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Heraldic: One Determined Horse Part I - John Crandell
Heraldic: One Determined Horse Part II (The Return) - John Crandell
2011 PanAmericano
U.S. Endurance Team Takes Home Three Medals at 2011 Pan American Endurance Championships
USEF.org
Release: October 24 2011
Author: The USEF Endurance Department
The U.S. Endurance Team collected a historic number of medals at the 2011 Pan American Endurance Championships in Santo Domingo, Chile. Taking the Team Silver medal in a combined time of 19:05:19 was John Crandall III with Heraldic, Valerie Kanavy and Spectacular Gold and Deborah Reich and Pandor. Meg Sleeper and Syrocco Cadence were eliminated at the mandatory recheck at vet gate three. The team finished just one minute and 47 seconds behind the Gold medal team from Uruguay. The home team of Chile took the Team Bronze.
The veteran pair of Crandall and Heraldic completed the 120km course in 6:03:38 to win the Individual Silver medal. Finishing in 6:05:47, Kanavy and Spectacular Gold took the Individual Bronze. Riding for Uruguay, Bernardo Algorta won the Individual Gold in 5:59:27. Reich and Pandor finished in 6:55:54 to place tenth. Riding as an individual Cheryl Van Deusen and Moro Amado finished fifteenth.
The U.S. team led by Chef d’Equipe Emmett Ross, set a blazing pace in the first three loops and were the team to catch most of the day. With Sleeper’s elimination at vet gate three the riders implemented a different strategy for the fourth and fifth loops. This is the most medals the U.S. has collected at an international Endurance competition.
“We are very happy with the two Silver medals and one Bronze,” said Ross. “Our riders had a fabulous go at it, we are proud of what we did and more importantly how we did it.”
Local horse a Pan Am Games hero
Wins silver medal against world-class competitors; ends U.S. slump By TINA REED, Staff WriterPublished 11/16/11 HometownAnnapolis.com - Read Full Story
photo by Paul W. Gillespie — The Capital West River’s John Crandell III and his horse Heraldic won the silver medal in a nearly 75-mile endurance race this fall at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Man and horse were honored by the Maryland Department of Agriculture Tuesday.
Call it the marathon of horse racing.
Anne Arundel County Arabian gelding Heraldic and his trainer and rider John Crandell III were honored yesterday by state officials after winning an individual and a team silver medal in a nearly 75-mile endurance race at the Pan Am Games in Chile last month.
The Pan Am Games are one of the largest international sporting events outside the Olympics.
In 2006, Heraldic became the only horse to ever win the Triple Crown of endurance riding. Standing just more than 15 hands tall, the bay has a competitive personality, Crandell said.
He's aloof. Focused.
"He doesn't particularly care about being anyone's pet," Crandell said. "He wants to get down to business."
Back in 2008, Heraldic injured his stifle - the equivalent of the human knee - to the point that trainers weren't sure he'd even live, let alone compete again.
"It was a huge retraining," he said. "But we know he's a one-in-a-million superathlete. I've been around thousands of horses and never had one this athletically consistent."
The Crandell family is known for its marine construction firm, E.A. and J.O. Crandell Inc. in Annapolis, and operates the Long Run Farms Stable in West River. John Crandell Jr. grew up riding horses, but it wasn't until the 1970s that the family began to seriously breed and train them, his son said.
In a statement, Erin Pittman, vice chairwoman of the Maryland Horse Industry Board, called Heraldic "a world-class athlete who has (overcome) injuries that would have retired most other horse."
The Maryland Horse Industry Board presented its "Touch of Class" Award to Crandell and the Triple Crown Arabian. Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a proclamation declaring yesterday "Heraldic and Crandell Family Day."
Crandell said the endurance races, which cover from 50 to 100 miles, are entirely different than much shorter events. The Pan Am Games race was across rough, mountainous terrain, he said.
"Even though it's a race, it's not the least bit reckless," he said. Since only the rider knows the course and how long the course is, he has to pace himself and his mount appropriately.
Endurance racing of horses really allows humans to learn better ways to manage horses and keep them healthy, Crandell said. "It's a bonus for me that it happens to be fun and exciting as well," he said.
Crandell said he'd paced Heraldic to hang back with other horses on the U.S. team. But in the final 7 miles, the horse and rider picked up the pace against a team from Uruguay.
The teams were neck and neck.
With only a mile to go, Heraldic tripped while running about 35 miles per hour. "All of a sudden, there's no horse beneath me," Crandell said. "I landed on my feet running."
It knocked the wind out of the horse and skinned Crandell's knee. But both horse and rider were otherwise uninjured, Crandell said. Crandell climbed back on Heraldic's back and the two finished the race.
Coming in just about four minutes behind the first-place finisher, they took the silver medal. That's an incredibly close finish for a 75-mile race, Crandell said.
The U.S. team took the silver medal as well. Heraldic will compete next for the U.S. team in the World Endurance Championship in England in 2012, which will be held simultaneously with the Olympics.
"It's a tremendously big deal. The United States is in a decade-long slump after being at the top for years," Crandell said. "It was exciting to see America back in the game and in a big way."
PAN-AMERICAN ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 - Santo Domingo, Chile
FEI Press ReleasePAN-AMERICAN ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 - Santo Domingo, Chile
24 Oct 2011
DOUBLE-GOLD FOR URUGUAY AND CHILE AT PAN-AMERICAN ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS by Louise Parkes
Endurance riders from Uruguay claimed Team and Individual gold in the Senior division, while the host nation of Chile dominated the Young Riders classes at the 2011 Pan-American Endurance Championships staged in Santo Domingo (CHI) last weekend. Bernardo Algorta registered an impressive average speed of 20 kilometres an hour with his horse, Cacique, to take the Senior title for Uruguay, while Chile's Sebastian Taverne and Eclipse covered the challenging course at an average of 19.73 kmh to secure the Young Rider honours.
Attention to detail in the preparation of the venue and facilities in Santo Domingo drew high praise for the Organising Committee from competitors, officials, supporters and spectators alike. But the highest accolade of all was heaped on by Chile's President, Sebastian Pinera, who attended the event and said that it provided "a great boost to Chile and to South America in general".
ENTHUSIASTS
The history of Endurance in Chile dates back to a visit by a group of enthusiasts to the FEI World Championships at Fort Riley in Kansas, USA back in 1996. On returning home they introduced the discipline to their native country, and began to organise races over distances of between 40 and 80 kilometres. Chilean competitors who rose to prominence during the early years included Marcial Taverne, Antonio Llompart, Alejandro Donoso, Marcelo Cortes and Ignacio Urenda.
With its wide variety of weather and topography stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the imposing Andes mountains which is home to the Condor - the massive and majestic bird that is the national symbol of Chile - this country provides an extraordinary environment for this ever-expanding sport. Every month, over 200 riders assemble at a new venue not only to compete, but also to appreciate the beauty of the natural world that surrounds them, and to share that experience with their horses.
The 2011 Pan-American Endurance Championships, organised by the Chilean Association of Equestrian Endurance, took place at the 9,000 hectare resort of Brisas de Santo Domingo, located in the centre of the country and on the shores of the Pacific. The circuit crossed both flat terrain and some mountainous areas, beginning by the sea and then climbing to a plateau filled with lakes and a great variety of flora and fauna including black-necked swans, foxes and hares and exotic trees like the Quillay and Peumo. The course, covering a distance of 120kms, was divided into five loops - the first 30kms long, the second 25km, the third 30km, the fourth 20km and then a fifth and final loop of 15km, and it demanded great skill on the part of the riders in their efforts to ensure their horses finished in good shape.
COMPLETION RATES
They showed exactly that when there was a 63% completion rate in the Senior competition and 58% in the Young Rider section in which, however, the team from Chile were the only finishers when taking gold. Sebastian Taverne (Eclipse), Benjamin Boetsch (Khadijah) and Pablo Llompart (Ankar Samuray) recorded a combined riding time of 7:09:38, and Taverne's average speed of 19.73 khm confirmed him as Individual Young Rider Champion ahead of Colombia's Cristina Mutis (Tiawa) whose average speed was 19.41 kmh. Boetsch (Khadijah) took Individual bronze with an average speed of 18.87 khm, and a total of 14 horse-and-rider partnerships from five nations - Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay - competed.
Uruguay's Bernardo Algorta enjoyed an even bigger celebration when his horse, Cacique, was presented with the Best Condition Award - no mean feat having completed his race with a sensational riding time of just 5 hours, 59 minutes and 27 seconds and that 20 kmh average speed for the Senior Individual title. But Senior silver medallist, John Crandell (Heraldic) from the USA was close behind when clocking 6:03:38 with an average speed of 19.8 kmh, and his team-mate, the veteran Valerie Kanavy (Spectacular Gold) took the bronze when only fractionally further behind with an average speed of 19.7 kmh.
It was a close-fought battle for the Senior Team title, with the American side of Crandell, Kanavy and Debora Reich (Pandor) having to settle for silver when Uruguay's Sofia Castells (Canuto Molles), Paula Fort (Campanina) and Jorge Martinez (Nagfour) finished almost two minutes faster. Chile's Lukas Buckel (Konsterrus), Alejandro Kil (Al Hatal El Shammaat) and Ana Maria Novoa (Pistrat) took bronze.
Results:
Senior Teams: GOLD - Uruguay 7:03:32: Canuto Molles (Sofia Castells), Campanina (Paula Fort), Nagfour (Jorge Martinez); SILVER - USA 7:05:19 - Heraldic (John Crandell), Spectacular Gold (Valerie Kanavy), Pandor (Debora Reich) ; BRONZE - Chile 9:42:49 - Konsterrus (Lukas Buckel), Al Hatal El Shamaat (Alejandro Kiss), Pistrat (Ana Maria Novoa) .
Senior Individuals: GOLD - Cacique (Bernardo Algorta) Uruguay 20 kmh; SILVER - Heraldic (John Crandell) USA 19.8 kmh; BRONZE - Spectacular Road (Valerie Kanavy) 19.7 kmh.
Young Rider Teams: GOLD - Chile 7:09:38 - Eclipse (Sebastian Taverne), Khadijah (Benjamin Boetsch), Ankar Samuray (Pablo Llompart).
Young Rider Individuals: GOLD - Eclipse (Sebastian Taverne) CHI 19.73 kmh; SILVER - Tiawa (Cristina Mutis) COL 19.41; BRONZE - Khadijah (Benjamin Boetsch) 18.87.
For further information on the 2011 Pan-American Endurance Championships in Santo Domingo, Chile visit website www.panamendurance2011.cl
2011 PanAmericano
24 October 2011Uruguay's Bernardo Algorta riding Cacique won the 2011 Pan American Championship for the Gold Medal on Friday 21 October 2011 in a riding time of 5:59.27 for the 120 km. USA's John Crandell, riding Heraldic, won Silver, finishing 4 minutes behind Algorta. Heraldic was in the lead when he fell 1 mile from the finish line - "it winded me for a bit, but when I got up I was able to shake it off" in Heraldic's own words - and went on to finish in 6:03.38. Valerie Kanavy and Spectacular Gold finished third for the Bronze medal, 2 minutes behind Crandell.
Uruguay won Team Gold (Sofia Castells on Canuto Molles, Paula Fort on Campanina, Jorge Martinez on Nagfour), USA won Team Silver (John Crandell on Heraldic, Valerie Kanavy on Spectacular Gold, Deborah Reich on Pandor), and Chile on Team Bronze (Lukas Buckel on Konsterrus, Alejandro Kiss on Al Hatal El Shamaat, Ana Maria Novoa on Pistrat).
In the Young Rider division, Chile's Sebastian Taverne on Eclipse won Gold in a riding time of 6:04.58 for the 120 km. Colombia's Cristina Mutis riding Tiawa finished 2nd for the Silver medal 6 minutes later, and CHile's Benjamin Boetsch riding Khadijah finished in 6:21.34 for the Bronze. Chile won Team Gold (Sebastian Taverne on Eclipse, Benjamin Boetsch on Khadijah, Pablo Llompart on Ankar Samuray) and was the only Young Rider team to finish.
Photos by Hans Buckel
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Foreign Teams Have Arrived for Pan Am Championship
16 October 2011by Hans Buckel
Everything is almost ready in Santo Domingo Chile .All the foreign teams have arrived and some of the local team Chile were arriving today .The organization has done a great job to look for all the details to have a great event.Usa ,uruguay and brasil have brougth very strong teams altough chile has the advantage to race at home.
The track will be very technical,with 2 loops very hilly and 3 loops very flat. Temperature and humidity won t be a problem the day of the race.
Enduro Ecuestre
Panamericanos de Endurance Chile 2011
Representatives of the spirit the best horses and riders of our continent and are getting ready for the upcoming 2011 Pan American Games.Every two years there Endurance Pan American Games, and the next date will mark the first time in Chile in 2011, during the month of October.
The Chilean Association of Equestrian Endurance, has been very excited to be able to make this great event and are already working in the organization of this event.
As this is an international championship, in which riders participate in categories of Adult and Young Riders, both Chileans and many other countries of America, must comply with current requirements of the FEI for this type of event.
In turn, the enduro from other parts of the world, may also participate in a competition test "Open" the day of the Pan. Also, the next day there will be other international races FEI, and other equestrian disciplines that will accompany the event.
Undoubtedly, this will be a great opportunity to develop endurance in the region, and incidentally, to position Chile as an interesting international headquarters, thanks to the diversity of landscape you have and the high level of their horses and riders.
For more information about qualifying events and everything related to Pan American 2011 Chile, contact Haydee Humeres, manager of the Chilean Association of Enduro enduroecuestre@gmail.comEsta e-mail address is being protected from spam bots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on the website www.enduroecuestre.cl
Horses and Riders Head to Chile for 2011 Pan American Endurance Championship
By USEF - ALL DISCIPLINE - Posted October 11, 2011Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation has named the following horse/rider combinations for the 2011 Pan American Endurance Championship being held in Santo Domingo, Chile, October 22, 2011.
The following horse/rider combinations will represent the U.S. at the Pan American Championship (listed in ranked order):
Name/Age/Hometown/Horse/Breed/Age/Sex/Owner
John Crandell III/49/West River, MD/Heraldic/Arabian/13/Gelding/John
Crandell JR
Meg Sleeper/43/Frenchtown, NJ/Syrocco Cadence/Arabian/8/Mare/Meg
Sleeper
Deborah Reich/51/Croton on Hudson,
NY/Pandor/Arabian/12/Gelding/Deborah Reich
Melody Blittersdorf/51/Jeffersonville,
VT/Synthetic/Arabian/11/Gelding/Melody Blittersdorf
Valerie Kanavy/65 /Fort Valley, VA/Spectacular
Gold/Arabian/9/Gelding/Valerie Kanavy
Cheryl Van Deusen/52/New Smyrna, FL/Moro Amado/Arabian/8/Gelding/Miguel Pavlovsky
Running over a 120km course, riders will race for both Team and Individual medals.
Two members of the Silver medal winning U.S. team from the 2009 Pan American Endurance Championship in Uruguay will once again represent the U.S., Kanavy and Van Deusen. Kanavy, who finished sixth individually in 2009 will ride her own Spectacular Gold, a 9-year-old Arabian gelding who has raced to top ten finishes both in the U.S. and abroad. Van Deusen will ride Moro Amado, owned by Argentinian endurance competitor Miguel Pavlovsky.
The U.S. will also be represented by two members of the U.S. team from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG), Reich and Sleeper. Reich, the only U.S. rider to complete the WEG course, will ride her new partner Pandor. The 12-year-old Arabian gelding has finished in the top 10 in all CEI outings in the last three years. Sleeper will ride her homebred mare, Syrocco Cadence, an eight-year-old Arabian. The pair most recently finished second at the Asheville CEI3* 160km.
Crandell and Heraldic, a 13-year-old Arabian gelding, are veteran partners having been the first pair in history to win the endurance "Triple Crown" crossing the finish line first at the Old Dominion 100, Tevis and the AERC Championship 100 in 2006. In 2010, the pair took two legs of the "Triple Crown" winning at the Old Dominion 100 and at Tevis. This will be Crandell's second time representing the U.S., having ridden on the U.S. team at the 2008 FEI World Endurance Championship in Malaysia.
Rounding out the U.S. team is Blittersdorf and Synthetic. Partners since 2003, Blittersdorf and Synthetic began competing in CEI events in 2008 and have consistently finished in the top 10.
2011 Pan American
The truth is that it takes only five days over the presidency of AChE and already has many challenges ahead. Most important: make Chile the first time in a Pan American Endurance. While optimism does not hide it, is happy to be part of this historic event in the equestrian sport.
By: Mitzi Galvez, ACHE
A lawyer by profession and a lover of horses. So Victor Rios, the flamboyant new president of the Chilean Association of Equestrian Endurance.
It is recognized again in the theme of endurance, but the experience gained lead a major law firm, Source Foundation and as Director of the Foundation have launched today Huidobro leading the guidelines of AChE, even more so when international commitments are banging on the door of our country. A few days after taking his office, talked to him about your expectations and what comes in the way of endurance horses.
- How do you view this appointment?
"I look like a big challenge to do fun things that we can enjoy this sport we love so much. And the truth is that I played a privileged position as the ACHE is already pretty neat, because the Enduro in Chile already has a high level of coverage, there are many participants, but at the same time, obviously, you can always go
improving various aspects, particularly those sporting aspects, I would say worldwide...
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Kingwood Township equestrian is ready to compete in Chile
Friday, September 16, 2011, 11:30 AM
By Hunterdon County Democrat
Meg Sleeper, a veterinarian from Kingwood Township, is at the top of her equestrian game.
She has been teetering between first and second in the nation, and was second in the world for a time as well. But international placements in endurance riding, where competitions are few and far between, tend to seesaw up and down.
Sleeper hopes to solidify her standing at the top of the pinnacle when she rides in the Pan American Games, Oct. 22, in Chile.
Sleeper competes in what could be considered the marathon of equestrian sports, endurance riding. It’s a long-distance horse race that covers up to 100 miles. In Chile the ride will be 75 miles and Sleeper says competitors will probably average 11 to 12 miles an hour to finish in six hours.
“It’s basically a canter the whole time,” she said, “over rolling terrain.” There are four or five veterinary checkpoints along the way to evaluate the condition of the horses. Conditioning is a key element of the discipline, and at a recent competition in North Carolina, Sleeper’s horse was awarded top-conditioned horse.
Cadie, Sleeper’s mount for the games, is an 8-year-old Arab mare that she bred herself at her Kingwood Township farm. She’s a petite gray that Sleeper says “is very opinionated. She feels that I should just be quiet and sit there, and she will make it happen. I like to be able to pace her, though. She can be very strong in the beginning.”
Training is a challenge for Sleeper, who is chief of the section of cardiology at University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine. She is a clinician and an associate professor as well as a researcher...
read more here:
http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2011/09/kingwood_township_equestrian_i.html
Sponsored Rider Qualifies for Pan American Endurance Championship
September 12, 2011
John Crandell III, a legend of American endurance riding sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER), qualified to represent the United States at the Pan American Endurance Championship. The ride will take place October 22 near Santo Domingo, Chile.
Crandell will ride Heraldic, on whom he won the Tevis Cup in 2010 and 2006, as well as the 120-km OCTRA Spring Ride and 160-km FITS in 2011. See more of their successes.
Heraldic trains and competes on KER products, including:
* EquiShure, a time-released hindgut buffer;
* RiteTrac to support total digestive tract health;
* Nano∙E, a nanodispersed, natural source of vitamin E.
Other KER products that Crandell utilizes in his training program are:
* Hemabuild, trace minerals and vitamin B;
* Preserve, vitamin E and selenium;
* I.R. Pellet, concentrated, low-calorie, low-starch source of vitamins and trace minerals;
* Synovate HA, a safe, easily absorbed, and easy-to-use form of sodium hyaluronate.
For training updates, follow Heraldic on Facebook.