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Horse Passports and Info for entering a FEI event:

2010 FEI Rules

Please visit:

www.usef.org/documents/ruleBook/2009/10-EN.pdf

www.fei.org

Art 816 – Qualification Procedure
• All Riders and Horses who have not competed at FEI competitions
prior to the 1st January 2009 must fully meet the requirements as
defined within Article 816 in respect of Novice Qualification and CEI
Star Qualifying.
• Riders who have competed at FEI competitions prior to 1st January
2009 can continue under the new rules commencing at the next
2009 *Event level above their highest successful completion
distance. It is the distance successfully completed prior to 1st
January 2009 and not the *Rating of that competition that must be
used.
• Horses who have competed at FEI competitions prior to 1st January
2009 can continue under the new rules commencing at the next
2009 *Event level above their highest successful completion
distance achieved during the previous 24 months. It is the distance
successfully completed prior to 1st January 2009 and not the
*Rating of that competition that must be used.

To be qualified to enter a CEI 1 * event Riders and Horses must be Novice Qualified.

For Novice Qualifying, the horse and rider not necessarily as a combination must complete:

2 rides of 40-79km and 2 rides of 80-90km at 16kph or under

OR

3 rides of 80-90km at 16kph or under

Qualifying rides must be within 24 months of entering Star Rating

Novice Qualifying must be verified with the NF.

Revised Distances for Star ratings:

1* 90-119km

2** 120-139km or 70-89km over 2 days

3*** 140-160km or 90-100km over 2 days or 70-80km over 3 days

4****160km

Criteria is 64bpm within 20 mins at vet checks and 64bpm within 30 mins at finish

Clarification of the FEI Passport Rule for 2010Events

After January 1, 2009, FEI passports will continue to be required for 120km and 160km events, as well as 2 day 160km events. Rides which are classified as 1* 80km to 119km will not require passports of any kind – but the horse must meet the Influenza Vaccine requirements and have some form of identification, such as registration papers or Coggins papers.

In order to enter an FEI event of any distance, you will need the following:

Rider:

AERC and AERC I membership

USEF memebership fee

FEI rider registration fee

IHP (USEF High Performance fee) for rider if riding a 3*** event or higher

Horse:

AERC membership

FEI horse registration fee

Vaccination requirements ( see below)

Passport if entering a 2** event or higher ( see below for additional requirements)

Horses must have an FEI passport to enter a 3*** event:

Lifetime recorded with USEF

Must have current FEI horse registration

Must have a primary vaccination series: 2 influenza vaccinations must be administered between 21 and 92 days apart and not less than 7 days before competition. Must be documented with name of vaccine, batch number,vet stamp and signature of veterinarian. Transferring of vaccines on behalf of another vet is not acceptable.

Please consult the USEF website for applications and the complete 2010 rulebook.

www.usef.org

Kim and Charisse's account of the Quilty ( in 2 parts)

WARNING: This is really long but how do you put 10 days of non stop
adventure in just a paragraph? KIM

This year three Malibu Endurance riders had the opportunity to attend the Tom
Quilty Cup in Queensland, Australia. The ride was held in the town
of Nanango in Queensland. Charisse Glenn, Cherry Stockton, and I left
for Australia on an 11:30 pm flight on Saturday 9/13. Christoph
Schork and Dianne Woodward from Utah were also on our flight. Last
year, Christoph placed first in the Quilty. We arrived in Brisbane on
Monday 9/15 and headed towards the Gold Coast for some sight seeing.
Monday evening we stayed with Aussie endurance riders outside of
Yamba. Some of you may remember meeting the Australian riders that
came to the US last year and rode the Duck's Mojave ride and 20 Mule
Team. We stayed with Jane and her family. When we arrived, a
BBQ/party was in full swing. Kim and Leila (both rode here last
year), Christoph, Dianne, Scottish endurance rider, Clive, and Jane's
family all were waiting for us as we had gotten lost and were about 2
hours late for dinner. We had a great time in Yamba and I could
write a novel on our Australian adventures sightseeing, getting lost,
driving on the wrong side of the road, shopping, Aussie slang, and
not seeing a live kangaroo the entire time we were in Australia,
etc. But for list purposes I will stick to the equestrian aspect of
our trip.

On Tuesday, Jane took us around to see all her endurance horses. Her
family kept 5 or 6 competition horses at their home and the rest of
the horses including brood mares, babies, and youngsters were kept in
various pastures in the surrounding area near her home. Jane had
close to 40 horses and I have to say overall the horses were most
impressive. All of the horses looked like really tough endurance
horses. The most amazing thing was that they all had well defined
withers, huge bone, and incredibly big feet. As a whole all these
horses had long shoulders, short cannon bones, and many were short to
medium backed. Most of Jane's horses looked like they could carry
heavy weight riders with ease. In general, this was the look of most
of the horses I observed at the Quilty base camp.

We arrived at the Quilty ride camp on Wednesday. It was like a
flashback to the late 80s/early 90s AERC ride camps I remember. It
is really quite different from our typical base camp today. There
were no mega living quarter trailers, no motor homes, and just about
everyone camps out. Even the largest endurance barns (Meg Wade and
the Peter Toft) had relatively modest camping quarters. There were
lots of two horse trailers and tent camping. It was really quite
refreshing as almost every camp had a campfire going and everyone
hangs out by the camp fire and actually visits (lots of partying). I
thought it made for a much friendlier atmosphere. Jay Randle of
Splendacrest Farm (who visited the US last year) hosted a martini
party on Wednesday night that lasted well into the wee hours of the
morning. The three wimpy Americans only lasted until about midnight
but we heard that the dancing, drinking, singing, and partying went
on for hours. There was another party on Thursday night but we were
still recovering from Wednesday so we missed out not only on the
party but a brawl between the local townees and some endurance riders
at the AERA party.

Two of the most noticeable differences about Australian endurance
that I noticed right off is that there are lots of young riders
between the ages of 14-25. I think there were at least 14 juniors
entered in the ride and I believe juniors are 15 years and under.
There were several riders that looked like they were in their late
teens and early 20s. Many riders ride for barns or teams and they
wear team shirts and hats. I believe that Peter Toft had over 20
horses entered and all the riders, crew, support, etc wore the Toft
blue jerseys and hats.

For those that don't know the Tom Quilty Cup is to Australia what the
Tevis Cup is to the US endurance riders. In many ways the pre ride
experience is very similar to Tevis. The base camp, checking in,
formal ride meetings, spectators watching the vet in process, etc all
reminded me very much of Tevis. But there are many differences.
For one thing the Quilty Cup moves every year. This year it was held
in the state of Queensland. Next year it will be held on a
completely different trail and in a different state. This year,
there were actually vet checks that were NOT held at base camp. Now,
this was not a big deal to us as AERC riders but this really was a
big deal to the Australian riders. I guess it is very unusual to
have an away vet check. In fact, ride management apologized that
they could not route the course back to camp for the first two vet
checks. On Thursday, ride management gave a formal walk through at
the away vet check so everyone was comfortable with the set up. We
just couldn't figure out what the big deal was to have a vet check
away from base camp as we are so used to away checks at AERC rides.
Think of all the point to point rides or big loop rides that never
come back to base camp at all or only at the finish.

One of the biggest differences is that all Australian horses have to
carry log books to every ride. A log book is a complete ride history
of that particular horse's endurance career. In essence, it is a
book of ride cards. In Australia, a log book is a very big deal.
Not only is it necessary to enter a ride but for many owners it is
source of pride. It was very common for riders/owners to want to
show us their horse's log book. We were told that some horses had
even two or three books because they had done so many rides that they
had filled their original log book. It is definitely one of the most
important documents when it comes to buying or selling endurance
horses. So what goes into a log book at rides (grades/scores from
rides, withdrawls or vet outs, etc.) becomes a very big deal.

Trying to keep track of a log book during the ride could also be a
really big deal. Riders do not carry their log books but leave them
with ride management and pick them up when they come into a vet check
and give them back when they leave. Can you imagine how organized
ride management has to be to keep track of 200 log books during a 100
mile endurance ride!! To me, the log book thing would have really
been stressful if it hadn't been for the "strappers". In Australia,
your crew person is called a strapper. I don't think anybody rides
without strappers. In fact, this ride would have been very difficult
to ride without crew just because you had to collect your log book
when you got to the vet check and turn your log book in when you
leave the vet check. From what I could gather there are not many
rides you do without strappers. For my particular experience, I was
expected to turn over my horse completely to my "strappers" the
moment I got into the vet check. This was really, really, hard to do
because even when I ride with crew I am right there to participate
and give feedback to my crew. At this ride, I was expected to just
walk away and let others unsaddle, cool, vet, feed, water, and
resaddle my horse. I wasn't very good turning over the horse
completely to the strappers and probably just got in the way. I
tried, but giving up complete control and responsibility of the horse
was just too foreign to the way I normally ride.

The trail itself was absolutely beautiful and was one of the most
well marked courses I have ever ridden. The ride management flagged
every possible hazard that was on the trail. Even a log that stuck
out a little on a one lane dirt road was marked with caution tape.
The course was on nice footing and was either up or down with very
little flat. I don't think the longest up or down hill I rode was
more than a mile in length. They told up to expect hot, humid
conditions but I didn't feel that the weather was extreme. But, I
was coming from summer conditions in So Cal and Queensland was coming
out of one of their coldest winters. Many of the horses were not
prepared for the heat. I pulled my horse at about the 60 mile mark.
It wasn't his day and by the third vet check I knew that this horse
had had enough and there was no reason to continue on. I was riding
one of Jay Randle's horses. She was kind enough to give me Ricky, a
16 year old bay gelding, who was very experienced and had taken many
of her clients through 80K and 160k rides. Ricky was given a
withdrawl which is equivalent to our RO. The horse must pass a final
vet check and be deemed to fit to continue for this to be marked in
his log book. In my case, because of logistics and my ignorance of
the system poor Ricky had to be vetted through three different
times: First for the vet check, then for the exit check, and then a
third time because I was two minutes late for the first exit check.
Technically, I had started the next phase so the horse had to pass a
third vet eheck.

So I went from Quilty rider to Quilty strapper. Charisse was still
on course riding a young mare named Quartz. Cherry and I joined
forces to help Charisse. All in all what a great experience. It was
so interesting to be able to watch how all the other "teams" crewed.
I was in charge of getting Quartz's log book. Cherry had become an
old pro at this as she had been "strapping" all day so she showed me
the ropes. Crewing Australian style….. basically you hang out with
other strappers until ride management called for us. Then you run
down to meet your rider and the real fun begins. I have to say it
was really funny to listen to ride management in their formal
Australian accents on loud speakers announcing "strappers for rider
number 130 meet your rider". This announcement meant your rider had
passed the last check point 3k before the vet check and you better
get down to the vet area to get their log book, meet your rider, and
get "strapping". This went on all day and through the night.

One of the luckiest things about withdrawing early was that I did not
have to ride in the most horrendous thunder and lightening storm I
have ever experienced. It was so bad that the ride was suspended
for at least 1.5 hours. Vetting stopped, the electricity was turned
off at the ride site, the ride management tents were lowered and
battened down. Cherry and I sat in the rental car for over an hour
while this storm raged. The rain came down in sheets and lightening
was flashing in all directions. When it was over, there were puddles
that were almost up to our shins. We couldn't believe that riders
were out in this in the dark. In fact, our rider, Charisse, was out
in the middle of her 5th leg while this storm raged. At this point,
we really didn't know if they would just end the ride for safety
purposes. But the Aussies are tough and there was no question that
the ride would continue. Charisse came in completely drenched but
both she and the horse looked great and were ready to head out on the
last loop. She will have to tell this part of the story because her
experience was just so unbelievable I could never give it justice in
my account.

Charisse finished the ride in great spirits and really worked hard to
earn her Quilty buckle. This was a real endurance experience! All
in all, three out of the five American riders earned their buckles.
This was a much better completion rate than the overall ride which
was well below 50%.

Even though I didn't finish the ride, my overall Australian endurance
experience was great and really interesting! The Australian riders
were fun, helpful, and friendly. I met some wonderful people and I
hope those friendships will last a lifetime. Oh, by the way, did I
mention they breed really nice horses! Jane's (who we stayed with in
Yamba) horses did extremely well. Leila was the first junior and in
the overall Top 10 on one of Jane's horses. This horse earned BC and
was third for the Quilty equivalent of the Hagen Cup. Another one of
Jane's horses came in 3rd. There are lots of similarities to our
endurance riding here but there are also many, many differences.
Some of these diffrences were good and some of them not so good. I
learned a lot by riding in a different system and I definitely came
back to the US with a new appreciation of how we do endurance here.

KIM

Here's a follow up on Kim's great post.
I will fill in the blanks.

What an epic adventure. Memories of the Quilty will forever be etched
in my brain and the memories will remain for a lifetime. Not only was
it the legendary Quilty, but the people I met and the wealth of
knowledge that I gained make it one of the most incredible experiences
of my life.

The Quilty is Australia's equivalent to our Tevis. The main difference
is that although the Quilty at one time was run on the same course,
for many years it has become a roving ride, traveling from state to
state yearly. This does not however diminish its difficulty.

Kim and I were fortunate to ride borrowed horses, created by an
exchange that we did earlier in the year. Cherry came along as our
crew or as the Australian's like to affectionately call them "strappers".
Without going into all of the details, let's just say it was great
experience.

There were many similaries in the "strapping" but there were
definitely differences in the strategy of riding a mountainous course.
In spite of those differences I must say that the winner's horse
looked fantastic at the finish and the next day.
Kim and I however were bringing up the rear and decided that we would
ride the way we ride, pacing at a conservative trot and jog. Most of
the competitors that we rode with, rode differently than us and took
the uphills faster and the down hills at a slower pace. We found it
humorous as the day progressed that we passed and were passed by the
same people all day.

The race started out a bit rough for me. My mare decided that I wasn't
letting her go fast enough and at every turn made an attempt to bolt
and unfortunately for Kim, tired to run her horse off of the trail. As
if she didn't have enough on her hands with her own horse Kim helped
me to pace my mare by running interference. It became a sheer test of
wills for the first 20 miles, at which time she gave in and began to
listen to me.

The first vet check was an out check that the Aussies are not used to
at all. They mainly have their checks back at base camp holding with
an FEI style set up.
The vet check was at the top of a horrendous climb. The first time Kim
and I dismounted well before necessary and I was particularly winded
trying to keep up with my horse who thought she needed to trot up and
pull me along the way.
On the second time around, we had caught on and both of us stayed
mounted until the last turn.

Starting onto the third leg, it was starting to warm up. Thankfully
Kim and I both had water bottle holders on out saddles, but most
people did not carry water with them and relied on the Race to provide
it. When we did get to the stops that provided water we found that
they were almost out and as the race progressed, I discovered three
stops that had run out completely.

Kim being the horsewoman that she, is elected to withdrawal at the end
of the third leg, about 100km or 62miles. Her horse was not in a place
that she felt she should go on.

I continued solo, finishing the 4th leg without a hitch.
The 5th leg was supposed to get some rain so I grabbed a light
windbreaker and headed off into the dark. The windbreaker proved
useless when I really needed it.

Although the markers were fantastic when it was light, I found them
difficult to follow at night. The markers are colored arrows with
numbers on cardboard. For the evening they had a spot of reflective
tape on the cardboard, so as long as you kept looking around with your
light you could catch a glimpse of it and know that you were on the
right track. At times it was not very apparent, but I didn't get lost
and was grateful for that.

It started to rain lightly and there was a fair amount of thunder and
lightening in the distance. I caught up with a group of riders and was
happy to not be out there solo. When we hit the top of the mountain
there was a checkpoint to give your number. At that point, the
lightening and thunder hit the ground 10-15 ft from where I was standing.

The lightening was quiet until it hit, then it was incredibly loud and
shook the earth. My little mare was courageous and tried to maintain
composure, but found herself shaking and wanting to bolt.

Everyone jumped off and ran to cover beside two trucks that were
there. I followed like a sheep and did the same. But then I realized
that I was next to metal and had a flash that this was a bad idea.
Just then I saw Alywn Torrenbeek trotting down the road. He is a
legendary endurance rider, in his 70's and the one person I would want
to be with in this situation.
So instead of trying to mount my horse, I grabbed her reins and
started to jog to catch up. Maybe a half a mile or so later I caught
up and was able to mount.
There is a moment with every horse when they decide to give in to
you. It was at the moment that I decided to jog away from the top of
the mountain that my mare looked at me and understood that I was her
lead mare. She completely gave into me and it was truly a magically
moment. Lightening illuminating the sky as bright as one can imagine,
water running in sheets down the road, becoming knee deep in a flash,
riding the legendary Quilty with a horse at my side, life couldn't be
better.

We came into basecamp and were told that the ride was suspended for
1.5 hrs. At which time I changed into some dry clothes, thankfully Kim
had her polar fleece breeches that she loaned to me and I was warm as
toast.

The ride resumed. I was allowed to vet thru, then start my 30 mins.
hold. So at 92 miles I had to wait 2 hrs before finishing the last 8
miles.

There was nothing that was going to stop me at that point. I figured
if I had to walk the rest I would, but thankfully my mare looked great
and felt strong. She was only getting better all day.
We finished with a ride time of 18:06 and with just a fraction under 5
hours of holds and ride suspensions, it made for a long day.

I was happy to finish and estatic about being in Australia at the Quilty,

We met some incredible people during our short visit, Alwyn Torrenbeek
who gave me an incredible riding lesson and was just a pleasure to
meet, Trevor Copland who fed me and shared his insightful thoughts and
ideas, Dave-o and Jane for their generous hospitality, Clive and John
for their comradeship. Thank you to Jay Randle and her entire
Splendacrest team for the horses, the camp and the hardworking
strappers. And a special thanks to Diane who became my horses biggest
supporter. Additional thanks to Cherry for strapping and for her words
to keep me centered and to Kim for everything!

We were joined at the Quilty by some other Americans. Christoph
Schork, who won it last year and his partner Dian. Unfortunately, luck
was not with him this year and he vetted out at the 2nd leg. Also
Ernie and Dean from Washington State both of whom completed.

I hope to return, sooner than later… G'day.

Charisse