Road To The Mongol Derby: Getting The Trip

ThoroughbredDailyNews.com - Full Story

February 27 2018

By Kelsey Riley

TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley will be riding in the Mongol Derby in August 2018, and will be regularly blogging about her preparations and ultimately, her 1000-kilometer, 10-day ride across Outer Mongolia. Every rider chooses a charity for which they raise money as part of the process. Kelsey has chosen the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances Program at the Blackburn Correctional Complex in Lexington, KY. To learn more about Blackburn, click here.

Hello, followers of my awesome, crazy Mongol Derby adventure. Since I brought you my last blog about battling Lexington’s arctic conditions to get in some riding time, I’ve been coming to grips with the fact that in August, I’ll be riding 1000 kilometres across Mongolia (on half-broke horses with no showers, stables or course markers, albeit). One thousand, that’s a reasonable number to come to grips with. Sure, until your creative mind gets going and you think, ‘wouldn’t it be fun to convert that to distances applicable to racing?

The Mongol Derby, recognized in 2011 by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s longest multi-horse race, is 4,960 furlongs. Or 1,000,000 metres. That’s 496 Kentucky Derbys. Four hundred thirteen Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes. Three hundred twelve Melbourne Cups. Eight hundred thirty three Golden Slippers!...

Read more here:
http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/road-to-the-mongol-derby-getting-the-trip/

Who Will Host the 2022 World Equestrian Games?

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Written by: Horse Media Group

A review of the shallow pool of potential host facilities for the 2022 World Equestrian Games.

Following the withdrawal of Samorin, Slovakia, as host city of the 2022 World Equestrian Games, FEI president Ingmar de Vos had remarked, “We are confident there will be [other] candidates.” But who might be financially willing and logistically able to assume the crushing burden of playing host to this mammoth undertaking? We look at some likely prospects in a relatively shallow pool of possibilities...

Read more here:
https://horse-canada.com/magazine_articles/who-will-host-the-2022-world-equestrian-games/?utm_source=Enews+Feb+26%2C+2018&utm_campaign=EnewsFeb262018&utm_medium=email

Endurance rider who used an extra set of reins as a whip is suspended

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

February 24, 2018
Horsetalk.co.nz

A Bahraini endurance rider has been suspended and fined for horse abuse after the FEI Tribunal found he used an extra set of reins as a whip during a 120km race.

Whips are banned in endurance.

Khaled Ebrahim Khalil Khairi was suspended for three months and ordered to pay a fine of 2000 Swiss francs over his treatment of Happy Jack during the CEI2* race in Sakhir, at the Bahrain International Village, on January 14 last year. He was also ordered to contribute 1000 Swiss francs toward the cost of the case.

The FEI Tribunal ruled that Khairi’s actions in using an extra set of reins as a whip met the definition of horse abuse as described in the FEI General Regulations.

It emerged that the FEI had received a protest on January 17 last year in which a witness alleged Khairi had abused Happy Jack...

Read more at https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2018/02/24/endurance-rider-reins-whip-suspended/#zE7l5081E2EitEBy.99

Just When You Thought Desert Endurance Couldn't Sink Any Lower…

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | February 23, 2018

While the world obsessed about alleged abusive riding by Shelley Browning in the US and Bernhard Maier in Austria, a proven horse abuse case was quietly adjudicated by the FEI last week.

The incriminating video wasn’t circulated on social media. But an account of the sustained whipping of endurance horse Happy Jack appeared last week, in the FEI Tribunal decision to suspend the rider for three months.

FEI endurance rules expressly disallow spurs or carrying anything that could be used as a whip. Thus striking an endurance horse AT ALL is abuse. This interpretation was thoroughly tested by Tribunal in 2014 in the first-ever protest by members of the public against abuse on the field of play – lodged by me and colleague Lucy Higginson.

In that disgraceful episode from a 120km ride at Sakhir, Bahrain on February 8, 2014, grooms leapt from the accompanying vehicle and ran onto the field of play, one of them whacking the tiring leader Tarabic Carl with a hand-held instrument. I asked for the FEI’s integrity people to enhance the images in order to identify the gadget, but recall being fobbed off, to the effect that fantasy procedures you see on NCIS can’t be done in real life. Hmm...

Read more here:
https://horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/just-thought-desert-endurance-couldnt-sink-lower/

Tenth Endurance Horse Listed Dead in UAE Winter Season

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

February 23, 2018 |
by: Pippa Cuckson

The number of horses officially listed as dead in the current UAE winter endurance season rose to 10 today (February 23rd).

Australian-bred nine-year-old Amihh PP sustained a fatal injury in the second loop of a national ladies race at Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi, after leading the first loop with an average speed of 30.2 kph. He was ridden by Natasha Zakaria, 29, of Jordan, who last week was eliminated from a FEI ride at Boudhieb for “not conforming to many rules” with another horse.

The fatal race was quite a step up in pace for Amihh PP, bought by Nad al Sheba Stables in 2015. He was last ridden in the 120km CEN Jumeirah Endurance Cup in December where he retired at gate one. He also completed a CEI 80km on the October 30, 2017, also under Zakaria, at an average speed of 17.3kph...

Read more here:
https://horse-canada.com/horse-news/tenth-endurance-horse-listed-dead-uae-winter-season/

Mark Bellissimo Launches Inaugural Global Equestrian Trifecta of World Equine Expo™, WEQx Games™ and World Horse Day™ to Run Concurrently Within FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018

Tryon.coth.com

Feb 22 2018
For Immediate Release

Mill Spring, NC – February 22, 2018 – Mark Bellissimo, Managing Partner and CEO of the International Equestrian Group and Tryon Equestrian Partners, announced today the inaugural annual World Equine Expo™ that will include the WEQx Games™ and World Horse Day™ and will run concurrent with the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 (WEG) between September 11-23rd, 2018.

The collective event theme is “Celebrate the Horse, Celebrate the Sport,” which honors and highlights the unique connection between horses and humans across the world. The Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) team, location of the 2018 WEG, will release its #Together video highlighting this powerful connection between the World Equine Expo and the FEI World Equestrian Games.

The FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 will run from September 11-23rd, 2018 and is equestrian sport’s most significant event featuring the World Championships for eight equestrian disciplines: Jumping, Dressage, Para-Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Vaulting, Reining, and Endurance. The Tryon WEG will be the most attended sporting event in the U.S. in 2018.

The World Equine Expo™ (Expo) – whose inaugural event will run during the WEG – will be an annual event intended to create a platform to honor, celebrate, and promote horses and horsemanship through a significant trade fair, demonstrations, educational seminars, clinics, panel discussions, an equine art and film festival, and competitions on topics critical to raising awareness, and strengthening, innovating and expanding global equestrianism.

The Expo will include the WEQx Games,™ which are spectator-friendly derivative equine competitions that highlight the accessibility, diversity, athleticism, and passion for horse sport for athletes of all ages with the ultimate goal of finding formats that promote personal, spectator, and commercial interest in equestrian sport. More comprehensive details will be introduced in the forthcoming weeks.

Bellissimo commented, “All of our countries were discovered on the back of a horse. The horse and other equines (donkeys, mules) have been partners in humanity for over 4,000 years and remain a significant economic enabler in most developing countries with millions of equines supporting hundreds of millions of lives. These amazing animals continue to provide sustenance, transportation, security, entertainment, friendship, therapy, and sport throughout the world. The love of the horse is universal and profound. The opportunity is to better package the spirit of the horse and make it known and accessible to a broader audience.”

Murray Kessler, President of the United States Equestrian Federation commented, “The Vision of US Equestrian is to bring the Joy of horse sports to as many people as possible. It’s hard to imagine an Equine event in the United States that could do more than this trifecta in Tryon.”

The social media theme “#Together” highlights the convergence and shared interests of many dualities including the FEI World Equestrian Games™ and the World Equine Expo™, east and west, horse and rider, equestrians and non-equestrians, athletes and spectators, and riders and grooms who all come together for the love and passion for horses. On Facebook alone, there are 250 million people that have horse-related interests. This compares with 7.9 million for ice hockey, 65 million for American football, 102 million for golf, 180 million for tennis and rivals American baseball of 288 million. Soccer leads the sporting disciplines with 762 million.

In addition, the World Equine Expo™ will host and debut the inaugural World Horse Day™ with a charity gala.

“World Horse Day™ will be the ultimate celebration of the horse, an animal that has supported humans since the beginning of time. While often an unsung hero, this incredible animal is overdue for its turn in the spotlight. World Horse Day™ honors the horse and its unparalleled contribution to our world,” said Bellissimo.

More details will follow over the following days, weeks, and months highlighting the details of the World Equine Expo™, the WEQx Games™, and World Horse Day™, along with ongoing WEG announcements. Tryon is working in collaboration with the Federation Equestrian International and the United States Equestrian Federation to refine the formats of the WEQx Games competitions.

The World Equine Expo™ event media partner will be “Chronicle of the Horse” (COTH), one of the U.S.’s oldest and most influential equestrian media companies that dates back to 1937. The COTH website is the most visited website in the equestrian world (non-racing) with over nine million unique visitors on www.coth.com.

The World Equine Expo™ will occur over 13 days and have a curriculum within event segments that are presented in the form of one or more of the following: trade booths, displays, demonstrations, panel discussions, keynote speakers, educational seminars, clinics, and competitions. The event segments are:

• Global Trade Fair
• Horsemanship
• Horse Welfare
• Breed Festival
• Equine Therapeutics (Hippotherapy)
• Equine Art Festival
• Equine Film Festival
• Equine Entertainment
• Equine Health and Nutrition
• Equine Sports Medicine (Exercise Physiology)
• Equine Philanthropy
• Equine Industry Innovations and Technology
• Equine Land Preservation

For more information, see:
http://tryon.coth.com/article/mark-bellissimo-launches-inaugural-global-equestrian-trifecta-of-world-equine-expo-weqx-games-and-world-horse-day-to-run-concurrently-within-fei-world-equestrian-games

First edition of the Gallops of Morocco starts in a week

Endurance-world.com - Full Article

by Admin
20 February 2018

Drâa-Tafilalet, the golden dunes of Merzouga, Morocco. Tuesday 20 February 2018. 25 February will be the start of the Gallops of Morocco held under the patronage of His Majesty The King Mohammed.

This is the second edition of the ‘Gallops’ after the first one took place in Oman in 2014. Here 110 horse riders attacked a route over a 180 kilometres long trail of five stages in the sandy dunes of the majestic Wahiba Sands desert in the Sultanate of Oman.

The philosophy of the concept is very simple: ride, escape, nature, discovery, authenticity, traditions, magic, arts, emotions, treasures, taste for adventure, sun, party, and friends are the key words for this extraordinary adventure.

Comparable with the very known car race Paris-Dakar the concept is an orienteering and endurance equestrian race in teams of five riders, for six days through the desert.

Without being strictly a competition, the quest of performance is not a vital goal, the ‘Gallops’ will draw from the horse riding qualities of the competitors, from their stamina, their spirit of solidarity, as well as the self-discipline...

Read more here:
http://endurance-world.com/gallops-of-morocco-starts-week/