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Ok, time to finish this story. The 'Grand Invitational' part of the  
ride was on behalf of the State of Melaka : by inviting foreign  
riders to Melaka the aim was to raise the prestige of the ride and to  
introduce Melaka to people from other parts of the world. Aside from  
Team USA (me and Bev Gray), the other foreign riders were Stuart  
Sinclair from New Zealand, Sheikha Madiha bint Hasher Mana al Maktoum  
(who unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute due to a family  
health emergency),  Keryn Denise Brown from New Zealand, Rohan Stanes  
and Nigel Anderson from Australia, Kim Tae Jung from Korea, and Kenny  
Lim Soon Chye and Peter Tan from Singapore. Several of the riders  
were invited by PRESCO - a scaffold company out of Singapore. Peter  
Tan (PRESCO) has an equestrian facility just north of Singapore in  
Joho (Malaysia) and has a serious endurance program going there. So  
there were quite a few foreign riders, and the Malaysian riders came  
from all parts of the country for this inaugural ride as well.

Bev and I had a chance to 'meet' our horses Thursday afternoon. I  
went out with Tuanku and the other RTES riders for a 13km ride -  
following the trail as best we could. It wasn't fully marked yet but  
there were enough ribbons, and the map, to get us around. My horse,  
Cairo, was delightful! Beautiful bay gelding from Australia  
(apparently bred by Howard Harris) with plenty of 'go' yet very light  
on the bit and responsive to my legs. It was a nice relaxed ride -  
through the villages, seeing people's houses and yards and little  
shops, and through date palm forests. It looked to be a fairly  
technical course with quite a bit of pavement, dirt packed road  
shoulders to ride on, canal banks, lots of variety in footing!  Bev  
had a little more of a challenge with Hamdan's stallion. He was very  
herd bound, and would only go out peacefully when they brought along  
his favorite mare!  It's a real challenge riding other people's  
horses sometimes - not knowing what the bounds are, how hard to push  
if necessary, or just what to expect in terms of surprises!  When I  
rode Fernando's mare in Spain he told me a little about her before I  
got on, and then said ' but whatever you do, don't kick her in the  
ribs or she'll go '(wild gestures from Fernando)' .... so I mounted  
with caution :)

At any rate, we were all set to go. 'Mac' would be my helper. He'd  
crew for me at the crew points, and meet me at the gate, help cool  
the horse, all that stuff.  Looked to be a nice ride and I was very  
relaxed about it  (sometimes it's a little scary anticipating the  
ride - especially the start - on a horse that you really don't know!).

We spent the morning on the city tour organized by Melaka Tourism - a  
lovely boat tour along the river, an open air double decker bus tour  
through the city and historic district, a ride up the revolving tower  
for a 360-degree view of Melaka and surroundings, a stop at a little  
tourist shopping market for a look/buy at local crafts and goods.  
Back to the hotel for a short rest, and then we finally headed out to  
the stadium for the ride at around 4pm.

The 120km event would start at 5:30pm, the 80km at 6:30. and the 40km  
would start at midnight! All of the rides are conducted at night here  
now. It's simply too hot during the day. The 40km typically starts  
early in the morning just after dawn, but this time they decided to  
try a midnight start  - everybody would be finished by 9am which was  
cutoff time for the 120's.  The night rides make for a very long  
night for the riders and especially the vets and staff. Maybe if they  
started the 40k's in the afternoon it would better than in the  
morning. By the time morning comes around everybody is just too  
exhausted from working all night to be able to deal well with a  
novice ride. I think the midnight version turned out ok, but in  
general I'm not sure it's a good idea to turn a group of novice  
riders and horses loose at midnight to go out and navigate a course  
in the dark...

I managed to go out on the trail at the start to take pictures of the  
120km riders, but that would be all for photos! I thought about  
packing my little Canon IXY to take pictures from the saddle during  
the first loop, but the looming black clouds and threat of rain sort  
of nixed that idea. Plus as it turns out I needed both hands with the  
horse on the first loop :) I met up with the RTES group after the  
120's left- they looked so nice and professional, all dressed in blue  
RTES tshirts. Che Din said they learned a lot about crewing from the  
rides in UAE. I think Emirates Stables (Juame Punti manages this  
stable for Shk. Mohamed) is probably the very best in UAE for crewing  
- the Spanish speaking group (all from Spain, Uruguay, Argentina) is  
quick, sharp, pleasant, focused, and very very efficient. It was  
obvious that the Malaysian group learned a lot. They too were  
excellent crew - no fuss, just focused and efficient and always  
pleasant.  The plan was to get all the horses saddled and warmed up  
and then Tuanku would come and mount around 20 minutes before the  
start. I rode Cairo around some, he seemed fit and tuned and ready  
for a race but well in hand and working off my legs.

We walked the horses over towards the stadium entrance - Tuanku was  
coming out followed by a huge procession of people, press, officials,  
bodyguards, etc.  I first met Tuanku Mizan when he was still 'just'  
Sultan of Terennganu - next in line for the title of King of  
Malaysia, but not yet appointed. He is young for his position, he was  
appointed King at the age of 44, one of the youngest Kings. I've  
always had the impression that he was willing to do his duty, and  
certainly capable, but that he would really rather be off riding! He  
seems more 'Kingly' now than at first, more comfortable in the job,  
but I still think this man has an exceptional spark for life - and  
for riding - which has to be greatly tempered by his 'job'. He moved  
his stable to Kuala Lumpur after his inauguration, and now has around  
20 horses in training.  Tuanku is also active in other sports (golf,  
sailing), but Endurance has pretty much become the main focus for  
now, at least through the World Championships in November. The entire  
Nation reveres this King - he is personable and youthful -  and he  
has become heroic in their eyes - a sportsman, equestrian, of the  
highest level - the first National to qualify to represent Malaysia  
at the 2008 World Endurance Championship.

So with much ado Tuanku finally made it over to his horse to start  
warming up for the ride. He got seated and his grooms let go and the  
big beautiful gray gave a few big beautiful bucks!  These horses were  
really really fit and excited and ready to go. After Tuanku got on  
the rest of us mounted. I had been so busy watching the rodeo that I  
wasn't really ready to get on when the rest of the group did and my  
horse wouldn't hold still while the others left so after a couple  
attempts Mac and I led him to where he could at least see the others  
and up I go. Cairo was a little frisky too!  We got the horses going  
in circles and settling in a little for a warm up and were just  
behind the front runners as they announced the start and Flag Off.  
The other two RTES riders were Haji Ramlan Yahil-Aussie Oy and  
Usmatul Iskandar-Sky Jack  (Ramlan and Usmi) - both on big beautiful  
grays. The RTES (Royal Terengganu Endurance Stable) has some VERY  
nice horses now. And they all looked fantastic - fit, healthy, good  
shoes, good condition. Malaysia has come a long way in a short time -  
a very marked improvement in horses, and conditioning, since I first  
started riding there.

We all approached the starting gate together (Bev was right behind  
too) but when Tuanku was ready to pass through the start, the crowd  
went wild with cheers, and the press went wild with flash cameras,  
and Tuanku's horse went wild too! Lots of up and down and around and  
finally the crowd and cameras backed off and we went galloping out.  
My horse was quite excited at that point and it was a good while  
before I could get him out of a gallop into a good working trot.  
Definitely a 2-handed ride. The first loop was very very fast - too  
fast in my opinion, I'd much rather take the first loop more  
conservatively and pick up the pace gradually as the miles go by, but  
I was with the group - and where/how they went, so would I!

We went flying by crowds of people, gathering to watch the foreign  
riders and to catch a glimpse of their King, and went flying along  
the canals, and flying through the palm forests, and flying down the  
dirt road as the dark settled, and as a herd of brahma cattle joined  
in the run in the adjacent rubber tree forest - it was very ghostly  
to see the outline of the cattle as they moved in and out of the  
trees, keeping pace with us. It was quite the ride - but I was  
thinking 'this is too fast!' most of the time. We came in off the  
30kms in a little under 2 hours - not that fast a pace when you  
looked at the the time, but it sure felt fast...  (first hint that  
maybe the course was a little long...)

The crew met us at the arrival gate, fast efficient crewing, the  
horses were very hot and panting pretty heavy, but they recovered ok  
and vetted through fine. The 40 minute hold flew by and we were out  
again for a repeat of the 20km loop (12 miles). It was beautiful out  
there, fully dark now but some ambient city light. More people lining  
the village streets, bowing and calling out 'Tuanku' .... and other  
words I couldn't understand). It was quite touching, and sometimes a  
bit alarming for the horses too as kids or excited adults came  
running out, sending the horses off on a sideways skitter. 'I wonder  
how they know it's me?' was Tuanku's comment. Well even in the dark  
everybody was using their cellphones to take pictures, and I'm sure  
those phones were also sending excited messages - Number 105!

We rode through some beautiful old palm oil plantations - big  
towering thick-trunked palms, humid and misty air, bats flitting  
around, frogs croaking from the ditches. It felt very tropical, very  
Malaysia.

And the loop went on, and on, and on. After so many years of  
endurance riding one develops an internal clock - or odometer - and  
this was definitely going beyond 20km, and beyond... It felt several  
miles too long. I had come down with the flu (again) a few days prior  
and was feeling less than 100%, so maybe that contributed to the long  
long loop - but by the time we finally saw the stadium lights, and  
finally made it to the vetcheck I swear we had done a whole lot more  
than 12 miles!  The crew met us at the gate, and the horses took  
longer to recover this time. Cairo (my horse) looked hot, and wasn't  
eating as well as before, panting pretty hard. The horses all passed,  
but definitely looked more tired, and we had to go for an exit exam  
before repeating the 20km loop. Cairo didn't eat  well during the  
hold, he was somewhat dehydrated, and we decided at that point to  
retire him from the ride. He passed his exit exam, but when Che Din  
told the vets that he would be retired, there were some nods of  
agreement. Cairo is scheduled for a 160km ride in May, and there was  
really no reason to stress him any more for an 80km completion. So,  
that was that :(  I didn't feel too bad tho, it had been a great ride  
on a very nice horse, but I was a little sad watching the other three  
saddle up and head out on the next loop.

Everybody was a little suspicious about the length of the loop (it  
had to be longer than 20km!) so they set out with gps, and with  
odometer trips set to zero. (the RTES crew car was allowed to drive  
the course in front of Tuanku, so they were able to measure the exact  
route that the horses took).  I decided to stay around for the night,  
until everybody was finished. I took a (cold-refreshing) shower and  
changed clothes and sat with the officials for the night - talking,  
watching - taking it all in. When the RTES group came in off the 20km  
loop they reported that it was really 25.9 (16 miles instead of 12).  
And all the loops were actually long. As it turns out the course was  
measured by jeep - but the wheels were oversized, and the odometer  
wasn't calibrated... so very revolution was just a little longer. And  
it all added up to a significantly longer course.

There were a LOT of eliminations during the night. Before it was all  
over, all of the 9 120km entries were eliminated - some lame, some  
metabolic, some wouldn't have enough time before the 9am cutoff.   
Over 50% of the 80km were eliminated, and I don't have the stats on  
the 40k. It was a tough ride - plenty of climb in places, and the air  
was hot and really humid all night. The rain that fell just at the  
start of the ride just stayed in the air all night. It was thick and  
foggy and no relief for the horses. I'm really not sure why there  
were so many lameness problems. The course was pretty nice - some  
pavement, but usually dirt shoulders to ride on. Dirt roads through  
the palm forests - though they were pretty hard packed. There was  
quite a bit of elevation - up and down through the forest - so that  
may have been part of it, since most of the horses were conditioned  
on the flat. At any rate, it was a high attrition event. But - this  
was a first time ride, and much was learned, and next year will be  
perfect!

None of the foreign riders finished. Bev had a standoff with her  
stallion - he refused to leave camp to go out on the 2nd loop - and  
he won. She said she had a great time anyway, and enjoyed the ride  
and Malaysia and the pure novelty of being able to ride in a foreign  
- tropical - country. The others seemed pretty up-beat too. A great  
time, new and different experience.

The prize giving ceremony was at noon the following day - not much  
chance for anybody to sleep (unless they pulled early and went back  
to bed!) - but it was another wonderful Malaysian multi-course meal -  
plenty of good food, good company, another State sponsored affair.  
The prizes were given, thanks were given, and a promise from the  
State to do it again next year! In addition they would be building a  
large equestrian facility in Melaka... horse sport continues to grow  
here.

Once again I'm incredibly grateful - and amazed - at the opportunity  
to learn about another country, another people - and to see bits and  
pieces of the land on horseback. Every ride makes me grin :)

Steph


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