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  • New Zealand: Dozens of miniature horses readying for the Great Northern Gallop
  • 2024 Suwannee Sprint photos by Maria Phillips
  • 2024 February's Horses in the Morning Endurance Podcast
  • 2024 Twenty Mule Team photos by William Gore
  • Retired Pickup Man Josh Edwards’ Wheelhouse is Adventure as He Prepares for the Mongol Derby
  • Oregon: Ochoco National Forest seeks public comment on plans for improved equestrian trails in Corral Flat area NE of Prineville
  • Permanent Sterilization of America’s Wild Horses Proposed
  • 2024 Twenty Mule Team 100 - Lucy Trumbull
  • Australia: Queensland endurance riding season off to a ’stirling’ start
  • 2024 Lizard Run photos - Becky Pearman
  • 2024 FITS - Maria Phillips
  • Long Rider Gillian Larson’s Spirit of Adventure
  • “Bold and the Beautiful”'s Katherine Kelly Lang Returns to Endurance Horse Racing After Her Ankle 'Was Totally Dislocated'
  • Expeditions team retraces steps of Snowshoe Thompson's mail route in 1856
  • Who Is Sheikha Madiya Al Maktoum? 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Dubai Royal
  • 2024 Twenty Mule Team - Vera V-Abdallah
  • 2024 Twenty Mule Team 100 - Chelsea Arnold


  • MORE NEWS...


    New Zealand: Dozens of miniature horses readying for the Great Northern Gallop


    RNZ.co.nz - Full Story

    Chloe Phillips-Harris with Opi, who arrived at her Kerikeri farm with serious health and behavioural problems, but is now a star of the annual Great Northern Gallop. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

    28 March 2024
    Peter de Graaf

    Dozens of four-legged athletes standing no more than a metre tall will compete in an endurance race with a difference in the Far North this weekend.

    Organiser Chloe Phillips-Harris calls it "the biggest miniature horse race in the world".

    "That confuses a lot of people, because you're not riding the horses. They're tiny. You're running beside them.

    "We do 100km over Easter, over four days, so that's 25km a day."

    About 30 humans and their equine running mates will take part in this year's Great Northern Gallop on Ninety Mile Beach and in the nearby Aupōuri Forest.

    Phillips-Harris, better known for her epic treks across Mongolia on full-size steeds, said she had dozens of miniature horses at her property north of Kerikeri...

    Read more here:
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country/512939/dozens-of-miniature-horses-readying-for-the-great-northern-gallop


    2024 Suwannee Sprint photos by Maria Phillips


    2024 Suwannee Spring Endurance ride photos in Florida by Maria Phillips:
    https://mariaphillips.smugmug.com/Endurance-2024/Suwannee-Sprint-2024


    2024 February's Horses in the Morning Endurance Podcast




    Horsesinthemorning.com Podcast - Listen

    Feb 13, 2024

    Dr. Susan Garlinghouse joins us to talk about preventing and dealing with arthritis in horses. Karen’s tip is on getting unstuck in mud and the options for endurance cinches and girths. Listen in...

    https://horsesinthemorning.com/endurance-mud-and-equine-arthritis-for-february-13-2024/


    2024 Twenty Mule Team photos by William Gore


    2024 Twenty Mule Team Endurance ride photos in California by Bill Gore:
    https://williamgorephotography.smugmug.com/Endurance-Rides-2024/20-Mule-Team-2024-a/20-Mule-Team-2024


    Retired Pickup Man Josh Edwards’ Wheelhouse is Adventure as He Prepares for the Mongol Derby


    TheCowboyChannel.com - Full Story

    2023 PRCA Pickup Man of the Year Josh Edwards is an adrenaline loving cowboy who is Mongolia bound.

    March 21, 2024 12:53 PM

    Josh Edwards, the 2023 PRCA Pickup Man of the Year, might have recently retired at the legendary Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo but he is far from done on the back of a horse.

    It makes sense for a man like Edwards to love testing himself and crave adrenaline filled adventures. On top of being a decorated pickup man, he has competed in Iron Man Races and coming up, is an adventure of a lifetime for Edwards, a Mongolian Horse Race called the Mongol Derby.

    “I was selected to compete in a 660-mile, cross country horse race in Mongolia where you ride wild Mongolian horses. It’s a ten day race, it’s basically just an adventure race,” Edwards said...

    Read more and see video here:
    https://www.thecowboychannel.com/retired-pickup-man-josh-edwards-wheelhouse-is-adventure-as-he-prepares-for-the-mongol-derby


    Oregon: Ochoco National Forest seeks public comment on plans for improved equestrian trails in Corral Flat area NE of Prineville


    KTVZ.com - Full Article

    By Barney Lerten
    March 14, 2024

    Forest also seeks to re-establish road closures, reduce off-road vehicle impacts

    PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Ochoco National Forest has opened a 30-day public comment period on a draft environmental assessment to formalize an unofficial 51-mile equestrian trail system and conduct restoration of areas damaged by off-road vehicles.

    The Corral Flat Endurance Trails project is located on the Lookout Mountain and Paulina ranger districts, about 25 miles northeast of Prineville.

    The project’s goal is to provide “designated trail systems for equestrian users, with loops of varying miles and terrain,” the plan states. “These new miles would help distribute equestrian users throughout the National Forest and improve visitor experience.”

    The plan’s introduction notes that the current, unofficial trails are almost entirely on Forest Service system roads and non-system two-track roads. A small portion are on existing single-track equestrian trails and have been in use for decades by horseback riders,” both by individuals and organized group rides...

    Read more here:
    https://ktvz.com/news/outdoors/2024/03/14/ochoco-national-forest-seeks-public-comment-on-plans-for-improved-equestrian-trails-in-corral-flat-area-ne-of-prineville/


    Permanent Sterilization of America’s Wild Horses Proposed


    Horse-canada.com - Full Article

    Leading conservation organization American Wild Horse Conservation has raised alarms about the latest federal budget proposal.

    By: American Wild Horse Campaign | March 15, 2024

    American Wild Horse Conservation is sounding the alarm over the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Fiscal Year 2025 budget request seeking $170,917,000 to fund its Wild Horse and Burro Program. This marks a $29 million increase over FY 24 appropriated levels, with $15 million allocated toward a mass permanent sterilization program, including 20 new full-time employees for its implementation.

    The proposal, outlined in the BLM’s Budget Justification for FY 25, was released days after Congress cut the BLM’s FY 2024 budget by $5.9 million while preserving $11 million in 2024 funding for reversible, humane fertility control implementation.

    “Permanent sterilization contradicts the BLM’s legal mandate to protect America’s wild horses in self-sustaining, free-roaming herds. It also disregards Congressional directives to implement a robust and humane fertility control strategy of reversible immunocontraceptive vaccines,“ said Suzanne Roy, Executive Director of AWHC. “The BLM should deliver on existing commitments to expand humane fertility control, rather than waste Congress’ time and taxpayer resources on a far-fetched scheme to destroy the nation’s wild horse and burro populations by mass sterilization...”

    Read more here:
    https://horse-canada.com/horse-news/permanent-sterilization-americas-wild-horses-proposed/


    2024 Twenty Mule Team 100 - Lucy Trumbull


    March 14 2024
    Lucy Trumbull

    Sometimes it seems like the more I do something the less it feels like I know how to do it. Riding Squee has brought new and different challenges to long-distance riding, and 20 Mule Team - whilst familiar - was no different. This was my 8th time riding the 100 miler (with Squee and I doing the 60 and the 65 milers here the last couple of years).

    It didn't start off well when Squee managed to slice open his head in the trailer in the first 30 minutes while we were on our way over to fetch Ranger and Annette. After a quick inspection of the bleeding flap, we glopped on some desitin and shut him in the middle stall of the trailer where he wouldn't be able to do any more damage. We made it to Ridgecrest with no flat tires or the trailer lights failing - and dodged the worst of the weather on the way down. Carefully parked the trailer to maximize its wind-breaking capacity, and installed both horses on the lee side (thankful that I've got spring ties on both sides). We were even close enough to the faucet and had a hose so that we were able to fill water buckets without much heavy lifting - a bonus, given that Squee pooped in his water bucket, twice, (presumably due to turning his butt to the wind), before I gave up and put a water container on the ground, slightly to one side.

    Friday was spent gluing on his shoes, gluing his forehead back together (who knew how useful superglue could be), pre-riding an amped up horse (aka Kite Onna String), packing crew bags, and wrestling with things in the wind.

    Because of the wind, it got to the stage where you couldn't do most basic tasks alone. My tack room door stopper suffered a failure from being nearly blown off its hinges, meaning that you needed two people to get the saddle out - one to hold the door, the other to wrestle the saddle. Similarly, to tack up, you needed one person to wrangle the blanket and saddle pad, while the other put the saddle on. Everything that normally lives outside the trailer was smooshed into the back of it, so it was tight quarters back there, with us clambering over piles of equipment, hay bags, feed containers, tack, chairs, etc.

    All night it blew hard and in the morning despite trying to shelter them out of the wind, it didn't look like either horse had drunk very well, nor could we tell how much hay they'd eaten versus how much had just blown away...

    Read the rest here


    Australia: Queensland endurance riding season off to a ’stirling’ start


    NoosaToday.com.au - Full Article

    16/03/2024
    Erle Levey

    It was like the first day back at school as Queensland endurance horse riders started the 2024 season. ERLE LEVEY was at Imbil’s Stirling Crossing Equestrian Centre for a few lessons

    The 2024 Queensland Endurance Riding Association (QERA) season got under way in style at Imbil this month.

    There was a mix of experienced riders returning for the year and newcomers being welcomed into the fold for the Stirling’s Starter.

    Seasoned horses were side by side with those being brought into the sport at the Stirlings Crossing Equestrian Centre.

    There were 137 riders registered for the seven events over the two days – from 10km and 20km introductory rides to 40km intermediate and the 82km endurance event...

    Read more here:
    https://noosatoday.com.au/news/16-03-2024/queensland-endurance-riding-season-off-to-a-stirling-start/


    2024 FITS photos - Maria Phillips


    2024 Fun in the Sun Endurance ride photos in Florida by Maria Phillips:
    https://mariaphillips.smugmug.com/Endurance-2024/FITS-2024


    2024 Lizard Run photos - Becky Pearman


    2024 Lizard Run Endurance ride photos in South Carolina by Becky Pearman:
    https://beckypearman.smugmug.com/Other/Endurance-2024/Lizard-Run


    Long Rider Gillian Larson’s Spirit of Adventure


    Horse-canada.com - Full Story

    By: Kim Izzo | March 12, 2024

    If you’ve ever dismounted after a long day in the saddle and cracked open a cold one, maybe a certain iconic ad campaign came to mind. In the advertising world it’s all about creating a memorable moment to associate with a product and when it comes to beer and horses one brand has turned the combo into event television – Budweiser Clydesdales we’re looking at you.

    A bottle and a can of beer.Now there’s a new draft in town: 805 Beer from Firestone Walker Brewing Company. The brand is also seeking must-watch status with its latest campaign released on International Women’s Day featuring a diverse cast of women athletes and creators, which Firestone Walker has dubbed “Authenticos.”

    One of the women is American thru-rider Gillian Larson, who became the first solo thru-rider of the Pacific Crest Trail, as well as the youngest and only woman, when she completed it in 2014...

    Read more here:
    https://horse-canada.com/magazine/profiles/gillian-larsons-spirit-adventure/?vgo_ee=3y1b5t%2BQVxVR1TbQprB%2FQHY1wRusFwBxYaipWIbOZUf0bkn14vVE%3A84U56dVqAUq6dc8iuZO7mqiOO2Mp7uhh


    “Bold and the Beautiful”'s Katherine Kelly Lang Returns to Endurance Horse Racing After Her Ankle 'Was Totally Dislocated'


    Ca.Style.Yahoo.com - Full Article

    Cara Lynn Shultz
    Tue, March 12, 2024

    The actress talks to PEOPLE about her return to endurance horse racing after breaking her ankle in three places

    Katherine Kelly Lang was just three years old when she discovered her love of horses.

    “I sat on a horse with my mom, and I fell in love and that was it,” the Bold and the Beautiful actress tells PEOPLE exclusively about her first exposure to horses — riding the kiddie pony rides in Los Angeles’s famed Griffith Park.

    “They strap you in and they make the ponies trot around in a circle, with fences on each side, so you're very safe. All I remember back then was, ‘Oh, boy, these ponies are really bouncy.’ But I still loved it,” she continues.

    Growing up, Lang, 63, says, “horses were my thing,” and she harbored dreams of being an Olympic-level equestrian.

    But when Lang was 22, during a solo ride she stumbled upon a campsite. “There was lots of trailers, lots of horses, lots of people. And I'm like, ‘What is going on here?’ And somebody said, ‘Oh, you don't know about endurance riding?’ ” she recalls...

    Read more here:
    https://ca.style.yahoo.com/bold-beautiful-katherine-kelly-lang-185250414.html


    Expeditions team retraces steps of Snowshoe Thompson's mail route in 1856


    GoldCountryMedia.com - Full Story

    Expeditions team retraces steps of pioneer mailman's route in 1856

    Lia Carotta
    Mar 09, 2024

    The Auburn State Theatre invites the public to come meet the History Expeditions Team – comprised of local endurance athletes – as they share stories and video of their newest adventure and participate in a Q&A at 7 p.m. Friday, March 15, at the Odd Fellows Lodge #7 in Auburn, 1226-1/2 Lincoln Way.
    To honor John “Snowshoe” Thompson, pioneering mailman of the Sierra, the History Expeditions Team was scheduled to set out March 6 on a never-before-attempted 100-mile trek across the Sierra Nevada mountains from Placerville to Genoa, Nevada. This route retraces Thompson’s inaugural 1856 mail route, where the legendary mailman weathered huge snowdrifts on massive 25-pound skis, carrying his 100-pound load of mail and ore.

    This event is a fundraiser for the History Expedition's publication of TEVIS - The Places We Ride - Celebrating Seven Decades of American Endurance Riding History.

    History Expeditions co-founders Bob Crowley and Tim Twietmeyer, veteran ultra-distance trail runners and amateur historians, accompanied by Jennifer Hemmen, a versatile ultra-distance and adventure athlete; Elke Reimer, a veteran ultra-distance runner, backpacker and trail steward; and Hal Hall, an accomplished endurance equestrian rider and historian, will trek and ski the rugged Sierra terrain, following Thompson’s mail route...

    Read more here:
    https://goldcountrymedia.com/news/298496/expeditions-team-retraces-steps-of-snowshoe-thompsons-mail-route-in-1856/


    Who Is Sheikha Madiya Al Maktoum? 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Dubai Royal


    GraziaMagazine.com - Full Story

    By Falah Gulzar

    She is an accomplished cyclist and horse racer

    Whether it’s the determination she exudes while riding a horse galloping across the UAE desert or her dedication when she conquers Europe’s mountains, one bicycle ride at a time, Her Highness Sheikha Madiya Bint Hasher Bin Manaa Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s Ruling Family and a polished sportswoman, is an inspiration to women in the region, as well as across the globe.

    Like many GCC royals, the Emirati seems to keep a low profile, occasionally sharing glimpses of her life on social media with her over 18,000 followers on Instagram. Doing a little bit of digging, GRAZIA brings you five facts you need to know about her for your daily dose of motivation...

    Read more here:
    https://graziamagazine.com/me/articles/who-is-sheikha-madiya-al-maktoum-5-facts-you-need-to-know-about-the-dubai-royal/


    2024 Twenty Mule Team 100 - Vera V-Abdallah


    By Vera V-Abdallah
    March 5 2024

    Last weekend, we participated in the 20-Mule-Team Ride, which was only held for one day of riding. Thus, we had to do some juggling with getting the adoptable rescue horses out there riding the 35-mile limited distance (LD) ride, while Erna on Love Story competed in the 60-mile ride. I rode the LD ride with one of my newer mentor horses, Sir Trot a Lot, who I thought would do great to accompany the two adoptable horses, Alada Baske Aire and Two Step Betty. I was nervous about Erna riding the 60 miles without me, but my friend Cynthia Buendia rode my horse Sharif to be there as Erna’s support. Erna is now a "young rider" at 17 years of age and she is eligible to ride alone, but as a mom, I was so happy for Cynthia to ride with Erna.

    I figured that Sir Trot a Lot could take over Sharif's guardian role on the 35-mile LD ride, since Sir Trot a Lot is a very calm and mostly confident horse. Erna and the 60 mile riders all started out at 6 a.m. whereas I started out at 7 a.m. This was great because I was able to see Erna and Cynthia off to the start of the ride and still had enough time to get myself ready to start our LD ride.

    As most of you probably know, the weather conditions were less than desirable with a horrible windstorm that lasted all weekend, with sustained 30 to 40 mile winds and gusts that were up to 100 miles per hour! In addition, rain, possible snow or sleet was forecast. We dressed appropriately and set out to ride.

    Alada Baske Air was ridden by Leah Palestrant who is an experienced endurance rider who flew in, all the way from Ohio, to ride with us! I was very happy about this because it was Alada Baske Air's first endurance ride. Two Step Betty was ridden by Katja Pizka who is also a board member of our rescue. It was Katja's first endurance ride, though she is an experienced rider and is very physically fit.

    It seems like at every ride there is something new or crazy that happens! This time, it was crazy weather with the wind storm...

    Read the rest here


    2024 Twenty Mule Team 100 - Chelsea Arnold


    March 5 2024
    By Chelsea Arnold

    I almost gave up and moved down to the 75 mile ride…At 11:30pm the night before the 20 Mule Team 100 mile ride, the winds were 50 mph and howling, rocking the Lq trailer back and forth and I thought about the ride ahead in the blowing wind. What am I thinking, went through my head.. what do we need to prove? I talked to Shayna and she said, “it just depends on how much not fun you want to have?” LOL!! I knew we were tough enough to get it done and I was saddling up the best and toughest horse I know. But did I need to? I convinced myself that night that 100 miles in this weather was stupid and I could just level down and not be out all night.

    But then I woke up at 4am and like the 100 mile rider I am… I was like… oh what the hell. I had made myself a promise never to pass up a chance to ride a 100 miles on a good horse, so weather be damned…you only live once so we are putting on our wind and rain gear and heading out into the storm. I was riding the one and only Gus, so we saddled up and warmed up in the blowing wind to ride out with Sabine and her boy Ammour. The horses were game and ready. The trail opened and off we went...

    Read the rest here


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