 |
[RC] Dubai - Leonard . LiesensTitle: DubaiHi all, I read some of the posts on ridecamp and saw some statements that I would like to comment : 1. Ride conditions of Dubai versus US : I rode the Oreana 100 in August last year and I would say that it can compare with the conditions of Dubai on several aspects : going is quite similar, temperature and humidity are similar except that temperature was higher in Oreana, Oreana was flat race not different that Dubai. One major difference that you may point out is the boredom of the desert trails in Dubai compared to Oreana. I think that this factor had a very big influence on the horses that are not used to travel on straith lines for kilometers. Lokk at the map of the course to be convinced of that. It is easy to hava a horse with plenty of gas until Km 120. The problem is that many many riders were excited by the conditions of this ride in Dubai, the number of competitors pulling the pack and what they did was to override (or overjudge the condition of) their horse. Then at km 120 many of them had no gas or where dehydrated. Why dehydrated ? Because the conditions of the ride do not allow the horse to breath, to become quiet and to get get the opportunity of having a good drink. Horses which are not used to be passed by other when being at the water buckets will get excited to follow and will not drink;;; BELIEVE ME!!!! Then the result is that the horse is not able to complete the race… so this is one reason of the % of pulls. Second reson is the SPEED !!!! SPEED KILLS !!!! There were many portions of deep sand where some were so stupid to canter… Figure out the consequence for the tendons and ligaments!!! Also horses that are not used to canter at 20Kph or more and do that for 100 kilometers will finally pay a heavy tribute… elimination for lameness!!! The same for some horses who were above their possibilities. Covering two or three stages at more than 20Kph with a horse that has not been trained for that is foolish and will surely end up with elimination. Oreana : I'm sure that Oreana can be won at 22 Kph. No problem at all!!! Another consideration : look at the recovery time of the completing horse. It is difficult to point one that went over 6 minutes to reach the 64 criteria. Many were just in the average of one to three minutes. WHY ???? I HAVE NO IDEA!!! Humidity % that was lower than in most of the other races? NO IDEA… US TEAM : there is a lot of work to be done. I do not know the details of the conditioning nor the instructions given by Chef d'Equipe but I can just point out several comments … - why flying the horses only 10 days before the race?
FRENCH MARE GEORGAT : Georgat is once again by the famous stallion PERSIK. The acompplishment is for me tremendous. Beating the UAE riders on their races with a horse having only 3 weeks for acclimatation and who personal record was 17Kph (160kms of Compiègne… OK it is not flat but…) is exceptional. Voila… Leonard, Belgium
|