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Quinn (Ann and Hal's son) said that it bit the end off of his paddle
while he was out rowing on Shining Moon Lake. Two others claim to have witnessed a 'rather large animal' jumping into the lake from the wooded shore, Loch Ness... maybe. Shining Moon Lake must have something special - if not a monster, perhaps just a bit of Japanese magic. During dinner tonight, Hal told us that Kusuyama san - one of the early pioneers of Endurance in Japan, now deceased, - had mentioned to him, years ago, that there was a special area in Japan that would be a perfect place to hold an Endurance Ride - a beautiful mountain area outside of Nagano (host to the '98 winter Olympics) where there was a majestic mountain, a live volcano - Mt. Asama, and a lovely lake called Shining Moon Lake. Over 20 years later, here we are. Hasumi san never knew Mr. Kusuyama, never met him, never knew of his vision of an Endurance ride here, it just happened. Magic perhaps.
We had a lovely dinner - informal barbeque - at Hasumi san's home on the shore of Shining Moon lake this evening. A gentle and friendly atmosphere (everybody was a wee bit tired and sleep deprived). Ann and Hal Hall with their lovely kids Alyssa (13) and Quinn (17), Becky Hart, Connie Creech, Dinah Rojek, Jim Baldwin, Mike Tomlinson, Bob Sample, Surendura Babu (Dr. Bobby), Gary Kussman, Kiyotaka Yaguchi, Masafumi Tanaka, a few others who helped make this ride happen but whose names I can't recall - and of course Harumi and Seiichi Hasumi. This fabric of lives, woven together with the common thread of endurance riding, grows stronger - in depth and in reach. We find ourselves immersed in the lives of people of different cultures and backgrounds, just for a moment, and then back to our regular lives, richer for the experience, more tolerant and understanding. More accepting. says Bob Dylan, 'blame it on a simple twist of fate'. This sport, these horses, whose appeal spans all cultures, brings us together: Surendura Babu - whose father was once the mayor of Bangalor, India - who as a 13yr old remembers shaking hands with Indira Ghandi. A veterinarian whose involvement with Endurance began with Qatar's first endurance marathon in 1994, and spanned the growth of FEI endurance under the employ of Shk Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai. Gary Kussman, whose job as an Army Intelligence agent in Japan in the 1970's - posing as an English teacher at a school in Tokyo on an intelligence gathering mission, met Seiichi Hasumi who wanted to learn English - Hasumi san was a man determined to break the mold of ordinary life in Japan and who, with the partnership of his wife Harumi, has reached the top - and beyond - of each venture that he embarked upon, and Gary has been there to help at each step of the way. Bob Sample, Australia's Snowy River horseman, who sought a life with horses, and built a legacy with horses, despite a city upbringing and a 'non-horse' family. Hal and Ann Hall - Hal's life with horses was sealed after his first ride - Tevis - at age 14, followed by a vision and ambition which led him to study successful horse bloodlines, which led him to talk his mother into driving him to Nebraska to look at some horses on a cattle ranch - Hyanis Cattle Company - which led to El Karbaj and Tevis wins, Haggin Cup wins, the 1976 Great American Horserace from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento - a lifetime of endurance riding and Tevis buckles. Becky Hart and the amazing RO Grand Sultan, the horse that was given to her as a spare when she purchased a 'real' endurance horse - World Championship legends, a sharp and focused rider, and perhaps the best Endurance horse that ever lived ... I could go on and on, and every continent, every adventure, I see the same fabric being woven with different threads. Royalty and grooms, aristrocracy and common working people, and the great equalizer - the horse, the trail. Together as competitors, as supporters, as partners - all the human labels fade when you're astride the horse, and the trail and the day becomes the challenge. We revere the horse, we welcome a physical challenge - the dirt, the fatigue, the effort, the end. We love the adventure, the 'around the next corner' eagerness. We make friends fast, we bond with the horses, and people, that we share the effort with. We are of the same ilk, and wherever I go, if I am with other Endurance riders, it feels like family. We head back to our respective homes tomorrow - our different lives, goals, challenges - but this group, and the larger group of Japanese whose lives felt the jolt of Hasumi san's vision of a 100 mile endurance challenge - wove our lives together for a short, intense, period - and the horses - Atina, Pony Boy, the Hokkaido ponies, Rushcreek Ideal - they too are now woven into this new little piece of the tapestry. My good friend Mercedes Tapia of Argentina and her recent ride in Italy, Merri and the raven, weaving a little thread through New Zealand and Australia, Leonard Liesens taking a piece of Belgium to Africa - Algeria - last month, New Zealanders in South Africa, South Africans in New Zealand. and all the horses... Steph |