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Ok, tourism and State Affairs aside, I actually came to Melaka to  
ride!  When I was in Terengganu last November for the Sultan's Cup  
Hamdan approached me with an invitation to come to Melaka for a new  
ride. Sure! (I think there's some chinese proverb or something that  
says 'if somebody offers you a plate of cookies, you should always  
take one'). Plus I'd heard about Melaka - the oldest settlement in  
Malaysia, founded in 1396 by an exiled Sumatran sultan (more or  
less...) - with a history of Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, Indian,  
British, Indonesian, etc cultural influence. Gateway to the Straits  
of Melaka, notorious for pirates and trade ships. Sure!

So that was in the back of my mind - Melaka in April - for the next  
several months. In February Hamdan and Raja Adib came to Abu Dhabi  
for the Jr. Presidents Cup and we talked again about the ride. It was  
becoming a very big deal, would be hosted in a huge sports stadium,  
the State of Melaka would sponsor, etc etc. Ok - now it's real. And  
Hamdan said that Tuanku (His Majesty) Mizan would be attending. I had  
been talking up Malaysia to Sheikha Madiya (bint Hasher Mana al  
Maktoum) and thought this might be a perfect chance for her to come  
and get her first experience riding in Malaysia.  She agreed, I  
mentioned it to Che Mat Din (Tuanku's personal assistant) and it was  
on. RTES (Royal Terengganu Endurance Stable - His Majesty's stable)  
would provide horses for both me and Sheikha Madiya. Tuanku had just  
completed his second 160km ride in UAE on a horse provided by Shk  
Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum, so it was fitting for Tuanku to host  
the neice of Shk Mohamed in Malaysia.

I finalized my travel plans - the Melaka ride was the week after the  
Al-Andalus ride in Spain, so I could fit them both in. (drive the  
horses back to Idaho from Scottsdale, spend 2 days unpacking and  
packing again, and hop on another plane!). ..something about that big  
plate of cookies.  So after an incredible 10 days in Andalucia I  
boarded a plane for Malaysia for yet another adventure. (isn't there  
another chinese proverb that says something like 'you can rest when  
you die'  ? )

I left Madrid, arrived in Kuala Lumpur and was met at the gate by a  
very smiling Bev Gray, and 2 equally smiling Melakan Policemen. Bev  
had arrived an hour before me, and she explained 'these nice  
policemen are here to escort us to Melaka!' - cool!  I'm still  
carrying that ridiculously heavy suitcase, plus my saddle, and winced  
when they groaned as they loaded my stuff in the the police car-suv.  
(but I was very glad later on that I had my own familiar saddle to  
ride in). They drove us a couple hours south, and took us to the  
Everly Resort where we'd be living for the next week. A towering  
resort complex on the coast (the Straits of Melacca - Indonesia was  
30km to the west) with a lovely swimming pool and garden, and in the  
midst of renovation. The faded white stucco was being painted a nice  
desert sand color - and we could see the progress each day - and on  
my last day there a scaffold was dangling in front of my room as they  
painted the final column of rooms!

We arrived late afternoon Tuesday, settled into our rooms, made  
contact with Hamdan, and then Bev said 'let's go do something!' .  
(like sleep maybe :) - but ok! off to the city we go for a great  
Chinese dinner and some reflexology foot massage. it was tons of fun,  
I'm glad Bev has such high energy. The next day we were on our own,  
so we spent the day being tourists. Another fun day - Bev is a great  
traveling partner.

On Thursday it was time to get a little more focused. We met up with  
Cowboy (Mark Dial) who had been invited to come and officiate. Mark  
is always fun to be with, and he really really stands out in Malaysia  
- big tall cowboy with hat and boots - there's no missing Mark in a  
crowd of Malaysians :)  After breakfast and lunch and a little work  
(computer catch up time) we went out to the stadium to meet up with  
everybody and try out the horses. We caught a ride out to the  
stadium, me packing my saddle, and found the stables and horses. A  
temporary stable had been set up on the paved parking lot - bags and  
bags of shavings to soften the ground and provide a place for the  
horses to lay down, and misters were installed under the canopy, so  
each horse had a gentle mist of cool water keeping the temperature  
down on what would otherwise have been a very hot parking lot.

 Bev found her horse (a stallion owned by Hamdan) and I found the  
RTES group with the 5 horses that they brought. Tuanku would be  
arriving around 5pm so we would all go out to ride together once he  
arrived. It was great to see the RTES group again - the last time  
being at the Presidents Cup in Abu Dhabi. Che Mat Din and Dr. Sri  
Kanth are basically running the Endurance program now. There are  
several riders (including Halim who rode with Tuanku in New Mexico,  
Dubai and Abu Dhabi) and several grooms.  And an amazing camaraderie  
among them all! It's a serious focused group, but quick and easy to  
laugh, and there seems to be no resentment or excessive demands. My  
hat is off to Che Mat Din - he and Dr. Kanth took over the program  
last fall and have done a fantastic job. The horses looked fit and  
well conditioned with a shine to their coat and a spark in their eye.  
Dr. Sri Kanth has a very good eye and a great attitude about the  
horses' well being. It's important that they be fit - conditioned  
well - but they must also be fit in the mind. They must not be worked  
to the point of fatigue, and they must look foward to a competition -  
if a horse doesn't 'want' the race, then we must back off of the  
training.  The horses looked like they 'wanted the race' !

- more later - I need to take a break and finish my dinner!

Steph



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