Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Depart de todos, muchas, muchas gracias, Señora!

Terry

>From: "Stephanie Teeter" <steph@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: <steph@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: <johnt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>CC: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: [RC]   Pinamar - Pan American Pre-ride wrap-up
>Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 05:05:30 -0800
>
>
>Pinamar, Pan Am Pre-ride Wrap-up
>
>All in all, the Pan American pre-ride at Pinomar was a great success.
>There were only minor glitches, the mixup with the 80km riders on the
>beach, and a few ribbons pulled in the afternoon, causing some confusion
>with the 160km trail. I think this is a great place for the Pan American 
Championship.
>Good trail - there is a lot of sand though, I heard that the organizers 
might
>be looking for some other harder roads and trails to include next time - 
There was some of both,
>but probably too much sand overall, especially after many horses went
>over the same track. The vetting area and crewing areas were perfect.
>Nice smooth grass for trotting, easy traffic flow in-out of vetting 
area,
>plenty of space and water for crewing. They use a LOT of water here
>cooling their horses - pumps and hoses and spray rather than buckets
>and sponges. The area was like a small lake at one point, but sandy
>so it eventually drained.
>
>There´s a nice cantina for food and drink, where folks can visit and 
watch
>the vetting, and see horses coming and going. The course was well
>mapped - though a little complicated with many loops and colors. 
Everybody
>basically drove the course before the ride, with 4wd you could go 
everywhere
>that the horses went. The maps were good, so this probably wasn´t 
absolutely
>necessary, but I think it did help, especially where there were cross 
trails
>and entrance-exit to the beach. It really is a pretty trail. The coast 
is
>gorgeous, and there was usually some nice hard flat sand next to the 
water
>to ride on. The forested trails were also pretty, though the sand was
>starting to get pretty deep. There was a stretch along the highway, but 
the
>OC blocked traffic during the ride so it wasn´t a problem, and there 
were several stretches through
>the outskirts of Pinamar and Carilo, dogs, children, cars, bicycles, 
etc. but
>the horses didn´t seem to mind much. and it was entertaining!
>
>The completion rate for the 160km was pretty good, most riders were 
simply trying
>to get a solid completion or qualify for the WEC. Some of the horses 
looked
>great at the end, some looked tired. I´m still trying to get full 
results,
>with gate times, recovery times, etc, it will be interesting. I think 
most
>of the eliminations were lameness, a lot of the horses don´t train in 
the
>sand, and there was a lot of muscle fatigue from pushing off of the deep
>footing, and strain from pulling the feet out of the deep sand. Many 
people
>are realizing that they will need to train in the sand for next year´s
>Pan American.
>
>The completion rate for the 80km was horrible, probably the worst of all
>the distances. These folks ran like crazy, all day (until they were 
pulled).
>Lameness and metabolic. The OC is thinking to have all of the distances
>next year when the do the Pan Am. Only the 160km would be the 
championship
>distance, but they would still offer the other distances. Could be 
crazy!
>
>The Argentinean Federation is expecting that most of the horses for 
foreign
>riders will be for lease by Argentinean owners. There are many horses in 
Brazil
>so that is also an option, but the distance-expense of transporting 
horses
>to South American is going to be prohibitive.
>
>For anybody considering the Pan Americans here next year, I would say Do 
It!
>Argentina is wonderful, friendly people, great climate, a lot of natural 
beauty.
>And just to be able to ride along the beach for miles and miles is a 
treat
>for most of us. It would be useful to learn a little spanish, not 
everybody
>here speaks English, and it can be difficult.
>
>The WEC: The Arg. Federation is currently in the heat of selection for 
the 2004
>WEC. This ride was an important one. The riders that are being 
considered
>will be asked to do one more ride in a few months, probably a 120km, 
with
>emphasis on demonstrating soundness and ability to compete. A few may 
still
>need to do one more 160km, if they didn´t complete at Pinamar, or still 
need
>a 160km ride this year, or simply feel that they have something more to 
prove -
>speed or soundness. As usual there will be some difficult decisons to 
make,
>considering speed, experience, soundness, age, politics and all the 
rest...
>The biggest question in everybody´s mind is whether Dubai will foot the 
bill
>for the riders. If UAE doesn´t pay for horse transport at the very 
least,
>many of the riders will not be able to go. Some will, if they have 
patrons
>or a source of funding. After talking to Miguel and others, I think that 
the Argentine Federation
>is a few years, a few WEC´s, behind the US in terms of making team 
selections.
>The US is making good progress, empasizing teamwork and cooperation 
among the
>riders, and soundness soundness soundness.
>
>So that´s it for Argentina - for now. I will try very hard to be back 
next year.
>For the Pan Am (god willing), to be a tourist (the rest of Argentina is 
calling),
>and to visit again with the wonderful friends that I´ve made. Miguel is 
planning
>on coming to ride in Idaho in September, and I´ve also invited Mercedes 
to come later
>in October, I´d love to share my country with them, as they have with 
me!
>
>Tomorrow I´m off to Brazil, it will be very interesting to observe 
things over
>there, experience their philosophy, their system, their horses...
>
>luego!
>
>Steph
>
>===========================================================Why should I 
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>~  author unknown
>
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