Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

( http://www.endurance.net/merri/ ) and 
(http://www.endurance.net/international/malaysia/2007kedahinvitational)

Big day in northern Kedah state, Malaysia - the 79th birthday of the Sultan of 
Kedah, and the first Royal Kedah International Invitational Ride, (an FEI 120km 
ride, an 80km ride, and, Saturday morning, a 40km ride), with visting 
dignitaries. The King of Malaysia (Steph's friend) would not only be here, but 
would ride in the 120km ride.

Opening ceremonies started at 3 PM on Friday. It was another warm (I'm being 
very optimistic here) day in Malaysia. Barbara, who helped organize this entire 
event, said the heat was awful, and she felt and looked about like me - 
liquefied. She's from Malaysia and said she's not used to this kind of terrific 
heat either, so I guess I'm not being too melodramatic. Guests started arriving 
at the big outdoor open tent, mingling, reintroducing themselves to everybody. 
Steph and John knew many people from previous rides here in Malaysia. There 
were big rotating fans spraying a fine mist to help circulate the hot air. 
Standing right in front of one felt nice!

Arrival of Foreign Dignitaries began around 3:30; you could see the police 
escorts pulling up, and the dignitary was announced. The last two were: His 
Royal Highness Al Sultan Almu tasimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Tuanku Alhaj Abdul 
Halim Mu adzam Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, The Sultan of Kedah Darul 
Aman, and His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong Al-Wathiqu 
Billah Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah 
Shah - the King of Malaysia. (You reckon they ever just call each other "Joe" 
or something?) As soon as each of the Royal visitors stepped out of their cars, 
they were mobbed by press, and quickly ducked into a side tent out of the heat, 
presumably waiting for the rest of the dignitaries, and the Sultan and the King 
before the ceremony could begin. Finally it did, with a little procession 
leading them up the yellow carpet to the stage. The King and the Sultan of 
Kedah led the way, followed by (I hope I don't get this wrong, and I 
will probably put them in the wrong order, which is probably a big faux paus) 
another Malaysian His Highness Tunku Haji Abdul Malik Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan 
Badlishah (The Raja Puan Muda of Kedah Darul Aman), Prince Rashid from Qatar, 
Prince Abdullah from Saudi Arabia, and Sheikh Sultan from Abu Dhabi and a host 
of other important people. The King shook hands with people as he walked up the 
aisle, and everything and everybody was easy and comfortable, none of the 
frenzy we Americans tend to shower on politicians. I wonder how we'd react if 
we had a King?

After the National Anthem and the Kedah State Anthem we sat down while the 
event was inaugurated, with some long speeches, in Malaysian. Every once in a 
while, my ears picked out "Agong" (King) and "Mizan" (the King's name) out of 
the speeches, but that was it. They didn't say kuda melintas (horse crossing) 
or terima kasi (thank you), the only four other words in my Malaysian 
vocabulary! A group of men in orange, red, and green traditional Malaysian 
dress presented the Sultan with a golden horse head that he placed on the large 
RKII Ride 2007 plaque, which officially opened the event.

Then it was off to the stables to get ready for the start of the 120km and 80 
km rides starting at 5:30 PM. Since Steph was riding one of Peter Toft's 
horses, she'd be riding with Peter and Penny in the 120km. Their goal was just 
to get the horses around the course, as a training ride for the next Malaysia 
ride in June. There may have been some unsettled nerves, but everybody I 
watched looked like they were just saddling up for a group trail ride.

The starting line was lined by a festive orderly mob. Policemen kept a path 
clear for the horses to cross the street from the stable to the starting area. 
I wandered around taking pictures, took a few of the riders I'd met here. At 
the start, some took off at a smart trot at the word go, while some just 
strolled on out, picking up a leisurely jog. It was very hot and humid, and it 
wasn't going to cool off any for the entire ride, even when the sun went down. 
After they were well off, it crossed my mind that I missed King Mizan - I 
completely forgot he was riding! He was even number 1! Some kind of 
photojournalist I am! Maybe it was partly because there was absolutely no fuss 
around him - he was just another rider out there. Can you imagine if an 
American president wanted to ride endurance? Think of how many bodyguards would 
have to learn to ride, and how many horses would have to be trained to ride in 
formation along the trails, and how we'd have to give up the trail and to make w
ay for the Security Service Herd to pass. Nobody could congregate around water 
troughs till They were done, the vet check area would be cordoned off and we'd 
have to lose valuable time and wait till the President's crew passed through 
Their vet check, and if some of Their Horses didn't come down we'd have to keep 
waiting... etc. It's great the King of Malaysia can just go out and enjoy 
riding by himself without an entourage.

It would be a couple of hours before the first horses began arriving back off 
the 32 km first loop, so Carol and I wandered around the park beside the lake. 
There were lots of people and families out - while Saturday and Sunday are 
observed as the weekend in most of the rest of Malaysia, Friday and Saturday 
are the weekend in Kedah state.

The first 120km rider came in under two hours along with an 80km rider, seemed 
like a pretty quick pace for this heat. These first two, and in fact, many of 
the horses I've seen here, have a lot of what looks like Thoroughbred in them. 
Big long heads, bigger bodies, a heavier way of going. But, maybe they handle 
the humidity better than Arabians. It took these first two about 15 minutes to 
pulse down, and by then, other riders had steadily started streaming in. Most 
riders hopped off at the start/finish line, had help pulling their saddles, and 
the grooms would walk them straight to the cooling down area and get busy: many 
hands pouring water, scraping water, pouring more water, hosing them between 
the hind legs, checking their heartrate. There was ice available in buckets; 
towels were dunked in them and laid over the horses' necks. It's got to be hard 
to get the temperature of a big body down when there's no relief from the heat 
and humidity. Most of the horses looked quite good 
coming in.

Just as the last of the evening sun was fading, the King came in off the first 
loop. This time I didn't forget about him, but now of course my camera was 
having a hard time focusing in the near-dark. Steph and Peter and Penny came in 
just after him, as did the two Dutch girls Barbara and Jenne. Leonard from 
Belgium preceded them by about 20 minutes, but his horse was off at the vet 
check. Steph's horse was going well, but Penny decided to pull, because 
although her horse felt good, she was stumbling too much, which wasn't usual, 
and the trail was only going to get trickier in the dark - and it was now dark 
on the trails, with jungle noises coming alive. Big frogs out there.

Later we heard the King also pulled; his horse was off. We were expecting our 
riders to come off the next 25k loop around 11 PM. There were still a ton of 
people out, strolling the park grounds, sitting in the rows of chairs across 
the street from the start/finish, and a never-ending stream of cars and 
motorbikes flowing by in both directions. A colorful festive Malaysian weekend 
night.

Peter and Steph and the Dutch girls all arrived together right around 11 PM, 
and all pulsed down right away, though it was still very warm. I don't know how 
those horses (or riders!) do it - all day from the moment I stepped out of our 
air conditioned hotel, I'd been hot, clammy, sticky, wilty. They just all 
carried on, like endurance horses and endurance riders, as if it were a cool 
day in the park!

During this hold, Barbara's horse wasn't eating, so she decided not to go back 
out. The other horses pigged out for their 40 minute hold, then they were 
saddled back up and headed out into the steamy darkness again.

Since John was crewing for Steph, and Penny for Peter, and Leonard volunteered 
to stay, Stan and Carol and I caught a ride home (i.e., I wimped out - all I 
could think about was a cool shower) with our two tired liaison officers Shah 
and Neo. Those boys (all of them, and the girls) are great - always there if we 
needed them. Need to change your flight? Tell Shah and he's on the phone to the 
person who can do it or will know who can do it. Want to go shopping? Tell 
Shah. Need snacks or sports drinks a half hour before the ride starts? Tell 
Shah. Need iced coffee and something hot to eat for when you come off the 2nd 
loop? Tell Shah. Want to catch a ride from the hotel next morning back to the 
ride venue? Shah will arrange a driver, and get up with you and take you there 
at 6 AM, (this ride was not for me!) and pick up breakfast for Steph and John 
on the way. I said to Shah, "I bet you will sleep for a week when we all 
leave!" He said "I think that I will sleep for a month."

So I got a good night's sleep at the hotel while Steph and Jenne completed the 
ride with 20 minutes to spare. Peter pulled before the last loop, didn't like 
how his horse was going. Steph and Jenne flew the last loop in the just-coming 
dawn. Steph really liked the horse she rode - good, strong mare, nice ride. She 
said on the first loop there were literally thousands of Malay people out to 
watch the horses and riders pass... probably chiefly to see their King ride by. 
She felt like she was in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, everybody cheering 
and clapping and yelling and waving. And at a water stop at a busy road 
crossing, at 4 AM, there were the King and his vet, just hanging out waiting 
for his horses of the Royal Stables to all pass by.

Next, after a few hours of much needed Saturday sleep for the riders and crew, 
will come the Closing Ceremonies beginning at 3:30 PM... where the Raven gets 
to meet Royalty!


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