The WEC Adventure - 2005
Finish

I'm sitting in our hotel room - the Millenium Hotel, near the Cornich in Abu Dhabi city center. 12th floor, the window faces the city - high rise buildings toward the horizon, city noise, bright sun, and the Islamic Call To Prayer sounding in the background.

The Islamic Call to Prayer

The Muslim is called to prayer five times a day. The call to prayer is heard at dawn, at the midday, about the middle of the afternoon, just after sunset, and at night fall about two hours after sunset.

The muezzin, a man appointed to call to prayer, climbs the mineret of the mosque, and he calls in all directions, Hasten to prayer. Many mosques no longer require the muezzin to climb the mineret. Instead, a loud speaker carries the message.

I don't know if I was listening to a man at the top of the minaret, or a recording. But it is a beautiful haunting sound.

So then, to wrap this up - we parted with Mercedes and Kasal and drove back into the Endurance City to meet them off the trail for Gate 3. No rushing this time, Kasal's recovery was still fast, less than two minutes, but we wouldn't worry about the rush. Just be careful and take no chances.

This would be a 40 minute hold, with a mandatory veterinary recheck 10 minutes before departure.

BTW - the holds at these championship events are too short!!! 30, 30, 40, 40, 40 - and the 40 minute holds were effectively only 30 due to the mandatory exit recheck - the horses do NOT have enough time to drink and eat during the holds - I think this is a MAJOR problem at these big rides!!! 20 miles, 30 minutes, 20 more miles, 30 minutes, 20 more miles - and finally at almost 60 miles, a 40 minute hold , but with with two veterinary inspections! That's a lot of miles with very little time for rest and refueling. Why????

Kasal was still good - though he wasn't drinking as much as we hoped. But his parameters were good, and his attitude was still bright. He looked good. He wasn't as voracious about eating has Mercedes liked - preferred the dry alfalfa to his usual 'soup' - but he was eating.

Out on the next loop - 28km . This was a tough one - it was hot and still. We cruised along, lots of water stops, Kasal working easily . At the end of this loop, Kasal took 5 minutes to recover, and his veterinary parameters where not as perfect as they had been. Good to continue, but cautioned to slow down. Another zoom-zoom 'rest' - ice boots, buckets of ice, feed, water, walk before recheck, recheck., time to go - electrolytes, and back on the trail. This was to be a 19 km loop, and the instructions from Eduardo were to keep Kasal's heartrate at or below 90. His practice and theory, is that if you keep the horse moving, but entirely within aerobic parameters, the body has a chance to recover - a chance for the fluids, electrolytes, nutrients to equilibrate - for all of the systems to return to normal. So that's what we did.

We followed along with Mercedes and Kasal - more water stops than usual, he seemed to be feeling the heat. Music and company, but nothing excessive - aimed at keeping spirits up, but still staying serious and watchful. This horse can canter at 90 bpm, so once she found his 'groove' she was still able to make good time and keep good forward motion. Towards the end of the loop Mercedes slowed way down. She said Kasal was not comfortable - the pulse would drop when she stopped and shoot up (into the 130-180 range) when she started trotting. Something wasn't right. Grace pointed out that her girth was very loose (daylight was showing) - maybe the pulse readings weren't correct - but Mercedes didn't want to stop and fix it. She said he was grunting and generally acting uncomfortable, so the heart rate reading wasn't the gating factor. Her concern that 'something wasn't right' was most important. We rambled in to gate 5 at that point, losing a lot of time, but only concerned with Kasal.

Back to the check - his recovery was again slower than normal - 5 minutes - and he had a worried look in his eye. Off to the vet, but before they could start the examination he started to pee. And pee… and pee. Buckets of pee! Afterwards, a new horse. Poor thing! We were trying to remember the last time he peed - probably at gate 3, many hours and miles ago. He's such a willing horse and (not terribly bright) very stoic - and we had been so caught up in rushing through everything (including the rest) that he never had a chance to really relax and pee.

Happy horse, relieved rider and crew, and one more 19 km loop to go. His recheck veterinary exam was perfect - he looked and acted fantastic.

One more loop to go, and this would be a good one! The air was cooling, the sun going down, Kasal felt great, and we rolled along together, music cranked up, Merecedes and Kasal at an effortless canter, happy. They passed a few other horses on the trail, no matter at 21st place, but still an ego boost, and while Grace and I cautioned her to be careful and just coast in, Mercedes was too excited to avoid a strong gallop down the home stretch to the finish. An exciting moment for her and her friends on the ground. But 10 minutes to recover was the price to pay. Still - recovery and completion - and a very very happy group! It hadn't been a good day for Argentina - 3 pulls and one finish at this point, and the other rider still out on the course - but this moment was pure celebration!

That's the ride story - I'll post the whole thing, along with photos, on the web soon. Plus share my thoughts on the entire event - thoughts on the UAE, the USA - the world - the FEI - the awards ceremony, the works. (shouldn't take too long :)

A strong connection was made at this event - It was a day I'll never forget. We're already making more plans to be together for more adventure. Madiya will be going to the USA soon to continue her training and education with Grace and Jan who are committed to helping this spirited Arab woman acheive her goals. She will keep riding, keep learning, gain miles and confidence, and keep her goals and aspirations high. Mercedes left for Argentina today - she is managing a ride on February 19 at Saladillo, where she and Eduardo have their new ranch, plus she has horses to train for Claudia Quentin - a very gracious, fun loving woman with a passion for horses and a full heart.

Lets see - what next - together again at the Pan Americans in Argentina in April, back to Idaho in August - next year - talk of the Quilty in Australia, Aachen in August - anything is possible! Maryanne - are you ready for us in Egypt??

Later -

Steph