Re: [RC] USA Gold Trail Blazer Chef D'Equipe Report by Lee Wittle part 1 - Tom Sites
"To Finish Is To Win", has been the motto of all
endurance riders throughout the years and brought to the USA Endurance Team, the
Gold Medals and the title Champions of Europe.
August 1, the European Continental Open
Championships were held in Marloffstein, Germany. The USA entered 4
riders, all as team members, and won the Gold Medal in team competition.
The team consisted of Sun Walt/Mike Marino (9th), BayMar/Tom Sites (16th),
Miss Lexa/Viki Varley (NF), Cher Habu/Jeannie Waldron (8th). The
experience of some of the horses and riders was limited, but these horses were
solid finishers. Also, there were no "bullets". A very good group for team
competition.
Historically, there has only been 1 International
Ride in which 3 teams finished 3 horses. The scoring for team results is
the time of the 1st 3 horses ahead of all teams finishing less than 3. It
was determined prior to the ride that the team would ride conservatively,
concentrating on completition rather than placing.
The race began at 5 AM with a mass start in
darkness and for the first 88 Km, the pace was the same for all USA ridrs at 8.3
mph. The lead horses were about 1 hour ahead, leading team horses about 45
minutes ahead. At this point in team competition, Great Britian held a 67
minute lead, France 55 minutes, Spain was about 11 and Belguim was 90 minutes
behind.
