IMHO
the Arabian Nights Ride was an unqualified blast! My heartfelt thanks go to
Steph, John and their team of tireless volunteers for a job well done. Throw in
the generous support of the EmiratesInternationalEnduranceVillage and the
outcome was guaranteed to be a success. Riding along side the wagon wheel ruts
in the bedrock of the Oregon Trail and trying
to imagine the settler’s incredible journey 160 years ago was an added
bonus. If you weren’t there, you missed a special event.
Also,
IMHO, the decision by the Vets to use extended hold times was prudent and allowed
the riders to take extremely good care of their mounts in the hot weather (thirty
minutes just doesn’t allow enough time to do a full tack-off PR with exit
check AND give the horse enough time to eat/drink adequately). No metabolic treatment
in an extremely fast ride speaks for itself.
A
special thanks to Regina Rose and Linda Black for making it all
possible.
My
personal take away:
Endurance Riding – Finishing your first 100 in
the warm Idaho desert at 2:40AM in a
T-shirt with a moon so bright you can tell the color of your crew truck from a
1/8 mile away.
