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I'm sitting in our hotel room - the Millenium Hotel, near the Cornich in Abu
Dhabi city center. 12th floor, the window faces the city - high rise
buildings toward the horizon, city noise, bright sun, and the Islamic Call
To Prayer sounding in the background.

---
The Islamic Call to Prayer

The Muslim is called to prayer five times a day. The call to prayer is heard
at dawn, at the midday, about the middle of the afternoon, just after
sunset, and at night fall about two hours after sunset.

The muezzin, a man appointed to call to prayer, climbs the mineret of the
mosque, and he calls in all directions, "Hasten to prayer." Many mosques no
longer require the muezzin to climb the mineret. Instead, a loud speaker
carries the message.

---
I don't know if I was listening to a man at the top of the minaret, or a
recording. But it is a beautiful haunting sound.

So then, to wrap this up -  we parted with Mercedes and Kasal and drove back
into the
Endurance City to meet them off the trail for Gate 3. No rushing this
time, Kasal's recovery was still fast, less than two minutes, but we
wouldn't worry about the rush. Just be careful and take no chances.

This would be a 40 minute hold, with a mandatory veterinary recheck 10
minutes before departure.

BTW - the holds at these championship events are too short!!! 30, 30,
40, 40, 40 - and the 40 minute holds were effectively only 30 due to
the mandatory exit recheck - the horses do NOT have enough time to
drink and eat during the holds - I think this is a MAJOR problem at
these big rides!!! 20 miles, 30 minutes, 20 more miles, 30 minutes, 20
more miles - and finally at almost 60 miles, a 40 minute hold , but
with with two veterinary inspections! That's a lot of miles with very
little time for rest and refueling. Why????

Kasal was still good - though he wasn't drinking as much as we
hoped. But his parameters were good, and his attitude was still
bright. He looked good. He wasn't as voracious about eating has
Mercedes liked - preferred the dry alfalfa to his usual 'soup' - but
he was eating.

Out on the next loop - 28km . This was a tough one - it was hot and
still. We cruised along, lots of water stops, Kasal working easily
. At the end of this loop, Kasal took 5 minutes to recover, and his
veterinary parameters
where not as perfect as they had been. Good to continue, but cautioned to
slow down.  Another zoom-zoom 'rest' - ice boots, buckets of ice,
feed, water, walk before recheck, recheck., time to go - electrolytes,
and back on the trail. This was to be a 19 km loop, and the
instructions from Eduardo were to keep Kasal's heartrate at or below
90. His practice and theory, is that if you keep the horse moving, but
entirely within aerobic parameters, the body has a chance to recover -
a chance for the fluids, electrolytes, nutrients to equilibrate - for
all of the systems to return to normal. So that's what we did.

We followed along with Mercedes and Kasal - more water stops than
usual, he seemed to be feeling the heat. Music and company, but
nothing excessive - aimed at keeping spirits up, but still staying
serious and watchful. This horse can canter at 90 bpm, so once she
found his 'groove' she was still able to make good time and keep good
forward motion. Towards the end of the loop Mercedes slowed way
down. She said Kasal was not comfortable - the pulse would drop when
she stopped and shoot up (into the 130-180 range) when she started
trotting. Something wasn't right. Grace pointed out that her girth was
very loose (daylight was showing) - maybe the pulse readings weren't
correct - but Mercedes didn't want to stop and fix it. She said he was
grunting and generally acting uncomfortable, so the heart rate reading
wasn't the gating factor. Her concern that 'something wasn't right'
was most important. We rambled in to gate 5 at that point, losing a
lot of time, but only concerned with Kasal.

Back to the check - his recovery was again slower than normal - 5
minutes - and he had a worried look in his eye. Off to the vet, but
before they could start the examination he started to pee. And pee?
and pee. Buckets of pee! Afterwards, a new horse. Poor thing! We were
trying to remember the last time he peed - probably at gate 3, many
hours and miles ago. He's such a willing horse and (not terribly
bright) very stoic - and we had been so caught up in rushing through
everything (including the rest) that he never had a chance to really
relax and pee.

Happy horse, relieved rider and crew, and one more 19 km loop to
go. His recheck veterinary exam was perfect - he looked and acted
fantastic.

One more loop to go, and this would be a good one! The air was
cooling, the sun going down, Kasal felt great, and we rolled along
together, music cranked up, Merecedes and Kasal at an effortless
canter, happy. They passed a few other horses on the trail, no matter
at 21st place, but still an ego boost, and while Grace and I cautioned
her to be careful and just coast in, Mercedes was too excited to avoid
a strong gallop down the home stretch to the finish. An exciting
moment for her and her friends on the ground. But 10 minutes to
recover was the price to pay. Still - recovery and completion - and a
very very happy group! It hadn't been a good day for Argentina - 3
pulls and one finish at this point, and the other rider still out on
the course - but this moment was pure celebration!

That's the ride story - I'll post the whole thing, along with photos,
on the web soon. Plus share my thoughts on the entire event - thoughts
on the UAE, the USA - the world - the FEI - the awards ceremony, the works.
(shouldn't take too long :)

A strong connection was made at this event - Grace Ramsey, Sheikha Madiya,
Mercedes Tapia, and me... - It was a day I'll never forget. We're already
making more plans to be together for more adventure. Madiya will be going to
the USA soon to continue her training and education with Grace and Jan who
are committed to helping this spirited Arab woman acheive her goals. She
will keep riding, keep learning, gain miles and confidence, and keep her
goals and aspirations high. Mercedes left for Argentina today - she is
managing a ride on February 19 at Saladillo, where she and Eduardo have
their new ranch, plus she has horses to train for Claudia Quentin - a very
gracious, fun loving woman with a passion for horses and a full heart.


Lets see - what next - together again at the Pan Americans in Argentina in
April, back to Idaho in August - next year - talk of the Quilty in
Australia,
Aachen in August - anything is possible!  Maryanne - are you ready for us
in Egypt??


Later -

Steph



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