Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I'm finally home, back in our quiet little corner of SW Idaho. Time  
to get caught up, and reflect a little. I decided to go to Portugal  
for the European Championship partly to promote our latest venture  
into the web world of Endurance (www.EnduranceEurope.Net), partly  
because the USA had decided to field a team to Portugal and I wanted  
to be there to support that effort, and partly because this event  
would be - from an FEI Endurance perspective - THE major competition  
of the year. Europe's best, and also the Middle East's best. Which is  
basically the world's best. The organizing committee offered a hotel  
room, press pass, all that stuff - so it was a pretty easy decision.  
Plus Merri Melde would be over there, finishing up her European  
summer endurance tour, and could focus on photography while I focused  
on the event, updates, coverage, etc.

And yes, this event was indeed a fierce and compelling competition. A  
race, not a ride. And it wasn't just a few that were racing,  
everybody was maintaining a competitive pace, fairly close to the  
front of the pack. The winning time was 8:22. The slowest time was  
10:46 - only a 2 hour spread between first and last over a 100 mile  
course. The top 12 riders finished within 30 minutes of each other,  
and 50% of finishers were within 1 hour of the winning time.  I don't  
recall any World Championship that has been this closely contested.   
Four UAE riders left the final vetgate in first position, at least 10  
minutes in front of the next horse. In the final results, all but one  
UAE rider was passed - by France and Spain - doing the final 27k  
phase (16miles) in one hour.

Europe has dominated Endurance from a medal winning perspective  
(France in particular) during the past decade, and the Middle East  
(UAE in particular) has dominated the sport relative to speed records  
and funding for training and research.  And as it turned out, UAE  
dominated the European Championship at the speed level - first in and  
out of every vetgate, and first - fastest - across the finish line.  
Likewise France took home the medals - individual gold and team gold  
for the continental championship. There were some very impressive  
horses at this event as well as displays of impressive horsemanship.

The UAE team held together, all six riders, until the very last  
vetgate when Sh. Rashid's horse vetted out for lameness. They still  
had 5 riders in at this point. One of their team members, Sh. Ahmed  
was set back during the first loop with a thrown shoe, but gradually  
moved forward during the ride hoping to salvage a team medal. A few  
hundred yards from the finish the UAE team effort collapsed when Sh.  
Majid's horse fell. The spectators saw the fall, and the ensuing rush  
of people (both UAE and Bahrain support crew) down the finish stretch  
towards the accident, and the dust from the vehicles approaching from  
the access road, and the hovering helicopter, but we never saw the  
horse and rider again. Eventually we saw a horse ambulance retrieve  
the horse, and heard that the horse was ok, just superficial injury.  
But that was that for the UAE team. So close! And I had found myself  
cheering for them along with others - they seemed so unified, so  
focused on the team effort - and definitely displayed good manners  
and horsemanship during the event.  They did manage to hang on to the  
individual gold in the open division, but just barely, and the effort  
cost another finish when the first of the two UAE horses across the  
finish line failed to pulse down in 30 minutes.  There were two more  
UAE finishers, in 5th and 16th place, for a 50% UAE completion, but  
not the team.

France was, well, as usual, amazing. The team effort was focused and  
though they lost a team member early on, they did manage to finish 3  
team members for a team Gold. Jean Pierre Frances closed the gap  
during the final phase and just barely (6 seconds) beat Spain's Jaume  
Punti at a finish line sprint.  It was definitely a race for the  
Gold. I spent a day at Jaume's UAE based training stable (he is one  
of the trainers for Sh. Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum - story at  
http://www.endurance.net/international/uae/juma/ ) and it would seem  
to be no accident that both Jaume and Maria Alvarez Ponton (who rides/ 
trains with Jaume) did well. They have an extremely tight, focused,  
disciplined training program in the UAE, and I imagine that their own  
stable in Spain is just as well run.

I also kept close watch on the USA effort. They are truly to be  
commended for making the effort - time, money, preparation, travel,  
etc - to field a team to compete in Europe. If the USA is to get back  
into the game of World endurance competition, the best way to do so  
is to experience first hand what the sport has become. This is not  
the same playing field as it was when we were dominating the sport  
and winning the medals. This is serious horse racing - full time,  
wholly committed training - and giving it all during the race.  The  
USA came here to compete, not to 'just get around' and they gave it  
their all. And were still in the game, up until the final vetgate,  
where all of the horses vetted out for lameness...

I asked Vonita Bowers (the USA Chef d'Equipe for this event, and the  
Endurance discipline director for USEF) what her take on it was. She  
said "We did not go just to get around, so we were riding at a speed  
that could put us in striking distance of a placing.  I thought for  
the most part the riders did this well. We are not as prepared  
(trained/conditioned) as it takes to run with the UAE and the  
French.  In the end we needed 16 more good miles out of the horses  
and we just didn't get it."  Vonita also said that this effort, this  
learning experience, underscores the need for a permanent coach and  
Chef d'Equip, one that is "with the riders from the beginning of  
their preparation for an event until the event is over." Vonita also  
said that she felt that the USA has the quality of horses that it  
takes to field a winning team, "The USA has within its borders some  
excellent prospects.  I continue to believe it doesn't take brilliant  
horses to win a team medal.  I think it takes good horses with the  
proper conditioning and training.  It takes good riders that realize  
that they don't know it all - riders who are willing to be coached.   
It takes a level of dedication and a degree of selflessness that we  
have not exhibited in the past.  I am convinced that winning is  
within our reach if we have riders who are willing to do what it takes."

So, yes - conditioning, training, discipline, time, money - this is  
now a full time sport for many, and that full time commitment  
certainly shapes the outcome. Altogether, the event was very well  
run. Huge sponsorship, tremendous press coverage, almost to the level  
of past WEC's. A big deal race.

Congratulations to all -

Next for me - the Sultans Cup Terengganu Challenge - horses and  
riders being shipped from around the world to test the 2008 WEC  
course.  FEI wants a 40% completion rate (I think that's about what  
Portugal ended up with). The Malaysians want to prove to the world  
that championship level Endurance can be done in Malaysia. All of us  
want a fair trial, cool heads and healthy horses.

Steph

http://www.enduranceeurope.net/international/ 
2007EuropeanChampionship/ - Full European Championship Coverage



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