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History beckons UAE in maiden Asian Youth Games endurance event
October 27 2025
The UAE will look to make equestrian history in Bahrain by becoming the first nation to win an Asian Youth Games endurance gold.
The 2025 edition of the Games is ongoing in the Bahraini capital of Manama, with endurance marking its debut on the Games schedule with the first-ever competition at Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir on 30 October.
The UAE launches a five-pronged attack on the event with the squad featuring Essa Rashed Al Mazrouei, Ahmad Abdulrahman Al Bastaki, Ali Abdulla Al Falasi, Humaid Fahad Al Kaabi and Khalifa Rashed Al Ameemi, hoping to strike gold in both the individual and team competitions.
The UAE are widely considered one of the heavyweights of the sport and all eyes are bound to be on the Emirati contingent, who will start among the favourites.
Speaking on the team’s departure, Sheikh Rashed bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Equestrian Club, emphasised that the UAE Team has prepared meticulously for the Games and will look to make the nation proud in Bahrain.
Sheikh Rashed said: “We are proud of the UAE team’s dedication, discipline, and passion — qualities that have already made the nation proud. Their journey of perseverance and teamwork stands as an inspiration. As they compete on the global stage, we’re confident their efforts will deliver great results and further elevate the UAE’s name in excellence and achievements.”
General Manager of Dubai Equestrian Club, Ahmed Rashed Al Kaabi added: “We are fully prepared for the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain with high spirits and strong determination. Our athletes embody the UAE’s commitment to excellence through their dedication, focus, and teamwork. We are confident they will deliver outstanding performances that reflect our nation’s values of perseverance, unity, and sportsmanship — making the UAE proud and honouring our flag.”
The UAE will look to make equestrian history in Bahrain by becoming the first nation to win an Asian Youth Games endurance gold.
The 2025 edition of the Games is ongoing in the Bahraini capital of Manama, with endurance marking its debut on the Games schedule with the first-ever competition at Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir on 30 October.
The UAE launches a five-pronged attack on the event with the squad featuring Essa Rashed Al Mazrouei, Ahmad Abdulrahman Al Bastaki, Ali Abdulla Al Falasi, Humaid Fahad Al Kaabi and Khalifa Rashed Al Ameemi, hoping to strike gold in both the individual and team competitions.
The UAE are widely considered one of the heavyweights of the sport and all eyes are bound to be on the Emirati contingent, who will start among the favourites.
Speaking on the team’s departure, Sheikh Rashed bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Equestrian Club, emphasised that the UAE Team has prepared meticulously for the Games and will look to make the nation proud in Bahrain.
Sheikh Rashed said: “We are proud of the UAE team’s dedication, discipline, and passion — qualities that have already made the nation proud. Their journey of perseverance and teamwork stands as an inspiration. As they compete on the global stage, we’re confident their efforts will deliver great results and further elevate the UAE’s name in excellence and achievements.”
General Manager of Dubai Equestrian Club, Ahmed Rashed Al Kaabi added: “We are fully prepared for the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain with high spirits and strong determination. Our athletes embody the UAE’s commitment to excellence through their dedication, focus, and teamwork. We are confident they will deliver outstanding performances that reflect our nation’s values of perseverance, unity, and sportsmanship — making the UAE proud and honouring our flag.”
No-Blood Rule Petition Attracts 17,000+ Supporters
HorseSport.com - Full Article
By: Dressur-Studien | Fair zum Pferd | October 28, 2025
To date, over 17,000 supporters have joined an international petition opposing the planned weakening of the so-called No-Blood Rule in equestrian sport.
Background
At the upcoming General Assembly of the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) on November 5, 2025, in Hong Kong, a proposal will be voted on that would mean blood on a horse would no longer automatically lead to disqualification. According to the plan submitted by the International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC), a simple warning could suffice in the future – or, in cases where a horse has, for example, bitten its tongue, the blood could simply be wiped away before the rider continues competing.
The petition calls for this proposed relaxation to be stopped and for the existing principle – “Blood on the horse = competition over” – to remain in place. Any visible blood, regardless of whether it is caused by the rider, by equipment, or by accident, must always result in immediate elimination – to protect the horse and to maintain trust in the sport.
Furthermore, the petition demands that existing exemptions from the No-Blood Rule in other disciplines – such as driving, eventing, and endurance – be revoked. The principle must apply universally: no tolerance for blood on the horse...
Read more or listen here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/no-blood-rule-petition-attracts-17000-supporters/
2025 Sand Hills Stampede photos by Becky Pearman
2025 Sand Hills Stampede Endurance ride photos in South Carolina by
Becky Pearman:
https://beckypearman.smugmug.com/Other/Endurance-2025/Sand-Hills-Stampede
2025 October's Horses in the Morning Endurance Podcast
HorseRadioNetwork.com - Listen
Teaching Horse Camping, Rain Gear, Virginia City 100 for October 14, 2025 by The Arabian Horse Association – HORSES IN THE MORNING
Horse Radio Network
October 14, 2025
In this endurance episode Karen guides us through training for camping at endurance rides. Plus we talk rain gear with Distance Depot and meet the winner of the Virginia City 100, Amrita OLeary. Listen in...
https://www.horseradionetwork.com/2025/10/teaching-horse-camping-rain-gear-virginia-city-100-for-october-14-2025-by-the-arabian-horse-association-horses-in-the-morning-2/
Southwest Wyoming’s wild horses will keep roaming, for now
David Dudley photo
WyomingPublicMedia.org - Full Article
Wyoming Public Radio | By Caitlin Tan
Published September 18, 2025
Thousands of wild horses will continue to roam the sprawling sagebrush sea to the northeast and south of Rock Springs.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is punting its planned roundup of all of the roughly 3,000 horses in the Salt Wells Creek and Great Divide Basin areas, as well as the northwest section of Adobe Town. This comes after a summer of back and forth amid litigation.
The BLM planned to start gathering the animals in July to appease private landowners in the area. But that got delayed until the end of August. Then October. And now, the summer of next year.
The BLM didn’t say specifically why they’re delaying, but there’s ongoing litigation from wild horse advocates...
Read more here:
https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/natural-resources-energy/2025-09-18/southwest-wyomings-wild-horses-will-keep-roaming-for-now
2025 Hunting for Bigfoot photos by Hanna Bartnick
2025 Hunting for Bigfoot Endurance ride photos in Mississippi by Hanna
Bartnick, Feral Photography:
https://feralphotography.net/album/bigfoot-endurance-ride/
2025 Red Rock Rumble photos by Bill Gore
2025 Red Rock Rumble Endurance ride photos in Nevada by Bill Gore:
https://williamgorephotography.smugmug.com/2025-Endurance-Rides/Red-Rock-Rumble-2025/Bill-Gore
France’s Léa Clerissi is Riding High on Determination
FEI.org - Full Story
21 October 2025
Stacey Stearns
The teenager is determined to learn from every experience...
At just 15 years old, France’s Léa Clerissi has already ridden her way into the international spotlight.
During her first season at FEI level in 2024, she completed 12 competitions, qualified at the 3* level with seven different horses, and ended the year ranked in both the FEI and France’s standings. Her rapid rise earned her a coveted place on France’s team for the FEI Endurance European Championship for Young Riders & Juniors 2024 in Arborea (ITA), where the French won Team silver.
“My most rewarding memory is, of course, last year’s European Championship – they taught me so much,” Léa said. “What I love most about Endurance is the bond we develop with the horse, and all the beautiful landscapes we get to see.”
For 2025, Léa set her sights on qualifying for both the FEI Endurance World Championship for Young Horses in Jullianges (FRA) and the FEI Endurance World Championship for Young Riders & Juniors in Buftea (ROU), an ambitious goal that few achieve. But, as Endurance teaches every rider, not every season follows the plan...
Read more here:
https://www.fei.org/stories/sport/endurance/france-lea-clerissi-riding-high-determination
Great Britain: Horses and runners compete in cross-country challenge
BBC.com - Full Article
October 18 2025
Jonathan Holmes • Quantock Hills
Two horses have beaten around 100 runners in a 23 mile (37km) race across Somerset's Quantock Hills.
The Man v Horse endurance race, which was first held more than 40 years ago in Powys, Wales, saw the crowd of runners given a head start of only 15 minutes.
Only four competitors have ever beaten a horse in the history of the race, with the last Somerset event ending in a tie between a human and a horse at three hours and 11 minutes...
Read more here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wlqp4v500o
Pope Leo gifted with “Proton” a purebred Arabian horse
CatholicWorldReport.com - Full Article
By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú for CNA
October 15, 2025
ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 15, 2025 / 14:35 pm
Before the general audience on Oct. 15, Pope Leo XIV was gifted with a 12-year-old purebred Arabian horse named Proton.
The white horse is a gift from Michalski Stables in Kołobrzeg-Budzistowo, and will reside in Castel Gandolfo, home to the Vatican’s equestrian center. Several purebred Spanish horses are also kept at the facility located within the papal complex.
The horse belongs to one of the oldest and most esteemed equine breeds in the world, known for its elegance and endurance.
According to the Vatican, the Pole Andrzej Michalski, president of the Michalski horse farm, offered the beautiful specimen to the Holy Father, recalling that during his time as a missionary in Peru, Pope Leo XIV frequently rode horses...
Read more here:
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2025/10/15/pope-leo-gifted-with-proton-a-purebred-arabian-horse/
Three Weeks And 600 Miles: Robert Redford’s True Adventure On The Outlaw Trail
CowboyStateDaily.com - Full Article
Robert Redford’s love of the West, Wyoming and their notorious outlaws was well-known. It led him in 1976 to retrace 600 miles of The Outlaw Trail on horseback, by car and by boat over three weeks for National Geographic magazine.
Jackie Dorothy
September 28, 2025
National Geographic asked actor Robert Redford in 1976 to follow in the footsteps of the Wild West's greatest outlaws in a three-week adventure on horseback, by car, and by boat.
It apparently didn't take much convincing because Redford was already in love with the almost too-wild-to-be-true history of the West and Wyoming.
“We tend to view the Western outlaw, rightly or not, as a romantic figure,” Redford later wrote for the magazine. “I know I'm guilty of it, and for years I have been fascinated by that part of the West that offered sanctuary and escape routes to hundreds of colorful, lawless men.”
The Lure Of The Wild West
Before his 1976 trek along a 600-mile stretch of The Outlaw Trail, Redford was already familiar with the wide-open spaces of Wyoming...
Read more here:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/09/28/three-weeks-and-600-miles-robert-redfords-true-adventure-on-the-outlaw-trail/
Solving The Riddle Of Thumps: Electrolytes, Alfalfa Both Play Starring Roles
Benoit Photo
PaulickReport.com - Full Article
Electrolyte imbalances and diet may both play a role in the condition that affected Skippylongstocking in this year's Charles Town Classic.
Bobbie Jo Lieberman
Oct 6, 2025
When Skippylongstocking headed postward for the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in late August, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. had plenty of reasons to believe his 6-year-old bay star would capture his third consecutive running of the $1 million, 1 1/8-mile event. Conditions were ideal for the earner of over $3.6 million, affectionately known around the barn as “Skippy.”
West Virginia’s cooler evening weather was a welcome change from the heat and humidity of Joseph’s home base in southern Florida. Skippy, reports Joseph, is an easy horse to be around, but he knows when it’s time to run.
“He walks like he’s in charge—he gets pumped up in the paddock,” said Joseph. “He can be a handful for his groom.”
With Jose Ortiz aboard, Skippy broke well from post position four and went straight for the lead on the rail, carving out fast but comfortable fractions on the half-mile track. He looked strong until right around the half-mile pole, when he inexplicably began to lose momentum and rapidly backed up through the field until he was last on the final turn, only to be eased under the wire.
What happened? Did Skippy go to the lead too quickly? His fans on social media were concerned for his welfare, suggesting perhaps the veteran campaigner had simply grown weary of racing.
Cooling out back at the barn, the reason for his poor performance became clear—Skippy had suffered from a metabolic condition known as synchronous diaphragmatic flutter, better known as the thumps. Thumps occur when the horse’s usually distinct respiration and heart rate are in synch, causing a sound akin to human hiccups...
Read more here:
https://paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/solving-the-riddle-of-thumps-electrolytes-alfalfa-both-play-starring-roles-
2025 September's Horses in the Morning Endurance Podcast
HorseRadioNetwork.com - Listen
Endurance: Packing for Vet Check and AHA Endurance Champ Nicole Wertz for September 9, 2025 by Arabian Horse Association
by Horse Radio Network | Sep 9, 2025 | Horses in the Morning
In this endurance episode Karen guides you through what to pack and not pack for a vet check. 2025 AHA Endurance Championship winner Nicole Wertz tells us all about her amazing ride to the Championship and we learn about the new Garmin Blaze Equine HRM. Listen in...
Listen here:
https://www.horseradionetwork.com/2025/09/endurance-packing-for-vet-check-and-aha-endurance-champ-nicole-wertz-for-september-9-2025/
South Africa: Letaba riders shine at Limpopo endurance championships
Citizen.co.za - Full Article
Riders from across Limpopo tested stamina and skill at the Endurance Championships, with Letaba riders excelling across categories.
October 5, 2025
Sharon Makhongele
HOEDSPRUIT – The Letaba Endurance Club hosted a memorable edition of the Limpopo Endurance Championships this past weekend at The Ranch Prestige Equestrian Centre, a venue renowned for its world-class facilities and breathtaking natural surroundings.
The event drew riders from across the province, all eager to test their stamina, horsemanship, and the unbreakable bond between horse and rider.
The carefully designed routes offered a mix of diverse terrain, challenging hills, flowing tracks, and open stretches, pushing competitors to their limits while showcasing the beauty of endurance riding. Each stride was a testament to preparation, perseverance, and the spirit of partnership that defines the sport.
The championships delivered outstanding performances by Letaba Endurance Club riders across multiple categories:...
Read more here:
https://www.citizen.co.za/letaba-herald/sports-news/2025/10/05/riders-shine-in-champs/
Endurance: Where are the ribbons?
Image by Amanda Kettlewell
EquestrianLife.com.au - Full Article
Young Australian riders Poppy Kettlewell and Eadie McWilliam impressed at the FEI Endurance World Championship for Young Riders & Juniors in Buftea, Romania, finishing inside the top 15 against a world-class field over 120km.
Equestrian Life
Published 30 Sep 2025
Buftea, Romania witnessed history on 20 September 2025 as the FEI Endurance World Championship for Young Riders & Juniors reached its dramatic conclusion. Over 120km of testing terrain, 84 young athletes from 26 nations set out with one shared goal: to finish with their horses in good health. By the end of the day, medals were decided not only by time, but by resilience, judgement, and the crucial veterinary inspections that define the sport. For Romania, hosting its first equestrian world Championship was a milestone in itself, while for the athletes aged 14–21 it was the defining moment of their careers so far. Top results for Australian duo
Seventeen-year-old Australian rider Poppy Kettlewell finished an incredible tenth place with her 15-year-old family-bred gelding Oso Irazu. A seasoned campaigner, Irazu has previously represented Great Britain at two Senior World Championships under Rebecca Pinder. Kettlewell, competing in her first championship, was emotional:
“It’s been a dream since I was six, standing on the beach in Normandy and watching the World Championships. To now wear the Australian shirt is a dream come true. Our goal was top 20 but Irazu had a different idea — his decision was final!...”
Read more here:
https://www.equestrianlife.com.au/articles/young-aussie-endurance-riders-shine-in-buftea/
Endurance: Where are the ribbons?
WeAreOnTheLoose Blog - Full Article
by Jamethiel Morse
September 29 2025
Let’s turn our pens towards the annual signs of autumn: The ponies start getting their soft winter fuzzies on, the sun ditches us before 8pm, you have to return to keeping an extra layer in the truck, and…the AERC page starts to get rambunctious again. All ride season long, most folks are busy clearing trails, driving to rides, following Tevis fever, agonizing over keeping their horses sound and conditioned, so our corner of social media gets a bit of a breather aside from gorgeous ride photos. However, like clockwork, being farm bound for the winter gets endurance rider’s fingers itchy to share their opinions, and if we can’t do it around a ride camp fire with a drink in our hands, we’ll take to the AERC Facebook page instead. I say all this a bit in jest, but quite a bit of good discussion can occur there. Endurance riding brings out the strongest of personalities, you have to be to take care of a 1000 pound animal with their own views of the world over miles and hours of trail.
The latest thread to snag my eye was on the future of endurance and how to grow the sport, in a time it is rapidly contracting. Sharing that post to my own page racked up 68 comments, perhaps the most I’ve ever gotten, and the original thread is 450+. In order to put this post together, I used a bit of code I found on Reddit to copy all the comments to a Word document (cause FB sucks for reading comments this way), then edited it down from 200 odd pages to 60 odd (some comments were duplicated multiple times due to the weird rando code I used), tossed this doc into ChatGPT (legit the first time I’ve used it), and it spit out these top 10 categories of concern:...
Read more here:
https://weareontheloose.com/2025/09/29/endurance-where-are-the-ribbons/
2025 Virginia City 100 - Emily Farmer
By Emily Farmer
September 22 2025
Naji is officially a 100 mile mare. I suppose that technically makes me a 100 mile rider, as I managed to hang on for that length of time! What follows is almost as long of a read, as the ride was a ride!
On Saturday we attempted the Virginia City 100, a historic 100 mile endurance ride held by the Nevada All-State Trail Riders, which starts and ends in Virginia City, NV. This ride was hard. I can honestly say that both the first and last 50 miles taken independently were each probably harder than any other 50 mile ride we've done so far. The unrelenting rocks and elevation changes made this ride especially unforgettable, and ultimately took a tole on Naji's shoes in a way that I could not have imagined.
We started off strong for the first 50 miles, riding with Amrita Oleary and her powerful Poet, and Peggy Murphy and her hard as nails mare. Lucy Chaplin Trumbull and Annette McGyver provided exceptional, experienced crewing support through the entire ride, and Naji pulsed down shortly after arrival at each Vet check and ate and drank with gusto.
We arrived back at camp at 50 miles and Naji was looking great apart from a mild soreness on her right back/loin area. While she ate and drank and relaxed, we switched over all my saddle bags over to a different saddle and pad, to attempt to correct the discomfort that was developing. She had also lost the DIM support material in both front shoes, so I pulled what remained and refilled under all 4 pads with Silpack soft to prevent any more little rocks from getting in the back. I felt that Naji was going to have a rough go mentally leaving camp at 50 miles, as she was probably expecting to be done at that distance. For these reasons I decided to stay a little longer at this Vet check, and let Amrita and Peggy go on ahead. I didn't want Naji to get caught up trying to go too fast and burn herself out given how much we had left to do. I started out on my own, still in third place, and immediately went the wrong way, back up loop 1!! OOPS! Got back on track only to find that the trail was pretty intense in both elevation and rocky footing, and Naji was a little checked-out mentally. She still had good energy, but all she wanted to do was eat. Every tuft of dry brittle desert grass became a snack. We moved along despite the difficulties and actually caught up to Amrita and Peggy at the Jumbo aid station around 60 miles in. We commiserated about the difficulty of the trail, that our horses were in "march" mode, and after allowing her some time to rest and eat, I decided to go on together with them in the hopes it would perk her up a little. That it did, but only for a short time before we started climbing Mount Davidson...
Read the rest here
Tracing the forgotten path of the first wagon train to cross the Sierra
SFGate.com - Full Article
Everyone knows the Donner Party. These are the people who came before. By Julie Brown Davis, Mountain Towns Editor
Sep 28, 2025
It was late fall in 1844 when a group of pioneers, horses, oxen and wagons arrived on the shore of a beautiful lake embedded below the wall of the Sierra Nevada. Snow had already accumulated on the ground. River crossings were ice cold. The animals were weary and ragged. But the group had hope. They’d already traveled for months, walking day after day alongside the wagons. Upon reaching the Sierra Nevada, they knew they were close to the Sacramento Valley, a destination that had lured them across the continent, but cold temperatures and shorter days were a foreboding reminder that time was not on their side.
This was the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party, the first European Americans to cross the Sierra Nevada with wagons. All 52 people survived the journey to California, including two infants who were born on the westward journey.
“They were the original pioneers that proved that you could move wagons over the Sierra Nevada,” said David Antonucci, a Tahoe historian and author...
Read more here:
https://www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/article/stephens-townsend-murphy-sierra-nevada-california-21057626.php