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If there's one word to describe Endurance in southern Africa it's 'tough'. 
Tough horses, tough riders, tough competitors. Last night Zulu asked me what I 
thought about it - about the Walvis Bay ride, the course, Namibian Endurance. 
Let's see... strong fit horses, smart fit well prepared riders, difficult 
course (lots of deep sand) but well marked - a well organized event. "But what 
are our short-comings? How should we improve?" . I really had to scratch my 
head on that. 

I thought back to Compiegne - lush green grass and field, beautiful forests 
(Napolean's Forest!), bright white tents, tables set with red wine and french 
bread, impeccablly groomed horses and riders, fine leather saddles and top 
quality tack, snappy endurance riding clothes... Contrast to the African venue 
- huge red and white circus tent, dusty and a little frayed. the flapping edges 
held to the ground with old stakes and rubber tires, wind and sand, grit in the 
teeth, the course marked with hundreds of old tires - streaks of colored paint 
and mileages to guide the riders - the tires half buried in the sand (until the 
next big storm when they will either disappear in a new drift or blow away 
themselves). 

So all I could think of was "well, maybe you're not as polished." Which made us 
both laugh - because this sport never has been, never will be, a 'polished' 
sport. Sure we bathe the horses (sometimes) and tie ribbons in their manes and 
braid their tails, and we put on clean tights and jackets and boots and look 
pretty good for a bit. And then the skies open and the rains fall - and the 
wind blows and the horses splash through creek and mud, and the sun bakes and 
the night falls, and in the end it is toughness, fitness and savvy which brings 
us to the finish line. 

We'll clean up again for awards and closing ceremonies, but in the corner of 
the room is a wad of dirty clothes, the truck is covered with dust or mud, 
filled with bottles and buckets - the tail ribbons are somewhere on loop 3, the 
braids look more like dreadnots, and we're tired! Who cares about polish? 
Farm bred horses, farm bred kids - the young riders here could have taken their 
horses anywhere in the world and given the best in the world a run. I do 
believe these riders are as fit and determined as they come. 

The horses in Africa run in fields, no stalls, no fancy feeds. they grow up on 
the land, foraging and learning to run and to be watchful. And then they go to 
work - on the farms - working cattle, providing transportation. Most of the 
people can't afford to raise horses just for sport. So by the time a horse is 
tested in Endurance, it is already developed - already toughened with farm and 
ranch work. And the kids - also toughened and used to hard work - take their 
training and preparation very seriously. Most of the parents I talked to said 
their kids had been training extra for this event - running, climbing, trying 
to get stronger because they knew they would have to get off the horse and run 
through the sand, up the dunes. So they trained and prepared. 

- more later, the awards ceremony is in a few minutes-

Steph


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