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I think that with the entire group in attendance, there were close to  
40 Malaysians that came to the Las Cruces, New Mexico ride. I saw a  
lot of closely folded arms, some shivering and some very wide eyes.  
But I never heard a whimper from the riders. Not a single complaint.  
There was a flurry of shopping after they arrived and realized just  
how cold it was going to be - lots of Under Armor and fleece and  
gloves. But nobody complained (at least out loud).

After the successful WEC trial event at the Sultan's Cup in November  
(it seems so much longer ago...) the 2008 WEC effort began in  
earnest. Plans began for hosting the event, and plans began for  
qualifying a team to enter the event. Between the Malaysia Ministry  
of Sports, the National Sports Institute and the Malaysia Equestrian  
Federation (Endurance division), there was unanimity in the  
importance of, and commitment to, doing everything possible to insure  
that Malaysia would be well represented at the 2008 WEC.

The Sports Ministry determines policy for all sports in Malaysia -  
from Badminton to Dressage - this is where policies are formed, and  
regulation is enforced. The current policy in Malaysia is to further  
the growth of Equestrian sports. Growth in all equestrian sports  
(including team sports such as Polo) is to be encouraged. Endurance  
is just one of the sports, but as a relatively new FEI sport, and  
with the 2008 WEC looming in the near future, it is important. The  
National Institute of Sports is the governmental body with the  
responsibility for actually building the sports (all sports)  
nationally, and also supporting and fielding teams to compete  
internationally (e.g. Olympics).  Between all of these people and  
policies a determination was made to appoint a group whose purpose  
was to
1. Build the sport of Endurance in Malaysia - for the long term as  
well as the short term, and
2. Identify and qualify a group of riders to represent Malaysia at  
the 2008 WEC.

And to show their unity, and their support these 40+ people travelled  
together to this ride. The Deputy Minister of Sports for Malaysia,  
the director of the National Sports Institute of Malaysia, the  
Malaysian Ambassador to the USA, the Consul General for Malaysia in  
the USA. All of these people came to Las Cruces to show their support  
for the Malaysian effort, and their reverence for their much loved  
Endurance riding King!

So - to build the Malaysian Endurance Team, an initial group of  
riders was selected, based on rider ranking points and experience.  
And the first step towards qualifying them was to send them abroad to  
compete. Mohamed Din Mat, YM Raja Mahmood Raja Hussein and Dr. Bashir  
(DVM) were to lead the government financed effort.  They would take a  
group of riders to Uruguay, a group of riders to Chile, and a group  
of riders to the USA. They would compete on leased horses, and if the  
rider finished and qualified at the foreign ride, the horse could be  
purchased with the goal of having the rider finish yet another ride -  
and be qualified for the WEC. His Majesty Tuanku Mizan was able to  
make plans to join the group that would travel to USA.  I was at both  
the Uruguay and Chile rides to watch their progress and cheer from  
the sidelines. Two Malaysian riders finished in Uruguay (7 started),   
one rider finished in Chile (8 started) and one rider qualified in  
USA (6 started). Hmmm.... seemed like such a good plan, but obviously  
it was not going to be so simple.

Completion of a 100 mile ride requires just a little bit of magic and  
a little bit of luck, in addition to skill and preparation and a  
brilliant equine athlete. The more 100 mile rides one enters, the  
more one realizes this. Anything can happen - a bad step, a missed  
turn, a 95 mile spook, a girth rub, a lost shoe... a single error in  
pacing. So although one might expect better odds than 4 in 20,  -  
after factoring in horse and rider 'chemistry', course difficulty,  
and all those little things that can happen during a long long ride  
on an unknown (leased) horse, over an unknown trail, in a foreign  
land - perhaps there were more obstacles to success than initially  
anticipated.

I had decided a couple weeks before the event to ride with the group  
on my seasoned horse Jaziret. My only goal was to help the group get  
through the ride as well as possible. Jaziret was not peaked or  
really prepared for the ride, but I thought he could (with luck) do a  
12 hour 100 - which was the goal of the Malaysian team. I've ridden  
enough in foreign countries, on new horses, that I thought many of  
them would be anxious, and I could offer a little support on the  
trail.  And as soon as we started out on the trail at 4:30 AM, I was  
really really really glad that I chose to ride with them.

All of the riders, including His Majesty, had been out to Flight  
Leader Farm to try their horses. There was a bit of swapping around  
between riders, to find the most suitable mount, but eventually it  
was settled. Even so, only His Majesty and 2 other riders had the  
opportunity to try their horse outside of the arena, so there was  
still a great deal of unknown. Honestly, it is a little nerve-racking  
to start a ride (in the dark!) on a fresh horse that you know -  
imagine starting a ride on a fresh horse that you've never really  
ridden!

I had set my alarm for 3AM, but at 1:30 I was wide awake, already  
feeling the nerves and excitement of the ride. I was fairly  
comfortable with the trail, with the ride plan (15km/hr) and with the  
safety of the other riders, but anything can happen!  A million  
things rattling around in my head as I tried to stay quiet and  
focused. We had selected the mare Dashing Lady for His Majesty - she  
had a good record, and a good mind. In addition to a probably  
completion, a safe ride was of utmost importance.  And she was a  
perfect lady. We all warmed up in the big arena where the crewing and  
vetting would be. I was also a little anxious about Jaziret - he's a  
seasoned competitor - 13 yrs old and over 3000 miles, but he can be a  
real handful. He was also perfect - I think he somehow understood  
that this ride was about something else, something bigger. I kept an  
ear on the start ( it was too dark to see!), and kept track of the  
time. We waited until the other riders had left, and then headed out  
on the trail. I led with Jaziret, His Majesty behind me, and the  
other riders filed in.

As soon as we got to the first turn, the first section of trail past  
the venue, I realized we were going to be in for a real challenge.  
There is so much that John and I have learned (through trial and  
error) over our years of managing rides, and one of those gems of  
wisdom is that blue glowbars on a cold night are almost impossible to  
see. I think that those 15 miles out there in the cold and the dark  
were the most stressful 15 miles of my entire career.  I was so glad  
that I was there to hopefully lend a little confidence to the  
Malaysian riders. We did have the benefit of some tracks to follow  
(human eyes couldn't discern them, but the horse could (I hoped)) so  
I tried to let Jaziret make a lot of the decisions about where to go.  
With a snorting puffing steaming group of 6 horses directly behind  
him, my big horse did an admirable job. There were quite a few quick  
- oops - turns, a few back tracks, a few grunts and groans from  
behind as the horses were trying to keep up with the moving target in  
front, a few thorn bushes encountered as we made quick decisions  
about which way to go.

At one point we came across all of the other riders milling in the  
dark, confused by visible markers for the return trail (we were still  
going out). I knew exactly where we were, and which way we were  
supposed to go,  so called out to the group, and eventually we were  
all headed down the right trail again - but now we had lost our 'last  
rider' status and the horses were bunched and more excited.  
Eventually we sorted out again and settled into a steady pace. As we  
headed back to camp for the final few miles of the loop it became  
even more difficult to follow the trail. The glow sticks were dim and  
not very plentiful, and the lights from the venue at the fairgrounds  
were blindingly bright - even at a distance - and the trail was not  
very obvious - with so much bare ground all around (this is the  
desert) it was very difficult to identify where the trail was - bare  
spots and bushes - where in heck is the trail??  Also, we were close  
enough to camp that I couldn't really trust Jaziret to strictly  
follow tracks left by other horses. The temptation and opportunity to  
take the most direct path back was too strong, even for a horse on  
his best behavior :)

But we made it, and everybody survived. The crews met their riders as  
we came in - John and Clydea were there to meet me - and I was  
enormously relieved! The first thing Jaziret did was lunge for water  
- but there was ice floating on the top of the trough and I  
remembered stories of horses cramping after drinking ice water and  
didn't let him drink. That may have been a mistake.  There were only  
2 vets taking the 100 mile riders and we all spent most of our way- 
too-short 20 minute hold waiting in line. With a 25 mile loop next,  
and basically no time to eat or drink or rest, I had my first sinking  
feeling about the day. We were looking at 40 miles of trail (a 15  
mile loop followed by a 25 mile loop) with essentially no hold time.  
But hey, this is endurance and we deal with it and off we go again.

Everybody had passed the first vet check and we went back onto the  
trail as the sky was starting to lighten.  Our first loop was slower  
than planned because of the uncertainty of the trail in the dark, and  
the need for safety - 13km/hour was our pace, and the goal for the  
entire ride was 15km/hr.  I figured that we could make some decent  
time on this loop. There was enough light, the horses were warmed up,  
it was the loop with the best footing. So we headed out at a steady  
pace, trying to keep it around 16 or 17 km/hr on average.  We had a  
minor incident a few miles out, one of the horses spooked their rider  
off and ran off into the brush. We all stopped, stayed calm, and  
eventually he returned, walking right up to his rider. This horse  
eventually vetted out for lameness, with a thorn in his pastern being  
the most likely cause - perhaps he ran into a mesquite bush as he  
fled, maybe a little bad luck.

It was actually quite pretty in the desert on this loop - the red and  
gold glows from the winter sun in the morning. I kept checking on the  
riders, and on His Majesty, to see how they were doing. At one point  
I was riding beside His Majesty on the road, all the other horses  
chugging along beside and behind us, and he said 'this is beautiful,  
it is so vast...' . I felt so grateful to be there riding with this  
group - and that His Majesty could appreciate the moment, the  
opportunity to experience this oh-so-vast landscape on horseback, a  
landscape as different from his tropical homeland as could be  
possible. Almost always, at some point during any ride a moment will  
possess us -  the worries and stress and exertion subside, and we  
feel the immediacy of the steaming breath of the horses, the golden  
glow of the cold winter morning, the rhythm of the stride, the land  
stretching for miles and miles... this was one of those moments -  
this becomes the moment that we will remember, to sustain us until we  
are fortunate enough to experience that Endurance Nirvana moment again.

And then that 'other moment' sometimes occurs. We were headed back  
in, after an absolutely perfect stretch of time and trail, and I  
thought I saw some irregularity in Lady's gait. Very slight, slight  
enough to think maybe it was my imagination...  when we met the crew  
at the water point I asked the vet to check her interference boots,  
check her shoes, etc etc. Everything checked out ok, we started out  
again and I was thinking I must have imagined it, she was moving  
well, but after a few more miles I looked back and His Majesty looked  
worried - he shook his head, he could feel it, something was not  
right. We were close enough to camp at that point that we didn't  
stop, we'd have to deal with it when we arrived.

Jaziret was still very strong on the trail, and he pulsed down  
reasonably, but when we presented to the vet his pulse went back up.  
I took him back out and checked again... 60, then checked again ...  
74. We spent an extra 10 minutes with him - he wanted to eat, and he  
drank some from the icey tanks, and when we went to the vet again his  
pulse was within criteria, but still bouncing around. Something was  
bothering him. We were ok'd to continue, all the other parameters  
were good, although his skin tenting was not as good as it should  
have been - for him.

All of the other Malaysian riders were still good to go, Dashing Lady  
vetted ok, there was some speculation as to what the problem had been  
on the trail - they removed a thorn from her leg, loosened the breast  
collar, massaged her shoulders, checked feet and legs -  wait and see  
how the next loop went. I was 10 minutes behind the riders at that  
point, but they were all doing well, most of the trail was repeat at  
this point, they were much more confident about what to expect, so  
off they went. About half way through the 10 mile loop I came upon  
His Majesty. He and one of the other team riders (Mohd Apandi bin  
Muhamad - 'Penn' ) were at a walk. I asked how the horses were -  
Dashing Lady was lame, His Majesty would ride her in at a walk. Penn  
thought maybe his horse was not right, he would ride in with His  
Majesty and retire from the ride. Oh, soooo sad....  I rode with them  
for a bit, and then went on. They were only a few miles out, the sun  
was warm, they were ok.

A mile from the vet check Valerie came cantering past me, I assumed  
she was an entire loop ahead of me (I hadn't heard about her  
interesting start yet). She was concentrating very hard on riding  
that big grey.  He looked mighty fresh still...

That was our final loop. At the vetcheck Jaziret's pulse was still  
bouncing around. I honestly had no regrets about pulling, other than  
having to abandon the Malaysian team. My wonderful horse had had  
enough, that's all there is to it. I didn't have any goals other than  
to help the Malaysians. Hopefully we accomplished a little of that.  
Three of the Malaysian horses were eliminated at that 50 mile point -  
Y Bhg Dato Hj Abdullah Bin Taib's horse Ferrari  was lame (perhaps  
the thorn...). There were three Malaysian riders left -  Che Ahmad  
Yusri bin Muhamad, Ahmad Azura bin Ab Ghani ('Joe') and Abdul Halim  
bin Alihan. Joe and the fiesty little mare Ruletta were eliminated at  
mile 75 for lameness. Yusri and Tyson made it to mile 90 where  
Tyson's pulse didn't come down to criteria in time. It was bitter  
cold by then and there was a slight wind. Too cold? Too hot from the  
layers of blankets? Too tired? A very tearful rider and groom took  
Tyson back to his stall.

And that left Halim and Federalee to go out alone. The spunky rider  
from Japan, Kiyoshi Ozawa, was close enough in time that they decided  
to go out together. David got permission from the FEI officials to  
follow the last three riders, including Alexandria Kirkland, and make  
sure they could follow the track. Again the blue glowsticks were dim  
in the cold, and the riders and horses were tired enough that nobody  
wanted to risk lost riders. I gave Halim all the extra clothes I  
could find before he left. His eyes lit up when I handed him the  
bundle of extra clothes, but again, not a whimper from him, or any of  
the riders about the difficulties, just a willingness to do their  
job, regardless.

His Majesty stayed at the ride to support his team until it got too  
dark and cold, and everyone insisted that he go back. I know he was  
immensely disappointed but he never showed it, and he spent the  
lingering afternoon smiling and talking with people and expressing  
his appreciation for the ride, and the experience of riding in such a  
different land. Malaysia has perhaps the most polite and genial  
people I've ever known.

As Halim and Federalee trotted off into the dark starry night, the  
rest of the group piled into the crew rig and headed out on the trail  
to meet them. One remaining rider, and he would be treated as royally  
as the rest.  He and Ozawa and Alexandria finished to a cheering and  
shivering group. They were the last riders, finishing 7th, 8th and  
9th. That was it for the first CEI*** in Las Cruces . Much to learn  
from this ride.

During our dinner at the Flying P Ranch a few nights earlier, I spent  
a fair amount of time talking with Dr. Ramlan (the director of ISN -  
the National Sports Institute).  We talked about the urgency of the  
short term WEC goal, but also about the longer term goal of building  
the sport of Endurance in Malaysia. And a significant aspect of  
building the sport is acquiring experience - at home, and abroad. I  
have no doubt that all of these riders, and team mangers and crew and  
support staff - all of those people that travelled to this ride, and  
to Uruguay and to Chile - gained invaluable experience! In order to  
compete at the world level, one must learn about - and experience -  
the rest of the world. The mental toughness that comes from  
challenging one's self, the strength and confidence gained from  
throwing a leg over a fit endurance horse that you don't know, in a  
strange land.... the pressure of representing your country, of living  
up to the honor granted to you. These things will ultimately benefit  
the effort. Short term failure... maybe. But every stumble will  
result in a sharpened focus.

These are a clever and determined people. This alone has always  
impressed me. But they are also compassionate and caring. Coming in  
to that last  hold, I could see that His Majesty was more concerned  
about the horse that he was riding than he was about anything else.  
There are a variety of riders, and a variety of goals among the  
Endurance community in Malaysia, as is true of any group of people,  
in any country. Many of the people I've met in Malaysia I would  
define as 'true horsemen' - they deeply care about the horse. His  
Majesty is among them.

I'm not sure what the next game plan is for Malaysia. More rides,  
more travel, more attention to rider training and fitness - an  
important part of the success in this sport. I know that a lot of  
blood sweat & tears, a lot of heart, a lot of 'giving your absolute  
best shot' is being poured into this effort. That alone is an amazing  
story. We'll see how the rest of it goes as this next year unfolds.  
They spent almost 2 years proving to the world that they could host a  
safe, world class WEC. They don't have quite as much time now to  
prove that they can also compete on the world stage... but they will  
certainly give it their best shot. Of this I have no doubt!

Steph




 

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