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Back to Malaysia, again! This recent trip for the YDSM-PENN Endurance
Challenge was my 5th trip to this wonderful county. And the first time that
I didn't go to ride, simply to observe and help.  Horses are not in ample
supply in Malaysia - the number of endurance horses in the country has not
kept up with the huge leap in the sport's popularity. Particularly there is
a shortage of fit, seasoned horses ready for 160km rides. It is very
expensive to bring horses in to the country - most of them come from
Australia, the nearest source. And they are not cheap. So there are simply
not enough horses, and unfortunatly it seems that some of the riders are
campaigning the horses that they have a little too aggressively, and a
little too early for their level of fitness and ability to withstand the
rigours of the sport.

I wasn't dissappointed about not riding - and there are simply not many
'extra' horses available for guest riders - and I knew I'd stay busy helping
in one way or another . And so I did! After talking with Paul Brown, the
Australian trainer for the Royal Terengganu Endurance Stables, it seemed
that they could use a little help crewing. There were 4 RTES horses in the
160km event, and 1 in the 80km. His Highness 'Tuanku' Sultan Mizan was
riding, Paul was riding, and the other 3 RTES horses were being ridden by
the young men (from Indonesia and Malaysia) hired as grooms and riders. So I
can now add to my bizarre repertoire of endurance qualifications: "groom for
the King of Malaysia" !!

I feel incredibly honored to be involved with the Malaysians and their
effort - and determination - to host the next World Championship. They are
very kind people, from royalty to lowest class, the Malaysians have a gentle
and kind aura. Quick to smile, quick to laugh, hospitable and easy to talk
to - I've never seen any displays of arrogance or anger in these people.
But - sometimes I feel that they need a little more grit, especially dealing
with the FEI. They are so eager to learn and and to 'do it right' - I worry
that those with power feel that this gives them more license to excersize
their power...

The Malaysians are also very clever people. One look at their technology
business industry, the KL Towers, Putrajaya, the technology city, the KL
airport which was one of the first 'smart' airports in the world (AI
technology)... there are multiple universities, engineers, doctors, a very
large percentage of the population has advanced degrees. Yet their demeanor
is gentle and whereas the western world has a more aggressive, by the clock,
approach to solving problems, the Malays seem to take their time - perhaps
more thoughtful and deliberate - certainly less stressed. It is easy to
underestimate this nation.

I don't know the King - Tuanku Sultan Mizan - very well, but I have spoken
with him on a few occasions, and for the past few years I have watched him
juggle his passion for endurance (he definitely has the passion!) with his
Royal responsibilities, which in Malaysia are significant, and closely
intertwined with parliamentary government. He is a very special individual.
At age 44 he is the youngest Malay to be coronated. He brings this vigour
and energetic optimism to his position, and from what I've observed his
people dearly love him. He gets out there on the trail with all the rest of
the whacky endurance riders, he trains, he asks for time off to compete (the
recent coronation ceremony meant he had to miss a ride!) and he is fully
committed to seeing Malaysia host the next WEC.

Regarding the new (supposedly proposed) qualification criteria of a 10:40
160km ride, they all realize that it cannot be done in Malaysia. The EAM
(Endurance Association of Malaysia) is writing their letter to the FEI,
asking for a host country exemption, or to reconsider the 10:40... but at
the same time those with means are considering options for shipping their
horses overseas to qualify. Perhaps Europe or the Middle East. They are
determined.

So my trip to Malaysia was more about supporting the WEC effort than about
the ride. I'm helping them with their website and promotion, and offering
opinions and observations about the enormous task of hosting a WEC. While my
experience is meager in light of a World Championship event, I've hosted
many rides, ridden in many rides around the world, and observed many rides.
A little bit of experience to draw on. They are receptive to any and all
suggestions and opinions - no arrogance from this group.

The event was fairly small. Co-hosted by YDSM (the Sultan Mizan Royal
Foundation) and PENN, one of the Endurance clubs, the ride offered 160, 80,
40 and 26 (novice) kilometer events. The turnout in the shorter distances
was high, but with only 14 horses starting the 160km ride.

The most significant aspect of this event was the trial run of a new (to
Malaysia) timing system. A group from UAE had developed a timing system for
Al Wathba (Presidents Cup) and Bou Thib stables, which utilizes a plastic
card with a bar code printed on it. The card is swiped through a machine and
read as the riders go in and out of the gates (in/out gate and vet gates)
recording their times. The data is quickly processed and immediately
available through printed forms. Riders, grooms, owners can ask for a
printout of results (vetgates and eliminations) at any time. It's really
fantastic to have all of this information so quickly at hand. The system was
run on a trial basis - the software developers brought a few computers with
them, the rest were acquired upon arrival. I believe this is the first time
their system had been taken to another country, another venue, and it was
tremendously successful. Very few hitches (one rider lost his card, another
stuck it in his pocket and sat on it bending a corner) and the problems were
easily solved.

I had a great time being on the Royal Stable support crew! The OC has hired
an event coordinater (Azrin Zuhdi) to manage the November test event and the
WEC. She invited her 'team' from Kuala Lumpr over to observe the event and
take notes. Jay and 'Shiraz' and Joanne also got recruited to crew for the
King's group, so we had enough rigs and people to meet the riders at every
crew point for water, cooling, drinks, etc. We had three rigs, one driven by
Dr. Bala (RTES veterinarian), one by Mat Din (personal assistant to HRH),
and one by either Jay or Shiraz. Plus body guards, plus a personal trainer,
plus grooms, it was quite the group and a lot of fun. Focused and efficient,
back and forth from from checkpoint to checkpoint, from trail to camp, from
horse to horse, ice water, drinks, hay, consultation, planning. HRH was
scurried off to his private quarters each time after the horses came in
(high security for the country's King) and the rest of us took the horses
back to the crewing area, fed, rested, planned, strategized, and then back
out again. It was a long long night, but never boring.

Paul Brown was first to finish on the 160km ride (on a RTES horse) with a
ride time of 12:41 (or thereabouts). Very fit horse, very skilled rider and
trainer, I don't think the ride times will ever be much faster than that
over there. Perhaps some time can be knocked off by being quicker at the
water points - but the precious time taken to cool the horses with scoops of
water seems essential to their health. It will be interesting to see how the
UAE riders do in Malaysia - they are so skilled and efficient at crewing -
this is the only place that I can see a lot of improvement being made on the
ride times. The horses simply can't sustain the high speeds on the trail.

So that's pretty much it for the most recent Malaysia trip. There was a nice
awards banquet in Terengganu on Sunday after the ride. And on Monday we
(Azrin and team members, the grooms, the veterinary students, Dr. Bala, and
myself) were treated by Mat Din to a trip to Redang Island. A one hour boat
trip out to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world - crystal clear
water, aqua pools, snorkeling among schools of fish so thick it made me
dizzy. Coral reefs, hot hot sun and cool deep shade. We swam and snorkled, I
played a little beach volleyball with the grooms, a cold beer, sate and
spring rolls. Very 'island'. Malaysia has some real secret treasures like
this. Azrin said she comes here to dive whenever possible. And it's so
affordable for foreigners - 500 ringets for 3 days and 2 nights at the Coral
Redang resort - that's less than 200 dollars! A quick boat ride back, 10
minutes to throw all my stuff in my suitcase, and whisked off to the airport
for the long trip back. A little sand between my toes to make me smile
thinking of that beach...

I think John and I are going back again in June for the Edaran Classic -
which will be held this year in Terengganu instead of Selangor (outside of
KL). Another opportunity to 'practice' at the WEC venue. We will be working
on getting the timing system data on the net - real time web display of
rider progress. And maybe riding, though I'm not sure. It's just a hop from
Japan, where we'll be during the previous week for Japan's first FEI ride -
the Shining Moon CEI***. Should be quite the trip!



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