Pan AM, Dubai, Russians, Akhal Tekes

[Joane Pappas White <Lyoness@Castlenet.com>]

Hi,

I'm just catching up on posts and thought I would comment on several:

PAN AM:  Debi felt that Canada's Pan Am course was "not flat".  Geez,
where do you guys live?  I have never seen anything so flat in my life
as Manitoba!  It reminded me of driving across Kansas.  Yes, the sand
was deep and there were some dunes that could cause problems.  Grass
over sand can be very treacherous. The course was demanding and fast.
But how can you say it was not flat?  I doubt the entire altitute
changed by 50 feet over the course.  I have a hard time comparing that
to the Tevis Course with its 15,000+ feet of up steps and equally
awesome number of down ones. Maybe I'm just prejudiced, but coming from
Utah the altitute demands on steep terrain have been the hardest type of
course for my "imports" to handle.  The horses that can go all day long
on the mountain in the summer from 5000 to 11,000 feet in steep rocky
terrain seem to have no problem when we take them to the desert in the
winter. The reverse is not true.

DUBAI:  Have to side with Heidi on this one.  Humidity on the course was
being reported in single digits.  However, some of us got really
spoiled.  While Heidi was dragging through the sand, some of us got to
enjoy the crewing stations built for our comfort at the central vet
check (actually a village in the desert).  We each had our own shelter,
overhead water showers for riders and horses, huge fans, and gunny sacks
filled with ice delivered to us on the hour to use for crewing or place
in front of the fans to cool the air.  The hospitality tent was right
next to our (Team Canada) area and we could go there for food and
beverages from first light until late night.  Pooooor Heidi!

RUSSIANS:   I have already bragged, ad nausium, about our Baby Tzar, a
Muscat Russian. I purchased Tzar in '97 when I was studying bloodlines.
I read every book I could find on CMK and Al Khamsa? breeding and then
turned right around, ignored it all, and bought Tzar--a very wise
decision.  Now I noticed you were mentioning Arpan.  My new mare is
Arpan's Falluh.  I have never studied her breeding, never heard of
Arpan, and have not even looked at her papers since I got them in May. 
All I know is she is turning out to be awesome.  I appears that Russians
are our preference but it was certainly not intentional.  I would love
to hear from anyone on Arpan just so I would sound so illiterate about
my own horse.  

AKHAL TEKES:  Mr. Sewell,  Last year I spend a lot of time learning
about AK's after I saw some in a newspaper in UAE.  They seemed like a
great choice for our deserts.  I think I have most of that information
stored in the computer and will give it to you if you like but won't
bore the entire group with the details.

Joane and the Herd
Price, Utah
Lyoness@Castlenet.com


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