Dubai, December 9 - course info

["Steph Teeter" <step@fsr.com>]

The meeting last night went quite well. I feel more
confident that things are under control. All questions
were answered satisfactorily. 

Here's some course info:

Start: 5:45
Loop 1 - 40 km, first hold is 40 minutes
Loop 2 - 35 km, second hold is 40 minutes
Loop 3 - 36 km, third hold is 50 minutes
Loop 4 - 37 km, fourth hold is 20 minutes
Loop 5 - 12 km

Cutoff time for finish is 2:25 so they are allowing
21 hours total ride time, rather than AERC's rule
of 24 hours. 

After the riders enter the gate into the crew area, they
will have 30 minutes for their horse to reach criteria - 
which is 60. There is no time penalty if the horse is
presented to the vet before he has settled at 60 or
below, but there are only two opportunities. If the
horse is not at 60 on the second try, he's eliminated.
The holds begin after criteria is reached.

We still expect a little chaos on the crewing course - 
certainly rigs will be stuck - but most are arranging to
make one trip and drop crew off at the checkpoints
rather than trying to move from point to point as the
riders progress.

The vetcheck looks to be very well organized, and the
lay out is good also.The actual crewing areas (shaded
canopies) are a bit small, but teams are allowed to
set up additional facilites behind the designated area.

The Kind (Fiyaad?) was at the meeting answering questions
from the teams as well as the organizing committe. He
did very well. He has a sharp quick wit, and gave us a
few laughs - he also successfully sparred with some of 
the more obnoxious/aggressive people whose questions
sounded more like accusations. 

So, we're off to the barn - vet inspections, trot-outs, packing,
mane braiding... it's really getting exciting!

Steph