Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Dr Nik Isahak said:

> Kat...
> ...Come and enjoy real endurance !
Is that an invitation?  If so, find me a horse to ride, and I accept (I don't 
have one I consider suitable for such an event, and have no way of getting one 
there even if I did have one).

However, I am sure I can get myself there.  I will even bring my camera so I 
can take pictures of the tigers (And anything else anybody wants a picture of, 
as long as it can be shot from horseback.  I have been dying to try out my new 
digital SLR at an endurance ride).

If I do this, will it be an FEI event, and if it is, will I have to get 
permission from USEF to do so? I am a life time member.

Please be aware, I am not opposed to the WEC 2008 being held in Malaysia. I 
would vastly prefer that to it being held in Dubai, yet again, as I do think it 
would pose a more interesting challenge (I liked the Aachen course as well), 
and, in fact, think it would be a great venue for the kind of endurance test 
that I am most interested in.  I am not, however, sure that all the riders 
would be able to avoid riding a horse catastrophically over the edge of its 
capabilities (because these edges are hard to define, not because of malicious 
intent on the part of the riders, especially for horses and riders that are 
unfamiliar with the conditions); and I have my doubts that the vets can catch 
them before they go over the edge either.  Obstacles on the trail that require 
the horse and rider to think and be careful might better do this.

My OWN strategy for riding in such conditions would be to ride sufficiently 
conservatively that my horse never even gets within a mile of the edge and 
resign myself to finishing well behind anybody who knows the conditions and 
their horse better and/or is less conservative in their approach.  But I also 
have my doubts that ALL the riders at a WEC would be willing to adopt this 
strategy.

> Our vet control is excellent
Do you use all three of the PRT parameters in veterinary control at endurance 
rides? When I started riding endurance it was just P&R; and it has now become 
just P.  I think that actually taking horse's core temperatures would go a long 
way in to identifying horses that are over-heating before the over-heating 
becomes catastrophic.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  Let me know if/when I need to make flight arrangements...and whatever 
else it might require.  If somebody there DOES want to actually provide me a 
horse for such an endeavour, I am more than willing to reciprocate and provide 
a horse for them to come to Southern California next spring and ride a locally 
conditioned horse here in the 100 mile ride that I am managing next March on 
the Main Divide of the Santa Ana Mountains...which will be exactly the opposite 
type of course.  It is NOT an FEI ride, it is being held in the early spring 
when temperatures should be quite mild (although, no guarantees) and the 
footing is predominantly DG which shouldn't be TOO hard as long as we get 
plenty of winter rains (or one or two just before the event) but it AIN'T gonna 
be soft or deep no matter how much it rains; and there is no jungle (in fact, 
there really aren't many trees) it is all pretty much California chapparal just 
a few trees in the Oak woodland microsystems, which won't be many.  And while 
there are a goodly number of mountain lions in the Cleveland National Forest 
where it is being held, these animals are quite shy, and you stand a snowball's 
chance in hell of actually seeing one.


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