Jodie Salinas and Baroud Rio.

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FEI Endurance World Championship: Meet Jodie Salinas

By Equestrian Life

After a postponement in Europe, the FEI Endurance World Championship 2022 is almost here, with the event now set to take place in Butheeb, UAE, from 20-26 February. Two Australian riders are set to compete: Jodie Salinas riding Baroud Rio and Andrea Laws-King riding Heathfield’s Bin Sadaqa.

Here, we catch up with Jodie to find out more about her road to the Championship…

Jodie Salinas and Baroud Rio

Growing up in Glen Innes, NSW, Jodie began riding at age 12 through the local riding school. “We would participate at Pony Club and shows in the summer and endurance in the winter,” she recalls. From there, Jodie’s passion for the sport of endurance grew. “I completed my first 160km event in 1999 and absolutely fell in love with the sport and that distance in particular,” she says. Jodie has completed over 5,800km in Australia, including five Tom Quiltys.

Moving to the Middle East in 2005 while riding and training endurance horses, Jodie subsequently met and married a veterinarian from Argentina, Mariano Salinos; they now have three children, Isabelle, 11, Lucas, 9, and Thomas, 5. Jodie had a break from the sport for a few years but returned to represent Australia at her first ever World Championship, held in Samorin, Slovakia in 2016. Here, she rode an experienced grey French-bred mare by the name of Koela de la Dours, owned at the time by Daniele Rusconi of Italy.
“Koela is now with me, retired and full of treats,” says Jodie.

Koela, whom Jodie rode in Slovakia.

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“I was selected again to represent Australia at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, with an American horse named Go Flight Leader. However, due to complications from colic just over a month out from the competition, I could not compete.” As it turned out, the ill-fated event was cancelled mid-race due to deteriorating weather and track conditions.

Heading to the World Championship at Butheeb, Jodie is keen to test herself and her horse on a track she knows quite well, having competed there previously. “Now I have my chance again (to compete at a World Championship) on a track that I know well, having competed for many years over it. My stand-out ride on this track was a three-day ride of 80km per day, reaching 240km. It is my favourite course here, as the terrain differs from flat, to undulating, to natural where you go through the sand dunes – which can be a challenge in itself, but it’s also very beautiful.”

Her equine partner in Butheeb will be chestnut Baroud Rio. “My first competition with Baroud was in Spain in March last year, where he amazed me. Following on in France in May, we completed our three-star qualifying ride and he blew me away; it was a very tough course, but I couldn’t think of a better partner to do have done it with.

“In the lead up to Verona, Italy – where the Championships were originally meant to be held last year – we spent our Europe season based in the UK together. When the allocation was given to Butheeb, Baroud came over here to the UAE with his teammates, so we have been together since October. He is an experienced horse within a very experienced team of horses, trainers and veterinary personnel,” says Jodie.

Like any equestrian sport, there is always a big team behind each combination. “I was very lucky, and still am, to be part of a wonderful group of friends with a fantastic network of supportive families headed by our wonderful riding instructor, Elsie Newsome. Those same friends and families over the years have continued to remain connected and we have done various competitions all over the world together.” At the FEI World Championships, Jodie will once again have this group on site as support.

“I am very lucky to not only have the chance to participate in such a prestigious event, but also to share the training and facilities with the UAE team, who has been successful in previous years of wining various gold, silver and bronze individual and team medals at Championship events.

“So not only do I have the opportunity of training Baroud over the adaptation period, but I have the privilege of doing it beside the current World Champion mare, Haleh, and her trainer, Mohammed Ahmad Ali Alsubose. I also have the luck of having my husband within the team, even if his stress double with me on board,” laughs Jodie. “He has participated either as crew or team vet at every World Championship since Malaysia 2008, being part of the gold medal team in all of them except Tryon, which was cancelled in the end, and then when he crewed for me in Slovakia! But he loved it all the same… or so I tell myself!”

Baroud Rio with Jodie's children Isabel and Thomas.

Image supplied.

As for a race plan in Butheeb, Jodie says it will depend a lot on the weather on the day. “It can be hot, dry and the air very still, or it could be windy with sand in the air, or it could even go on the humid side and have a fog that lasts until midday… which has all happened when I have ridden different competitions at Butheeb.

“The exact track also will make a big difference, as when they put the natural sand track in you really need to pace yourself… so there are a lot of factors that can come up on the day itself. It can be rather unpredictable out there!

“I feel very honoured to be part of the Australian team and very appreciative of all the support we are getting and the team that is coming over to support us. Endurance has not only given me the opportunity to see one side of Australia to the next, but also to experience many other countries through the ears of a horse: Argentina, Italy, Portugal, France, UK, Slovakia, USA, Spain, Bahrain, UAE and New Zealand, and I couldn’t think of a better way to do it!”

Equestrian Life wishes Jodie and Baroud Rio the best of luck!

 

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