[RC] Trens Tesmen (Translation: Trans Tasman) Part 2 - Jay Randle
The Aussie Invasion
Here's a tip for the young player.If by chance you get asked to be a groom for a rider on the Australian team you say yes.3 years ago a young lass took me on my 1st 40k.Later that year she took me around my 1st 80.The year after she took me around my 1st 160.I'd like to think that now we ride together as equals but somehow I don't think it is the case.It was an honour for me to be able to lend my support to Tarnia Kittel in NZ. The team was as follows. Sonya Ryan. groom, Jo Hamilton Branigan Adi McIntosh. groom, Anita Lunt Talea Hasko-Stewart. groom, Fia Hasko-Stewart Tarnia Kittel. groom, me Reserves Linda Tanian. groom Vanessa Crispe Lisa Stoffel. groom Wade Burgess Derek Armitage was our "cirque de sole" or is it "chef de quipe" and he was assisted by his wife Glenda.A pair with much experience and they both did such a sterling job.Thank you guys. We had the opportunity to ride/choose horses in NZ 3 days ahead of the ride.This was a fantastic effort by the Kiwis as I'm sure they could have all just showed up the day before the ride as we would normally do.The quality of horse on offer was brilliant as well.They offered us no dungers.Not a bad horse amongst them.I would hope that next time the Kiwi's come here we can offer them the same quality and show them the same hospitality.Something for the squad to consider. We watched the horses trot out and checked their logbooks.It was then that the riders could choose a horse for a test ride.So off they went into sheep country for a spin. After a couple of rides over a couple of days the horses and riders were all sorted.Sonya was on a big fancy grey Taralea Sheer Illusion,Adi mounted a very pretty bay AA Elite,Talea a pretty faced bay Aurora Australis,Tarni a pushy grey called Rios,Lisa a dappled dark grey called Iti and Linda who hadn't arrived yet because of work committments was to ride a chesnut called Vigar Hussan. I managed to wangle a test ride on Hussan and as we took off up the hill I'm waiting for the inevitable shy.We split herds of sheep and cows all the while I'm thinking "I know it's coming.There is no way that any arab will tolerate all these sheep and galloping cows without stepping sideways at least once".It never came.I was glad as the saddle I was in had the biggest knee pads ever and I could have passed a Moa egg(extinct flightless Kiwi bird) easily with the riding position I was in.I had not expected to mount a horse in NZ so I borrowed Derek's jods and a helmet for the ride.I was in no danger of getting deep vein thrombosis while wearing Dereks' jods and indeed I could have pulled many a G in a fighter plane without fear of the blood rushing from my head.The jods were his from Malaysia and I must say that even though I had to roll around on the ground to actually get them on it was a buzz to be wearing jods with Australia written down the side.Hope to wear those again.Well not Derek's but a pair of my own. The horses were hot.They are fed quite differently to ours which may explain why they are so hot.Honestly my jaw dropped when I saw what went in the feed bucket but it is obviously working for them as the logbooks can attest to.They ride pretty fast too.Steep hills up and down are taken faster than most of us would here and the horses are so used to the conditions that you can feel the power from their bums taking you up and they have no problems rushing down.In fact the slipping going down hill was caused by me trying to hold him back a bit.Once I let him do what he was used to he was as sure footed as any horse I have ridden. So it was all sorted.Riders happy with their mounts and eagerly awaiting ride start.It is a really big thing representing your country and the butterflies were a fluttering in our riders stomachs.The next installment Chapter 3"The pressure cooker" will be out soon.That's where it gets exciting G
