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There's also a seasonal acclimatization going on - horses going into  
'winter', and horses going into 'summer'. Our riders commented on how  
fast the hair kept growing back after they clipped. The horses from  
the northern hemisphere have been exposed to progressively shortening  
photo period as the winter daylight hours shorten. I can't help but  
think that would have an effect as well as short term  
acclimatization.  But - relative to the USA horse performance, the  
vets commented that the horses were as metabolically stable as they  
have ever been. The only metabolic (non-mechanical) problem USA team  
experienced was due to over-excitement and subsequent failure to  
recover quickly at the vet gate. The horses maintained excellent  
hydration throughout the race, and generally recoveries were good. I  
think the recoveries (except for Val and Kathy's circumstance) might  
have been improved somewhat by more aggressive cooling and crewing,  
but generally they were good. In short, the team vets felt that the  
horses were as ready as possible by race day.

Steph

On Nov 10, 2008, at 9:49 AM, Elizabeth Walker wrote:

> Somebody jump in here, but I have a **very** vague memory that  
> acclimatization has a non-linear curve - that there is a non- 
> intuitive "lag time".   I think I read (somewhere) that horses who  
> are moved into a different climate can do OK if the competition is  
> very soon after arrival, but if they are in that climate for more  
> than a few days, their bodies start to adjust, and their  
> performance suffers until they have fully adjusted (a few weeks).   
> If my memory is correct, and I'm not totally off base, then both  
> teams had valid strategies.
>
>
> On Nov 9, 2008, at 5:16 PM, Jay Randle wrote:
>
> > Nobby is also trained in the UAE, and also arrived in Malaysia 3  
> > days prior to the race.
> >
> > 7.  All of this tends to make one think about the need to  
> > "acclimatise".  Is it necessary?


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