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Well the ride is over. What a lovely country! I only saw a bit of it-  
starting from the coastal town of Punta del Este and then a 100km  
drive east to Rocha - La Paloma. Beautiful rolling green countryside  
- eucalyptus trees, palm trees (the low scrubby type that is native  
here), poplar, lots of grasslands - cows, horses. Somehow I expected  
flat, like the Buenos Aires province of Argentina.  And the people  
are very friendly, very easy going, down to earth.   Punta del Este  
is a very modern resort town - gorgeous coastal scenery - rocky  
points, sandy beaches. Shops and restaurants, trendy stores. The  
'Punta' - is a spit of land - narrowing to a rocky point where one  
can see the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east - with crashing  
waves and easterly winds, and the mouth of the Rio del Plata River to  
the north and west. The Rio del Plata River defines the border  
between Argentina and Uruguay - and is so wide at it's mouth that one  
can't see from side to side.

Martha Moya (Argentine veterinarian) took the same flight from Buenos  
Aries on Firday morning and were picked up at the airport by Ketty  
Friedman. Ketty is one of the few (only?) FEI 4* judges in S.  
America, and devoted to the sport of Endurance in Uruguay. She came  
from the world of jumping, but was recruited to be the Chef d'Equipe  
of the Uruguya team in the 1998 Dubai World Championship. The sport  
was still very young in Uruguay at that time (their first FEI  
Endurance ride was in 1997) and they wanted somebody who was familiar  
with FEI - rules and procedures - to help them take a team to the  
WEC. Since then Ketty has become principal in building the sport in  
Uruguay.  Ketty took Martha and I to lunch at a cafe in Punta del  
Este - she loves the town, and lives there during most of the year,  
when the weather is good (it can get damp and cold and windy in the  
winter). We had 'chevito' - a very typical Uruguay food - a sliced  
steak sandwich with all variety of stuff (meats, cheese, olives,  
eggs, bacon, etc ) and a short tour of the town - little beachy  
shops, trendy galleries - very nice. It's not officially tourist  
season yet, so it was pretty quiet.

Ketty then drove us to the venue at La Paloma, taking us along the  
coastal route. Through the charming town of Jose Ignacio  - an  
interesting town  - quaint, picturesque, shops and restaurants in  
artsy style, fantastic beautiful coastline, and mostly owned by  
wealthy transplants from Argentina. We drove through rolling  
countryside - grassy fields, eucalyptus groves, coastal bluffs, small  
farms and villages, very pretty.  We arrived at the venue late  
afternoon - the greens and golds of the little horse camp overlooking  
the ocean, combined with the smell of campfires and the hustle of  
preparations for the next day's race - very lovely. A wonderful first  
impression of Uruguay endurance.  The officials and OC were doing  
last minute preparations and getting ready for the ride briefing.

The Malaysian contingent had already gone back to their hotel. They  
had vetted horses and were given a special briefing in English - all  
was ready for the 6 riders to start the race on 'lease with option to  
purchase' 160km horses. Grooms, owners, support crew, etc. The  
Malaysian government is funding an effort to qualify a team for the  
2008 WEC. Malaysia is going to be allowed 12 starting riders, in  
keeping with the FEI 'host country' tradition. This will be the last  
WEC that will make this allowance though, future WEC's will allow  
host countries the same number as all other competing Federations.

Raja Mahmood Raja Hussein is spearheading the effort. Raja Mahmood is  
a member of the Malaysia National Federation, and chair of the  
Endurance discipline. The funding is coming from the Malaysia  
National Sports Institute, under the direction of Dato Dr. Ramlan  
Abdul Aziz. Also part of the team are Dr. Bashir Ahmad (project  
veterinarian) and Mohamad Din Mat, the Project Manager. Mahmood, Dr.  
Bashir and Mat Din are on a 'world' tour during the month of December  
- taking riders to rides in Uruguay, Chile and USA (New Mexico) in  
hopes of earning a CoC on a horse that can be purchased, and also  
touring the countryside looking at other horses for sale.  The riders  
to travel on the horse tour are selected based upon Malaysia's  
ranking system - those riders with the highest points, a reflection  
of their ride achievement during the 2007 season. 15 riders (and 3  
alternates) made the grade and will be on the quest for horses and  
CoC's.

Rueben Parra from Chile is their host while in S. America - making  
travel arrangements, horse tours, and arranging horses for the  
riders.  I met up with Ruben and the Malaysian group later that  
evening for dinner. They all looked tired, but happy. It's a  
loonnnggg flight from Malaysia to Uruguay. But everybody was excited  
about the next day's ride, and excited to be here.   Mohd Shuaib  
Ishak,  MD Rino Abd Rani, Faizal B. Ismail, Abhamil Husain, and Daud  
Nik Sabarudin and Roslan B Osman would ride.

-more later -

Steph





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