Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I still haven't finished my ride day story - too much running around chasing
OC/FEI stories and getting Argentina riders and horses ready to ship back.
But I will finish  it - these individual ride stories are very important to
understand. The 'viewers' tend to lump the whole event into a completion
rate analysis, and moody reflection on the big picture - but just like 100
miles is composed of one hundred miles, with each mile having a story to
tell, Each rider has their own story - some sad, some amazing, some
surprising,  - each story the culmination of years of hope and preparation,
weather it be the Sheikhs of the UAE who snap their fingers for the best
horse, or the grooms from Argentina who never ever in their life would have
imagined riding the sands of Arabia, with 180 other horses from around the
world. One has to remember what it is like to saddle up in the dark,
anticipating the start, riding loop by loop - high energy and hope in the
morning, afternoon slumps and worry, and for the lucky ones, a final loop
where now there is nothing but to finish - in a flash, or step by step
protecting the investment, reducing the risk of making a mistake so late in
the day.

There is an enormous amount of pressure to succeed, or to not fail, to
perform well for the sake of the friends and family that are here to help
you - that you brought from your home country to help, to crew, the friends
who have been at your side for weeks, leaving their own lives back home for
friendship and adventure. It's not all about ego and racing - to insinuate
that this is so, is to forget what it means to ride 100 miles. For some, the
win is everything, but for the vast majority - simply to be here wearing
your country's colors, riding the event of a lifetime, piloting the horse
that will do it all for you - this can't be reduced to a 'completion rate'
analysis. The 80 mile story, the 30 mile story, is still a very very big
story for each individual.

But - regarding the US - riders and horses - I'll see if I can do a recap:

The real star of the day was Becky Harris and her tough little mare Honey.
They had been plagued by problems in Florida (truck, colic, shoeing..), but
eventually everything was resolved, and good to ship. Again shoing issues
popped up here in UAE - but resolved in time for trot in. (so everybody
hoped). Becky had a roller coaster ride during December and January, but on
ride day she and Honey had a perfect day. She wasn't named to the team
because of the previous shoing issues, so rode as an individual. I don't
know the sequence of events, regarding riding together as a team, and
eventually splitting up to ride in groups of twos - probably by mid morning
it was obvious that some horses were not having a good day, and the others
would need to ride their own ride at that point. Becky nad Honey rode faster
and stronger as the day progressed, with a final 18th place finish - ride
time under 9 hours. Her smile was blinding...

The other sleeper was Carolyn Hock and Sando. They had been on the reserve
squad, assuming that they would have their day 3 weeks later at the
President's Cup ride. When Meg Sleeper's horse Troilus started developing a
subtle lameness, presumably related to shoing, Carolyn was put on call. Both
Troilus and Sando were vetted in, and both were sound at the trot out, but
the decision was made to have Carolyn and Sando start. Meg and Troilus would
have their turn at the President's Cup. Carolyn and Sando had a solid ride,
finishing in 11 hours. Apparently the high strung Sando had some difficulty
accepting water handoffs on the trail, not unusual for first time horses at
UAE events, or horses that see something threatening about havening
two-legged creatures attacking them with shiny water bottles... but they had
no real issues, and rode a steady ride, for a solid finish.

Beg Gray and Paladin's story was the saddest. Pal was not having a great
day, Bev felt that he wasn't performing the way she knew he could, but all
of his veterinary parameters were normal - all of the clinical signs were
normal. After the 4th loop (at around 80 miles) they came into the hold,
passed the veterinary inspection, but just afterwards he began to tremble,
and eventually stagger. They sent him to the hospital area where he got
worse fast, seizures, and unable to stand. He was in critical shape for
close to 24 hours, but there was no clinical evidence of a problem -
bloodwork was normal, no significant deficiencies in hydration or glucose
levels. There was some speculation that it might have been some sort of
stress related stroke.  At this point Paladin is fine, he is bright,
grazing, all seems normal. He's going to stay 3 extra weeks here for
continued observation and will ship back to the US with the horses that are
staying for the President's Cup.

Michelle Roush and PR Tallymark were not able to do the ride they were
capable of. Tallymark never fully settled into the new environment and
change of routine, and wasn't eating as well as hoped prior to the ride.
Michelle said that he ate and drank well during the ride though, and was
doing well - until the 80 mile point, where the heat and miles took their
toll. He was pulled for elevated CRI, and diminished gut sounds. Michelle
thought that the fundamental problem was dehydration, but it was a
surprise - since he ate and drank well during the day. But, here, nothing is
the same as it is back home...

Carol Giles and Stranger never quite got off the ground. He started in great
shape, no problems, but didn't eat or drink well during the day - unusual
for Stranger. At the final vet check, with 12 miles to go, Carol opted to
retire him. There was no reason to continue in her mind - the team medal was
not to be, Stranger was tired -  basically there was nothing to gain.

Dennis Summers and Rosie - another great disappointment. Rosie had had a few
minor shoing issues, and a heel bruise from shipping in Easyboots to
continue treatment of a prior abcess, but none of it was considered serious,
and Dennis and Rosie started in good shape. I saw them on the trail, headed
into the 88 mile vetcheck, looking great - her energy level was high, and
she was picking up speed during the day. Dennis and Becky were riding
together at this point. Rosie vetted lame at this vetcheck - they're not
sure, but speculate that the heel bruise may have gotten worse with the
miles in the sand.

So - still the questions. How to get that increasingly elusive team medal.?
Lots of heads.

Many of us will write down our thoughts, observations, suggestions, and send
them along to USEF. If you/we want to stay involved at this sport, at this
level, we need to open up the process again - listen to everybody, ask hard
questions. There are some good heads out there. I have my own observations
and opinions... I'll make sure they are heard by the USEF, as will others,
and then .. Insh'allah.

This event was a bit of a 'show' - the home court advantage was significant-
most felt that the UAE trained horses would be impossible to keep up with.
But when it comes right down to it 100 miles is 100 miles. You can't fake
it. The course was not that difficult - there was sand (hey Florida...) and
a fair amount of flat firm footing (hey forest roads) but nothing really
challenging for a fit sound horse. Certainly horses that were capable of
sustaining an easy rolling gallop were the horses that did the best here.
But IMO the challenge to the riders of the Nations is not the course, it is
keeping one's head on tight. The stress, excitement - both the months
leading up to and the day of the race - is often the biggest challenge. Many
try to ride their fastest ride ever - or fail to listen to their horse,
missing subtle clues that would not have been missed on a  'normal' ride
back home. It's 75% mental at these events.

There may be ways to obtain unfair advantages through drugs - I suspect that
drug enhancement (e.g. beta blockers) could shave minutes off of a ride time
or recovery times, or possibly mask a lameness that might otherwiser
eliminate a horse - but drugs can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
The bottom line is that the UAE really really knows how to train and
condition their horses, and they have some awesome horses. There were some
other amazing performances by French, Italian, Australian, US, Argentinian
:) horses and riders - there are certainly plenty  capable of selecting and
training horses that can compete with the UAE on their own turf. No excuses
really, we're talking about an extreme sport, and extreme performance - and
that level of acheivement is probably not going to diminish at this level.

It is most certainly a different sport from the one that most of us
participate in most of the time - so be it - but this should not be seen as
a threat to the pleasure/challenge sport that predominates in the USA. There
is certainly greater risk to the horses - with increasing speed and miles
comes increasing risk - but this risk can be diminished by being better
educated - on the risks, and on how to avoid injury and extreme fatigue.
It's not something that should be taken lightly, but neither is it something
to be shunned. As the level of competition increases, so must the level of
preparation and education - and so must the quality of the horses.

I'll continue to do my multiday rides, and continue to do FEI rides - for me
it is all a worthy challenge. I so love the International friendships that
develop with the FEI level events, and the intensity of the challenge - the
need to stay sharp and watchful, and keep learning, keep asking.

Steph

(next... our Argentina/USA/UAE day on the trail)



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=