Happy Easter!
This newsletter is going out a few days earlier than usual as I am just about to board a flight to Europe. The FEI is holding an Endurance Forum in Paris next weekend but the main reason for the trip, the FEI General Assembly in Estoril near Lisbon in Portugal, will take place just after Easter. EFA President Geoff Sinclair will join me there. I will publish separate reports on these two meetings towards the end of April. Staff ChangesA couple of weeks ago, we acquired a student "intern" from France. Marine Bisson will spend six months at the EFA National Office as part of her international Master degree program, which she is undertaking at La Rochelle (FRA) and Regensburg (GER) universities. Welcome, Marine! Unfortunately, Niki Chapman, who joined the National Office when it moved to Sydney in 2003, will be leaving us at the end of June. Niki had already cut her office week back to three days but needs more time to attend to her own business and her riding career. Our High Performance Manager Brett Mace will be reviewing the work that Niki and Mandy have been doing in the HP area. Following this review, we will be placing a position description with an advertisement on our web. Second edition of ethos is out: A magazine produced by the EFA for EFA OfficialsWith the creation of ethos, the magazine for Officials, our National Education department is giving EFA Officials the opportunity to exchange information about the latest rule changes, officiating trends and ideas about future developments in Australian Officiating standards. Most often Officials themselves are the greatest source of information. In this sense ethos plays a vital role to promote the flow of information between Officials. We encourage all Officials to actively participate in the production of the magazine and to provide reports and other topical information for discussion and awareness by others. Equestrian on TVI don't know how many of you look at our Equestrian on TV web page. If you want more equestrian content, you need to help us by contacting TV stations and making them aware of your interest. You need to find the contact details on the web. In the case of Foxtel, you can call them on 131 999 or visit their online feedback site: www.foxtel.com.au/CustomerService.htm The Environment and our SportWe have had a few responses to our note about the possible impact of global warming on the sport . Restrictions on water usage in particular and the loss of access to riding trails seem to be areas of concern. Horse SA's Julie Fiedler is the project manager for the new initiative HorseLandWater: Peri-Urban Project (press release). The project will target the urban fringe around five major population centres and build a knowledge base with support groups in each of the areas to tackle the issue of the impact of horses on the environment around the urban fringe. You can download a newsletter or visit www.horseslandwater.com. Dressage goes "non-representational"State Branch Dressage Committees have elected a new EFA National Dressage Committee from a list of nominations from all around Australia. Eleven members stood for the five positions available. The new Committee consists of Caroline Coleby (from Victoria), Cathie Drury-Klein (from NSW), Susie Hoevenaars (from Victoria), Lesley Sullivan (from northern NSW but a Qld. member) and Kim Thomas (from WA). I mention the "States of Origin" simply because many of you might be interested in this information. National Committee Members are, however, bound to act in the interests of the sport as a whole. At or before the first meeting, Committee Members including the Riders' Representative Brett Parbery will elect a new Chair from among themselves. Former Chair Deborah MacNicol will attend the first meeting and "hand over the reins" after over ten years' service. Thank you for all your work, Debbie, and great success to the new Committee. 2007 FEI World Cup Finals - Las VegasIt is sad news that Matthew Dowsley and Claudia Harper's Cinderella will now not be able to attend the Dressage Final. Cinderella was diagnosed last week with another tumour under her lower right eyelid. The good news is that the tumour, which is growing rapidly, has now been tested and appears to be benign. Veterinarians have advised rider Matthew Dowsley and Cinderella's owner Claudia Harper against going to the FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Las Vegas, to avoid further stress and to start treatment immediately. Matthew will seek additional specialist advice this week. It is likely that surgery will take place within the next few days. Matthew, owner Claudia Harper and their support crew are extremely disappointed about not being able to participate in the Final but the welfare of the horse is uppermost in their mind. I am sure all of you wish Cinderella a speedy recovery. On the Jumping side, Gavin Chester and his horse Warlord II are on the way to Las Vegas. They will be joined by Edwina Alexander and Pialotta who qualified last weekend through the Western European League at s'Hertogenbosch. We wish Edwina and Gavin great success at the Finals. Trans-TasmanA team consisting of Rebecca Allen (Vic.) with Koyuna Ted, Paula Hamood (Qld.) with N V Capone, Paul Athanasoff (NSW) with Wirragulla Nicklaus and David Robertson (NSW) with Sharpe Seal won the Trans-Tasman Trophy weekend before last at the New Zealand Horse of the Year Show at Hawkes Bay. Paul and Rebecca, who recently attended national squad clinics with Gilbert Böckmann, did particularly well. Indian Dressage InvitationalWe are pleased to announce the riders who will be competing as a team at the 2007 Dressage International, which is being held 4-8 April in New Delhi, India. The riders are Verity-May Spargo (NSW), Sharon Carroll (NSW) and Neitah Norman (Qld.). The Chef d’Equipe will be Shannon Tonkin (NSW), who was part of the team that competed at this event in 2006. We wish the team the best of luck for the event. Regional Olympic Dressage Team QualifierYou may know that in conjunction with the 2007 Australian Dressage Championships at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre, we will be staging a CDIO 2*, from which the best two teams will gain an entry for their nations at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Following our invitations to members of Olympic Groups F and G last month, we have received the following expressions of interest: Japan with 4 - 6 horses, South Korea with 3 horses and New Zealand with 4 horses. We believe no other nations in these groups are in a position to field a team. The Qualifier will be the first event since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and, I believe, only the third event ever, at which horses from the Northern Hemisphere participate in Equestrian competition in Australia. The other event was the 1986 World Championships in Gawler, SA. General High Performance MattersHP Manager Brett Mace has just returned from a trip to Hong Kong. Brett and AOC Assistant Chef de Mission for the Beijing Games, Russ Withers (the name may ring a bell) had meetings with officials from BOCOG and the Hong Kong Equestrian Company, which has been established to plan and manage the Equestrian competitions in Hong Kong. The two also made site visits to inspect progress with the construction of facilities. BOCOG, the Equestrian Company and the HKG Jockey Club will make a formal presentation at the forthcoming FEI General Assembly, where the 2008 Olympic Regulations will also be signed off. We are pleased to announce that the Australian Sports Commission will provide funds for a portable equine digital radiography and ultrasound imaging systems. The grant is in excess of $100,000 and will enable regular "instant" monitoring of our elite horses and early diagnosis of potentially very damaging injuries (I hope I got this right!!!). We thank the ASC very much for this opportunity to improve our systems in the science/veterinary area. Coming EventsNext weekend, we have the Victorian Dressage Festival (29 March - 01 April), which includes a CDI-W and an FEI Dressage Judges' Clinic. The Wandin CIC takes place the same weekend, followed by a National Young Dressage Horse Judges' Clinic at the Oakwood Riding School, Clyde North, on 02 April and the EFA National Young Rider Dressage Championships at Werribee 10-12 April. There is FEI World Cup Jumping at the Sydney Royal Easter Show on 15 April, two CIC One-Day Events 21-22 April: at Berrima (NSW) and Camperdown (Vic.), and I should mention the "boutique" Jumping event "The Copabella Classic" at St. Ives Showgrounds, also on that weekend. You can search for more events right across the country on our web calendar. Helmet Standards AS/NZS 3838 vs EN 1384All members should now be aware that EFA rules require riders to wear approved safety helmets in certain circumstances. Helmets certified as complying with standards AS/NZS 3838 (Australia/New Zealand), EN 1384 (Europe) and ASTN F1163 (USA) are allowed. Helmet requirements and testing procedures differ for the three standards mentioned. That does not mean that one helmet is better than the other. There are, however, differences in the systems of follow-up and review that would support the view that riding with helmets certified to AS/NZ 3838 are likely to provide a higher level of protection than those claiming conformance to EN 1384. Reminder: New EFA Horse Identification DocumentsThe 'old' horse Identification Records issued in 2005 or earlier all expired at the end of last year. These documents were valid for lower-level FEI events in Australia. They were replaced in July 2005 with an FEI-approved EFA National Identification Document that is valid for all levels of FEI events in Australia. Like the FEI Horse Passport, the EFA National Horse ID needs to be renewed every four years. If you still have the "old" record for your horse and want to compete in FEI competition this year, please apply for the new document as soon as possible. Please allow up to two weeks to complete the document. It cannot be processed overnight. Please note that "FEI events" are named CDI, CDI-W, CCI, CIC, CIC-W, CSI, CSI-W, CAI, CVI, etc. The requirement does not, for example, apply to riders in FEI Dressage tests at an "ordinary" national competition. Supporters and SponsorsI cannot close without thanking our funding agencies, sponsors and supporters. In particular, we would like to mention
Wishing you a happy Easter! And if you are going away, drive carefully! Franz Venhaus | ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
Contact Us:
If you have any comments about this newsletter or our website, or want to contribute, you can email us. The Equestrian Federation of Australia 's postal address is PO Box 673, SYDNEY MARKETS, NSW, 2129 Tel: +61 2 8762 7777 , Fax: +61 2 9763 2466 , Email: info@efanational.com.
If a friend or colleague has forwarded to you this edition of our newsletter you can subscribe online.
The Equestrian Federation of Australia recognises that privacy is important and that individuals have a right to control their personal information. If you send us an email message we will record your contact details. This information will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it. We will not use your email for any other purpose and will not disclose it without your consent. When users choose to join a mailing list their details are added to that specific mailing list and used for the stated purpose of that list only. The Equestrian Federation of Australia members are automatically subscribed to our newsletter when they initially join The Equestrian Federation of Australia or The Equestrian Federation of Australia receives their email address.
If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter please unsubscribe.
Copyright 2006, The Equestrian Federation of Australia. This material is protected by copyright. The owners of the copyright in this material reserve all rights. Users must not copy, reproduce, frame, transmit, link to or otherwise use any of the material, including audio and video excerpts, without the prior written permission of The Equestrian Federation of Australia.