Glynn horse article june-july
6/15/07
9:43 PM
Loskop
Page 1
SA Tri-nations
ENDURANCE RIDE
GLYNN CATTON
Peter Chantler - the winner of 160 km.
On the 5th May 2007, South Africa
competed against teams from Namibia
an d B o tswa na in a n F EI a pp ro ved
en du ra n ce r id in g co mpe ti ti on at a
lo cat io n cl ose to Lo sko p Dam,
Mpumalanga. There were two distances
that were competed in terms of the
FEI Tri-Nations - a 120 and a 160 km
event. The 160 km event started at
00:01 on Friday night (Saturday morning)
and the 120 km event started at 03:00
on Sa tu rd a y mo rn in g. A pa n el of
veterinarians were available to vet all the
horses before they started as well as to
conduct the vetting during the course of
the event and again at the end. The
President of the Veterinary Commission
was Henk Basson and the FEI veterinary
delegate Gerhard van der Westhuizen.
The event was considered one of the
more difficult endurance events that are
competed in Southern Africa and there
were several areas in the course which
p re sen te d a re al ch al le ng e - wi th
t he o rga n iser s re co mme n di ng th at
individuals got off their horses and
negotiate the area on foot together with
their horse. The 160 km race was won
by Peter Chantler (S.A.) who completed
the 160 km in a total time of 9 hours 29
minutes and 7 seconds at an average
speed for the whole race of 16.87 km an
hour. The second person was Naomi
Muller (S.A.) who completed the ride in
9 hours 29 minutes and 42 seconds at
a mea n sp e ed of 16, 85 km. It i s
interesting that 10 of the competitors in
the 160 km fell out during the race
because of lameness of their horses.
This was indeed a difficult event and all
credit should be given to the Veterinary
Commission who controlled the health of
the horses competing.
In the 120 km there were two groups th e S tan da rd Gro up a nd the Jun ior
Group. The winner of the Standard 120
km event was Annelie Jordaan (S.A.) who
completed th e even t in 6 hours 50
minutes at an average speed of 17,56
km per hour with the second person
Frans Saubek (S.A.) who completed it in
6 hours 57 minutes and 11 second at an
average speed of 17,26 km per hour.
The 120 km Junior race was won by
Nicola Coetzee (S.A.) in 6 hours 54
minutes and 37 seconds at an average
speed of 17,37 km per hour and second
wa s C ha nt é Nel l ( Na mib ia ) wh o
completed the course in 6 hours 57
minutes and 3 seconds at an average
speed of 17,26 km per hour.
A family competing where the rider has just returned from a vet check and is now
feeding his horse and making some adjustments much to his family's interest.
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Two members of
the Namibian team
and two South
Africans waiting at
the starting gate to
take off on the next
leg of the
competition. All
times are strictly
controlled.
young woman received from her junior
team, the Namibians deserve special
merit for their team co-operation and
organisation. The Namibians had arrived
at the venue approximately a week in
advance to ensure that they could go
through the whole course and be fully
conversant with it. This highlights the
financial investment that the Namibians
are willing to make to compete in this
annual competition which, although
keenly competed, is conducted in a very
congenial manner.
The time keepers at the entrance gates where horses first register when they return
from a leg of the competition with horses being groomed in the background.
The South Arican Senior team won the
Senior competition and the Namibian
Junior Team won the Junior Tri-nations.
Nicola Coetzee - the winner of 120 km
Junior competition.
xx
An interesting insight during this event
was the achievement of Chanté Nell who
achieved second in the FEI 120 km
Junior group and also won the accolade
of Best Conditioned Junior Horse on
June/July ’07
completion of the race in this category.
C ha nt é Ne ll h a s l imit ed visio n
(approximately 20%) and needed to be
supported by the other members of the
Namibian Junior Team during the first
part of the ride - at night, when her
limited vision was a significant disability.
When one considers the difficulty of this
event and the fantastic support that this
The whole event was extremely well
organised by the local endurance club Loskop vall ei wh o de serve a ll me rit
fo r t he ir f a nt asti c e ff or ts. A ll t ha t
participated in the ride could only praise
the organisers and friendly atmosphere
which existed throughout this ride.
The last two horses that completed the
ride with 12 seconds left before cut-off
time on Saturday afternoon at 17:08,
be lo n ged to Mr R ob e rt Lo rd , th e
President of ERASA. Their finish was
met with great support by all onlookers.
www.vetmed.co.za