WEC BC judging

[Steve Shaw <sshaw@pacbell.net>]

Just another example of our frustrations at the Dubai WEC.

Best condition judging was slated for 11:00 AM on the Friday after the 
race. It was to be held at the polo fields stadium at the Ganntoot 
facility which is in the midst of the various barns set up to sequester 
the different countries. There is not a real way of walking to this area 
as the facilities do not have sidewalks or paths or such. Everyone there 
drives or is driven. It is about a ten minute drive from the Jaziera 
Beach Hotel which for all practical purposes was the main venue site.  
Jaziera Beach Hotel was the main gathering place because that is where 
you had to get your coveted credentialing pass which for this person 
took only a day and a half to get. (Simply because I am so focused in 
vet checks!) I think that getting visa's or smuggling Teddy's goods into 
the country would have been easier than what we all went through to get 
these passes. The officials were being so picky and had so many problems 
with the computer and lost pictures and priorities. The funniest thing 
was that when one of the road crew support volunteers finally got his 
pass the day before the race, he got one of the best green badges 
because they had run out of yellow. Green badges gave you total access 
to any of the barns or internal workings of the vet check on race day. 
They meant you are "somebody." Not to say that Bob Padget isn't 
somebody. 

Now you need to understand that really to get to the best conditioned 
judging you had to drive nearly 40 minutes simply because only about a 
fourth of the spectators or participants could stay at the Jaziera Beach 
Hotel, there were not enough rooms there. Three quarters of the 
spectators had to drive from the Raddison, Oasis, Meriden and other 
hotels on the "strip" which is actually in another Emirate and a $20 
taxi fare from the polo fields. People on the strip only found out about 
the change in BC judging time, from 11:00 to 12:00 by word of mouth. 

We all finally get into the stands and here is what best condition 
judging amounted to. Six horses trot around in a circle one way and then 
the other. Then an official speaks in three different languages saying 
that three have been chosen to progress to the next phase of judging 
which we won't see. These are numbers 5, 11 and XX. Not all of the 
horses have numbers on them by now and they never mentioned the names or 
riders of the horses. We will be told the winner at the awards ceremony 
that evening. (You all have already heard that it was in Arabic and  
turned out to be another horse anyways.) It all takes about ten minutes 
max. For this we all drove out and spent two hours hanging out. Well at 
least we knew the colors of the horses chosen.

In major rides and at all Ride & Tie championships best condition 
judging is a chance to educate the spectators and participants about the 
endurance horse. What is import to keep the horse ready for showing 
after a day of racing, how the scoring takes place, how finishing time 
factors in, weight parameters, soundness, scores during the day, what 
current metabolic parameters are significant What is the background of 
this or that horse. Something that we can take with us to judge our own 
horses by at the finish of a 100. 

Needless to say I was disappointed and wasted a morning that I could 
have spent towing one of the USA team's support vehicles out of the 
desert (which I got to do in the heat of the day and all afternoon 
instead.)

One of the best BC judging takes place at the TEVIS. It is a real show 
and you actually learn something.

Steve Shaw