Monpazier, France – Two U.S. combinations successfully completed the 2024 FEI Endurance World Championship for Seniors on Saturday, Sept. 7, joining some of the sport’s top international athletes in finishing the 160 km (100-mile) ride in southwestern France.
Holly Corcoran (Stroudsburg, Pa.) and Kelsey Russell (Williston, Fla.) crossed the finish line together, coming in 33rd and 34th out of a field of more than 130 starters. Corcoran rode her own 2012 Arabian mare, Lorienn (Syndicat x Lothlorienn). Russell rode Valerie Kanavy’s 2015 Half-Arabian gelding, Juno Im Gold (Flash Goldon x LM Parys).
The course for this championship spanned over six loops around the French countryside near the historic village of Monpazier. The field set off in the dark of a 5:30 a.m. start, with storms and heavy rainfall overnight and into the morning hours making for muddy going in places and requiring the riders’ care and attention to the footing.”
“We started out with two hours of darkness, and rain; thunder and lightning,” said Corcoran. “But taking that all into consideration, I made a decision to start very conservatively. So we were fine and steady and watched the footing as we were riding. Some of it was challenging because we couldn’t see where we were going.”
Lorienn is used to technical trails, said Corcoran, and that experience came in handy on this world championship track. She said that while she had to adjust her original plan a little bit, she was able to make up time in places to finish only about 10 minutes off of her estimate.
“The course was very technical; mountainous with rolling hills,” said Russell. “There really was not a flat place, and when it was flat the ground was sloped. There were a lot of changes in the footing, from paved roads to gravel to grass to plow fields and clay-based trail. There were a few real climbs and steeper downhills but for the most part it was rolling hills.”
“Juno” is based in Virginia in the summer and Florida for the winter. The varied terrain between the two locations—mountains in Virginia and sandy footing in Florida—helped prepare him for the challenges in France, but the weather was still a factor, with mud and deep puddles throughout the course.
“The weather made this course even more difficult and more technical,” said Russell. “We started in the rain and it stormed for the whole first 37-kilometer loop. [The rain] was nice to cool the horses, yet they were still hot from the difficulty of the trail. The rain made everything so muddy that unless you were on the gravel or the pavement you had to make sure to keep balanced and try not to slip in the mud. Hills are hard, sand hills are harder, slippery mud hills gives a new appreciation to what the horses are capable of.”
Both Corcoran and Russell have ridden their world championship mounts throughout their entire careers, and that level of trust and communication helped them through the challenging ride. Corcoran got Lorienn as a four-year-old from her breeders, Asgard Arabians in West Virginia, and has brought the now-12-year-old mare up to her current level.
“She’s got a fair number of [100-mile rides] under her belt. She’s been FEI qualified for three or four years,” Corcoran said of Lorienn. “Her first 100 was the Bighorn out in Wyoming, and I knew then that she was really tough, because that’s a hard ride with 10,000 feet of change in elevation, and she handled it like a pro for her first 100. I’ve never seen this mare hit a wall. She’s just got the stamina and the wherewithal to just keep going, and she did. I was really pleased with that.”
Russell has ridden with Juno’s owners, Valerie and Larry Kanavy, for 15 years, and has worked with Juno since he was born and throughout his career. Her connection with the horse goes back even further than that, as she rode both his sire and dam in competition in past years. Now 9 years old, this year is the first that Juno was eligible to compete at an FEI championship, and Russell said he handled it like a seasoned pro.
“I have ridden hundreds of horses, and he is one of two that hold a very special place in my heart,” she said. “It took a long time to build a trusting relationship with him and he will do anything I ask and always gives me everything he has. Competing at this level brings a whole new environment and I am so proud of how he handled it,” said Russell. “He has come a long way. He is still young and has a bright future ahead of him. It feels very good to finish any race, and it feels great to have gotten him to this level and finished very sound; that is the most important thing to me.”
This world championship proved to be an opportunity for Corcoran to check some items off her list of goals in a sport where a lot of factors come into play and nothing is ever guaranteed.
“I’ve competed internationally before, and this was my first international completion,” she said. “Each milestone of being able to get to the venue, being able to start, being able to finish, was huge. I can’t express the joy that there was in finishing. I had my daughter there and a great crew. I could not have possibly done it without the crew that I had. Without them there and without their care, we never would have made it through, so I’m just very grateful for them.”
Russell echoed the sentiments, thanking the support crew that helped her and Juno along the way.
“We could not have done it without the continued support and encouragement from everyone who is a part of Team Juno. None of it would be possible without Larry and Valerie, who have been like second parents to me, or the great support group of my family and my friends and most importantly, the bond of a special partnership with Juno. We did something many were not able to do. I am so proud and happy for what Juno was able to do.”
The individual gold medalist was HH SH Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa (BRN) riding Everest La Majorie, a French-bred 2014 Arabian gelding owned by Royal Endurance Team of Bahrain. Saeed Ahmad Jaber Abdulla Al Harbi (UAE) won silver riding Castlebar Cadabra, an Australian-bred 2008 Arabian gelding owned by F3 Stables. Melody Theolissat (FRA) won bronze on home turf riding Yalla De Jalima, a French-bred 2014 Arabian gelding. France earned team gold while China won silver and Malaysia took the bronze.
Read more about endurance from USEF’s Equestrian Weekly newsletter: Why Endurance is ‘Truly a Horsemanship Sport’
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