoba to withdraw their bid. They are concerned that they would not be able to cover the expenses of hosting a Pan American Championship with a greatly reduced number of ride entries.

FEI is currently negotiating with Brazil as a possible alternative to the Canadian venue for the event.

North American Federations are considering hosting a North American Endurance Championship in 2007 instead of a Pan American Endurance Championship. (the FEI policy limiting entries to 6 per non-host Federation do not apply to Continental Championships).

Further information will be forthcoming from FEI and National Federations of the effected countries.