syria

[Tivers@aol.com]

Hello,

Home to Abu Dhabi from a ride in Syria. 274 horses competed, Al Reef entered three, Dubai entered 10. It was a 120K ride and the average speed was over 24KPH. 

We lost a horse. She was in the top 5 when someone along the side of the graded trail handed her rider a bottle of water. As he drifted over to the side to receive it she stepped into a plowed-up berm that as about 1 1/2' deep along that part of the trail. She veered wildly and I thought "Uh Oh", but then the rider got her straightened out and she went on, looking fine. Passed the next vet check easily--she was our best horse in this race. Then, about 10K into the final 20 K loop, still in the top five, we stopped for water with two of our horses and as we started up again, her humerus snapped--no missteps, flat ground with no obstructions, slow speed. We guess that she incurred a "green stick" fracture in the earlier incident, then later the complete fracture occurred. Nothing to be done with a break like that. Put her to sleep.

We finished 2nd and 4th with the remaining two horses, half a K behind Skh Rashid's Dubai horse and then another half a K behind Skh Hamdan's horse. 

We flew to the race in two military transports, from military base to miliary base. The race was held in the city of Palmyra, which is full of Greco-Roman ruins, including a castle on a mountain top, hugen colonades and a theater. Thousands of Bedouins attended the race.

The start, with 274 horses, was utter chaos, but the vets handled the vet stops very well.

Interesting note: the Syrian idea of a hoof pad is a full-fitting piece of 1/8th inch steel plate--with a shoe under (or over, depending on your point of view) that.  

Bringing back a musical instrument that is called something like a "Boka", a single stringed instrument that is bowed and sounds like a cat inside a box with its tail being pulled. 

The event could have been fun, we did well, but in the end, it was depressing for the entire team and particularly the rider of the horse that died.

Stuff happens.

ti