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Re: [RC] President's Cup - Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

Caught me there, Barbara. Poland might be quite different from North Africa, even though Egypt has had a thriving racing culture for centuries. To be honest, I just pulled Poland out of the air. But having a racing industry and having people with monster stables that can support the kind of investment in training, buying, and the technology that the UAE has are two very, very different things. Our racing stables are small, one owner affairs that might have all of 20 horses in them. The bottom line in the UAE is MASSIVE expenditure of the level that could probably rebuild every elementary school in Egypt. How many countries have that kind of liquid capital to throw at a sport on that level...Does the US? I don't think so.

If riders in the US were to not have the endurance experience and tradition that they have...like imagine that you all were Egypt or Syria or Tunisia or Turkmenistan and these guys came in and said basically, "Okay, this is all about being able to gallop a horse as fast as possible for 100 miles. And if you're really good at this, you can win lots of money." How would American riders handle this? Add to that a much lower standard of living. Horse bones.

And changing a short flat-track horse to an endurance flat track horse still takes at least how many? 5 to 7 years? One of my biggest beefs with the FEI is that no one from the FEI has bothered to come and say, "Hey, guys. Let's not kill our horses here. You can't possibly compete with a bunch of seasoned endurance horses right now." No one from FEI, for all their protestations about education has done a single thing to educate riders here. My point is you don't accelerate from 0 to 160 without some background...but where is that coming from?

Maryanne

On Friday, Feb 20, 2004, at 19:20 Africa/Cairo, Barbara McCrary wrote:

Wouldn't you think that Poland, with its long history of breeding
exceptional Arab horses, particularly for short flat-track races, would have
a different outlook than you are painting? They seem to be pretty astute
horsemen.....

Barbara

----- Original Message -----
From: "Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <msgabbani@xxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <steph@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: [RC] President's Cup


Mmm. I'm impressed by the horses' ability to cope with the extreme
demands placed on them by the UAE version of endurance, but less than
impressed by the logic that dictates such demands. If horses were
motorcycles and it were just a matter of tinkering with this setting or
that, or changing this part, or taking them apart when they break down
and putting them back together better, I'd be happier with the Gulf
scenario.

But they aren't motorcycles and I see the bottom side of this food
chain. The UAE have fantastic resources to be able to buy and train
vast numbers of endurance horses...so what happens in places without
these resources? Like Egypt? The answer isn't pretty. I see people
running through horse after horse even during a single season trying to
emulate the light speeds racked up by the UAE stables, where no single
horse is ever going to bear the brunt of the intensive training to
achieve these speeds.

I have Steph, Jackie Bumgardner, Tracy Bilaud, and Merri Mielde
arriving in Cairo on the 24th to help run a 40 km (25 mile) ride to
Dahshur for a bunch of local riders who need to be shown that endurance
isn't just turning sand into glass from the heat of your horses'
passing feet. I wish that they were coming in a couple of days earlier
because I just found out that there is an FEI/EEF 110 km race on the
23rd. The only rider that I know here to have ridden the same horse
for four years, a stubborn Canadian, Cindy, will take part in that and
then join us for the 40 km a few days later. It's pretty hard to
believe what goes on if you don't see it.

And I don't think that Egypt is the exception in the developing
endurance world.  I'm sure that Syria isn't much different, nor is
Tunisia, nor is Poland.  Riders who are aiming at the UAE heights from
the ground floor are going to be climbing a lot of horse bones to hit
the top floor.

Cynically as ever,
Maryanne

On Thursday, Feb 19, 2004, at 20:23 Africa/Cairo, John Teeter wrote:

Keep in mind that my exposure to all that was pretty limited. Just
like I've never been to your place and seen your set-up (but hopefully
this year!!) :-)

So take it all with a grain of salt (and always get Maryanne's
opinion!!:)

Just a thought, why don't you invite a few of the top riders over to
do the BH? It would be an adventure for them I'm sure. I think Robert
Ribley rode a few guys through Tevis a few years ago. It might be nice
to do a bit of x-cultural adventurism in these trying times.

I'd invite them to Oreana, but I don't think there's room in the
pasture for their tent!! ;-)

johnt

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Replies
Re: [RC] President's Cup, Barbara McCrary