Endurance riders compete for a spot on the U.S. team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy

USEF Press Release

The top athletes in endurance are set to compete in the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Endurance Team Selection Trail CEI2* 120 at Broxton Bridge Planation in Ehrhardt, S.C., April 18-19. Fifteen individuals will vie for a spot on the team that will compete in Normandy, France, on a course from Sartilly to the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel on Thursday, August 28.

 

Currently, three competitors in this weekend’s competition are tied for first place on US Endurance Rider Ranking List. Cody Boysen, Ellen Olson, and Heather Reynolds all have 500 points as of October 20, 2013.

Boysen (Sidney, Iowa,) will ride Viktory Banner, a 13-year-old Arabian gelding he co-owns with Roxi Welling. The pair won the Zone Team Endurance Challenge (ZTEC) 160km CEI3* senior division in June of last year.

Olson (Lamotte, Iowa) will compete with Farzad Faryadi’s 13-year-old Arabian gelding Hot Desert Knight, with whom she won the FITS 100-mile Ride in March.

Reynolds (Dunnellon, Fla.), who represented the U.S. at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the 2012 Longines FEI World Endurance Championship, entered 2013 with a win at the ZTEC 120-km CEI2* in June 2012, riding her own eight-year-old Arabian gelding Bound for Honor. This weekend she’ll compete with her own Chanses, a nine-year-old Arabian gelding.

Sitting just behind them on the Ranking List are Jeremy Reynolds, husband of Heather, in fourth place with 490 points, and Meg Sleeper in fifth with 450 points. Reynolds (Dunnellon, Fla.) joined his wife in representing the U.S. at the 2012 Longines FEI World Endurance Championship. This weekend he’ll ride his own RR Gold Dust Rising, an eight-year-old Arabian Gelding, in the 120km competition.

 

Sleeper (Frenchtown, N.J.), who also competed for the U.S. at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and finished 11th at the 2012 Longines FEI World Endurance Championship, will ride her own 14-year-old Arabian Mare, Syrocco Reveille. Gene Limlaw will ride Sleeper’s second horse entered in the competition, Syrocco Cadence, a 10-year-old Arabian mare.

Kelsey Russell (Williston, Fla.), an up-and-comer in endurance, will compete with My Wild Irish Gold, a 10-year-old Anglo Arab mare owned by Valerie Kanavy. The pair rode to an impressive fifth-place finish at the 2013 FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders in July of last year.

Kanavy (Fort Valley, Va.) will bring two horses to Broxton Bridge Plantation. She will compete with Just Gold, a nine-year-old Arabian gelding, while Wendy MacCoubrey will ride Raven About Gold, a seven-year-old Arabian mare. Kanavy helped the U.S. to a fourth-place finish at the 2012 Longines FEI World Endurance Championship as the first member of the team to finish.

This weekend’s event will begin at 7 a.m. ET on Saturday, April 19.

Follow the U.S. Endurance Team at USEFNetwork.com.

Further Reading
Getting Ready for the Games: Endurance
2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games News