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JACK AU XOIS excels in French Endurance race


OmanObserver.om - Full Article

Published: 05:04 PM,Apr 27,2026

The horse ‘Jack Au Xois’ continued his outstanding performances in endurance racing after securing first place in the 103 km Vizac Endurance Ride held recently in France, adding another achievement to the growing list of notable Arab successes on the European stage.

The victory was achieved under the guidance of rider Theo Jonas. The horse is owned by Mohammed bin Rashid al Saadi and was originally developed and conditioned in Oman under the supervision of trainer Mohammed bin Hamood al Balushi. In the lead-up to the race, the horse was sent to France, where it underwent pre-race preparation under the guidance of trainer Elisabeth Hardy.

This achievement builds on Jack Au Xois’ consistent record, having previously secured third place in the His Majesty the King's Endurance Cup in the Kingdom of Bahrain, reflecting the horse’s steady progress and ability to compete at a high international level...

Read more here:
https://www.omanobserver.om/ampArticle/1188673

2026 Caballo Sin Nombre - Tami Rougeau


April 22 2026
By Tami Rougeau

Team Red hit the road last week for New Mexico and the Caballo Sin Nombre ride near Aztec New Mexico. This was an XP Ride hosted by Annie and the Duck. It was Makena's weekend this time since Penelope had done Cuyama, With the weather in Reno becoming more like winter we were more than ready to head out to warmer climates,

On Monday life seemed to just take over and I was still recovering from the gnat attack at Derby the previous weekend so we did not leave until early Tuesday. Since we like to arrive a day early to give the girls a day to rest and recover we were going to have to suck it up and make it in 2 days. Turns out it was not that bad. We overnighted in Hinkley on Tuesday. They have really done some good work on the rodeo area and it is a nice quiet, clean area to overnight.

We arrived in camp on Wednesday evening well before dark and got ourselves all set up. We got to park next to our friend Julie Figg and do a little catching up. Julie had been there for a couple of days marking trail for the ride. On Thursday we did a little ride and Julie showed me some of the area. It was so nice to get a small preview. Makena was totally full of herself and ready to go...ugh fit horses LOL. When we got back our friend Kerry Redente arrived with Val. Always a great time to share camp with them. Both girls really like Val and the feeling is mutual.

Thursday night we had a nice ride meeting, downloaded our GPS tracks for the next day and made sure our map and vet card were in the saddle for the next day...

Read the rest here

Great Britain: Major sponsorship announced as hoof boots rise in popularity across endurance riding


April 23 2026

A new three-year title sponsorship of Endurance GB’s National Championships has been announced, reflecting the growing use of hoof boots across the sport.

The Hoof Boot Shop will become Title Sponsor of the National Championships from 2026, in a partnership that highlights a noticeable shift in how endurance horses are managed and competed.

A sport evolving with horse welfare at its core

Endurance GB, the National Governing Body for endurance riding in Great Britain, oversees a discipline where horse welfare is central to competition. With veterinary checks before, during and after rides, the sport places a strong emphasis on soundness, recovery, and long-term horse health...

Read more here

2026 Spin Around the Rim photos by Becky Pearman


2026 Spin Around the Rim Endurance ride photos in Tennessee by Becky Pearman:
https://beckypearman.smugmug.com/Other/Endurance-2026/Spin-Around-the-Rim

2026 Ride in the Pines photos by Hanna Bartnick


2026 Ride in the Pines Endurance ride photos in South Carolina by Hanna Bartnick, Feral Photography:
https://feralphotography.net/events/

Wipawan Pawitayalarp: Meet Thailand’s Endurance Trailblazer


FEI.org - Full Story

17 April 2026
Words by Stacey Stearn

The experienced athlete reflects on her career, her horses, and the path that has shaped her success...

The name Wipawan Pawitayalarp is well known in Thailand’s Endurance riding community and beyond. She has competed in six major international championships and was part of the Thailand team that won gold at the FEI Asian Championships 2025 on home soil in Pattaya.

In 2011, Wipawan became the first woman to win the Sultan Mizan Cup at Terengganu International Endurance Park in Malaysia with Mulawa Angelus. The field that day was experienced and largely male, at a time when women in the region were still underrepresented in the sport. Her win came after years of steady work, training, and a strong belief in the partnership between horse and rider – something that continues to define her career.

“Becoming the first woman to win the cup was very meaningful,” she said. “I hope it showed that women in Southeast Asia can compete strongly and succeed at the highest level. If that inspired even a few young riders, then it means even more...”

Read more here:
https://www.fei.org/stories/sport/endurance/wipawan-pawitayalarp-meet-thailands-endurance-trailblazer

A Woman is Riding 25,000Km on Horseback Across the Americas


Explorersweb.com - Full Article

April 20, 2026
Ash Routen

Canadian Olivia Cazes, 30, is a year into a mammoth horseback journey from Ushuaia, in southern Argentina, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, following the length of the Pan-American Highway. The journey began in February 2025 with Australian rider Ben Hann. The two met while working on a ranch in Alberta, Canada.

Hann had to leave the journey last October due to a health issue. Cazes then returned to Canada to upgrade her equipment and then headed back to Argentina this past January to pick up where she left off.

Balancing the expedition with her studies, Cazes is somehow completing a master’s thesis while on the road. As of early April, she has traveled around 2,850km, maintaining a daily pace of 20 to 25km. Cazes estimates the journey could take another five years...

Read more here:
https://explorersweb.com/a-woman-is-riding-25000km-on-horseback-across-the-americas/

Conditioning Horses on Different Surfaces




Thehorse.com - Full Article

April 1, 2026
Posted by Nancy S. Loving, DVM

Varying the surfaces on which you exercise your horse can help produce a strong, well-rounded equine athlete.

When training your horse, you likely put in a lot of work developing his skill set for a chosen athletic endeavor. Yet, similarly important is the degree of conditioning your horse achieves over time. Conditioning offers multiple benefits, including building the musculoskeletal tissues of the limbs, core, topline, and neck. It also improves the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, nervous system, proprioception (awareness of position and placement of limbs and body), and balance; provides mental stimulation; and builds a horse’s confidence.

Varying the surfaces on which you exercise a horse can bring additional benefits that develop the physical strength of a well-rounded equine athlete mentally engaged in his work...

Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/1122411/conditioning-horses-on-different-surfaces/?lid=lbh2rj0awf7x&%20Lameness&uuid=01922f47f62f001a2720598a0e2705075009a06d00dc4

South Okanagan horse trainer fundraising to compete in 'longest and toughest horse race'


Castanet.net - Full Article and video

Casey Richardson - Dec 11, 2025

A South Okanagan equestrian instructor and horse trainer is preparing to participate in the Mongol Derby, a 1,000-kilometre race across Mongolia where riders emulate the messenger system of Genghis Khan.

Michelle Van Baalen began riding horses at the age of five, progressing from hunter-jumper riding to Pony Club, 3-day eventing, western riding, packing, and cowgirl racing.

She won the 2022 and 2024 BC endurance races (Heather Bradshaw Memorial Race) and went on to chase feral horses in Canada.

Now well into her career, Van Baalen is setting her sights on her next feat — taking on the “longest and toughest horse race in the world” in 2027.

“I first saw [the Derby] on Facebook, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, man, wouldn't that be a life experience?’” she said.

“To have a different style of horsemanship, be coached in that and then be set loose in the wilderness to fend for myself with nothing but my own skills, appeals to me...”

Read more and see video here:
https://www.castanet.net/news/Penticton/588805/South-Okanagan-horse-trainer-fundraising-to-compete-in-longest-and-toughest-horse-race-

US Equestrian Announces Updates to FEI Endurance Elite Status List


USEF.org

by US Equestrian Communications Dept. | 4/2/2026

Lexington, Ky - US Equestrian is pleased to announce the following athletes have achieved new elite status during quarter one of 2026.

An Elite Endurance Athlete is defined as someone who, in their lifetime of competing within FEI Endurance, has reached the following milestones for 1*/2*/3* level of competition.

• Bronze Level - 10 completions within the applicable * level

• Silver Level - 20 completions within the applicable * level

• Gold Level is - 30 completions within the applicable * level

The following athletes have earned FEI Endurance Elite status during the first quarter of 2026:

Jeremy Reynolds: 3* Gold
Heather Davis: 3* Bronze
Nicole Wertz: 3* Bronze

More at:
https://www.usef.org/media/press-releases/us-equestrian-announces-updates-to-fei-endurance-2

Feed Manufacturer Joins Endurance GB for “Suitably Mounted” Welfare Initiative


April 9 2026

Endurance GB is pleased to announce that Baileys Horse Feeds will be supporting the organisation’s Suitably Mounted welfare initiative throughout the 2026 endurance season.

As part of the partnership, Baileys will attend ten endurance rides across the UK, offering riders the opportunity to access free horse weighbridge services, body condition scoring and expert nutrition advice.

The initiative forms part of Endurance GB’s wider commitment to promoting horse welfare, education and informed decision-making within the sport.

At selected rides, riders will have the opportunity to:

• Weigh their horse on a professional weighbridge
• Have their horse’s body condition assessed
• Speak to Baileys nutrition specialists about feeding and management...

Read more here:
http://news.endurance.net/2026/04/feed-manufacturer-joins-endurance-gb.html

2026 Qualification Calendar: The Road to AlUla


SOURCE: ENDURANCE.NET - April 11 2026 - Here are the critical dates in the first half of 2026 where the final selections for the competing teams for the World Endurance Championship at AlUla, Saudia Arabia, will be made, starting with The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup...

Read the rest here:
http://endurance.net/international/SaudiArabia/2026WorldEnduranceChampionship/QualificationRaces.html

Flying vet's frontline account of a brutal 400km Patagonian endurance race


Queenslandcountrylife.com.au - Full Article

By Campbell Costello
April 4 2026

The snow line had crept down overnight and as I reached out of my sleeping bag to find my headtorch - you could tell it was frigid with Patagonian cool.

I was manning the fourth veterinary checkpoint for a horse race across Patagonia; the inaugural "Pass of Tears".

A 400km multi horse endurance race that salutes the mighty Argentine "Criollo" horse and Gaucho horsemanship that allows one to navigate the unforgiving Patagonian terrain.

I was stationed at an Estancia called "La Josefina" - a 17,000 hectare ranch nestled along the northern shores of Lagos San Martin against the border with Chile...

Read more here:
https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/9210642/campbell-costello-patagonias-pass-of-tears-vet-on-wild-race/

2026 Shanghai Trails photos by John Nowell


2026 Shanghai Trails Endurance ride photos in Texas by John Nowell:
https://remuda.smugmug.com/Endurance-Rides/2026-Ride-Year/Shanghai-Trails-2026

Great Britain: Shanti Roos and Fripon storm to endurance victory at Kings Forest


Wsfp.co.uk - Full Article

6th April 2026

A RIDER based in the Quantock Hills has taken top honours at a national endurance riding event, showcasing both athletic performance and the unique partnership between horse and rider.

Dutch-born rider Shanti Roos, who has lived in the UK for over 20 years and runs an Airbnb business with her husband in the Quantocks, stormed to victory in the 80km (50-mile) race at Kings Forest, Suffolk last weekend

Riding her 11-year-old French-bred gelding, Fripon, Shanti delivered a perfectly judged performance to take the win by four minutes and 30 seconds, finishing at an impressive average speed of 17.01km/h...

Read more here:
https://www.wsfp.co.uk/sport/shanti-roos-and-fripon-storm-to-endurance-victory-at-kings-forest-894621

Australia: 49 years of endurance in the Warrumbungles with an international flavour


Image by Jo Arblaster - Animal Focus.

EquestrianLife.com.au - Full Article

Around 120 riders and horses are gearing up to hit the trails this weekend for the Tooraweenah Endurance Club’s annual event.

Ellen Dunger for Endurance NSW
Published 8 Apr 2026

This year’s weekend of events is going up a notch. In addition to the usual 7, 20, 40, and 80-kilometre events (with 120km event added this year), there are also international-standard FEI-level rides.

With more endurance riders registered worldwide than the Olympic discipline of eventing, the Tooraweenah Club partnered with Canobolas Endurance Riders to give Australian competitors the opportunity to qualify for overseas international events.

It is the first time FEI events have been staged at Tooraweenah and ride secretary Sonia bonham said the inclusion has bolstered entries, with an additional 32 nominations coming from as far afield as southern NSW and Queensland.

“It is our 49th year and we are runnng our first FEI event.” she said...

Read more here:
https://equestrianlife.com.au/articles/49-years-of-endurance-in-the-warrumbungles-with-an-international-flavour/

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