I felt like I was in Malaysia this past weekend.......

The Far-A-Way Training and Education weekend at Imbil was a real education for the Splendacrest Crew, and for the other 100-odd riders there too! I hadn't realised just how much I love Toowoomba weather through summer until I got out of the car (and air-conditioning) and into the hot humid conditions at Imbil on Saturday morning. By the time we had finished putting up the yards I was over-heated, and feeling quite ill.... as were a number of other people. I literally had to sit down and drink a couple of electrolyte drinks for about half an hour before I started to feel better.... it was incredibly hot and draining.

Five of the Splendacrest riders participated in the TPR training session, with mixed results. I am VERY disappointed that there seems to be a new AERA/QERA rule (that I can't find ANYWHERE) that TPR Stewards must be 18 years of age to officiate. Since I have been involved in this sport the ruling has always been that TPR Stewards must be 16 years of age, however 'apparently' this has changed with absolutely no advice received from AERA or QERA as to when, where, or how it was changed. Over the years all of my young riders have been encouraged to complete (and use) their TPR training the moment they turned 16 years old...... this "new" rule will certainly knock out a pool of willing and enthusiastic young people from assisting in one of the ways that they can at a ride in the future. Shame!

Anyway, back to the ride..........

A couple of heavy showers did nothing to cool the conditions, but just added to the humidity and general level of discomfort. The horses were sweating just standing in their yards, and we were all wilting fast too. I was amazed that there were so many horses at the ride, as January in Qld is not very conducive to endurance training... hence the reason I love the altitude and climate of Toowoomba!

But of course, Bob Sample had it all sorted..... plenty of water on track for both drinking and strapping purposes, a great crew of officials with many many years of experience, and lots of advice and assistance being given out. Bob had also arranged for the local shop to stock more ice than they would normally sell in a year, and an early opening time on Sunday morning.... talk about pre-empting needs! Thank you Bob, from all of us!

Ride day brought with it stinking heat, heavy hot rain, incredibly hot conditions, sunburn, wet wrinkly feet, constantly wet clothes and boots, steam rising off the grass, hot hot hot horses, high core temperatures, difficult strapping conditions, lots of ice water being applied in the heavy rain (!), and superhuman efforts to get horses through the Vetting arena.

This was a real education weekend for 4 of my new riders, and 3 young horses, who were all doing their very first ride. Marcia Burger (from Sth Africa) rode Splendacrest Zhateau, Lisa Roosen (from The Netherlands) rode Chevy, Alissa Tulk rode Pete, Steph Tulk rode Splendacrest Ulysses, and Kristan Kershaw escorted all of them around on my young stallion, Splendacrest Zafire. All were successful in completing the 40km ride, with great recoveries!

Tarni Kittel rode Zayelle's Showgirl, owned by Bruce Everson of Tenterfield, in her first 80km ride, to 5th Junior placing, while the infamous G rode Splendacrest Sayirah (owned by Shane Hopkins) to also complete the AERA 80km ride. Although the strapping conditions in the heat of the day really challenged us, both mares made a good showing and really did us proud!

I must thank Tanya Stoffel of Rotan Arabians for her friendship and assistance during the weekend.... and congratulations to Lisa and Wade who both completed the FEI* 80km ride well too!!! A huge congratulations to the Ra Endurance team as well.... Matthew Gadsby placed 1st Heavyweight and BC and Marion Lengronne placed 3rd Middleweight in the AERA 80km ride, while Paul Lengronne placed 5th Open in the FEI* 80km. Well done all!

And thanks to Shane Hopkins who, as usual, was the backbone of the Splendacrest team. And thanks also to Ted Fitzgerald who stayed at home this weekend and fed all my horses here..... great effort guys! My youngest rider, Britt Geddes, also accompanied us and was the greatest strapper ever!! Thanks Britt!!

All in all this was one of the most difficult rides we have ever attended, but our results speak to the teamwork and dedication that the Splendacrest riders put into everything they do. I am very proud of everyone, and all our wonderful horses!

The World Endurance Championship (WEC) race over 160km was held in Malaysia on Friday 8th/Saturday 9th November.  The race commenced at 5:30pm local time on Friday, with the winner completing early Saturday morning.

ESPN Star covered the race, and I was able to watch the entire thing live!  Although there was a huge storm, with lightning strikes which knocked out the transmission for a time, the coverage was excellent, and proved that endurance CAN be a spectator sport after all!

USA saddlemaker Dave Kaden's commentary was good, as was the Malaysian commentator Peter Abisheganaden.  It was also good to hear from Steph Teeter, Zulu and various other interesting people.  The effort made by ESPN Star to do the 'live cross' to interview participants was excellent, and I'm sure that better methods of reporting endurance riding will be found in the future.  But for this effort, I'd like to congratulate ESPN Star!

The Australian team lost 4 out of our 6 riders during the race, with Derek Armitage vetting out after the first leg, Matthew Sample vetting out after the 4th leg, Brook Sample withdrawing after the 5th leg, and Meg Wade vetting out after the 5th leg.  Penny Toft went on to complete in 18th placing, and Kristie McGaffin took out the 19th place.

The race winner was Maria Mercedes Alvarez Ponton of Spain, riding "Nobby" in a time of 8:48:06, a huge effort in the heat and humidity of Malaysia!  The individual Silver Medal went to Augustin Vita of Argentina, riding barack Ibn Al Tamah in a time of 8:57:55, and the individual Bronze Medal went to Sultan Ahmed Sultan Bin Sulayem of the UAE riding Tazoul El Parry in 9:09:31.

In the Teams event, the Gold Medal went to the UAE team, the Silver to Qatar, and the Bronze to Bahrain.

Two of the four horses on the Gold Medal winning UAE team commenced their endurance careers at Splendacrest Endurance Training!  Splendacrest Kamouflage finished in 4th position, ridden by HH Shk Majid Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, in a time of 9:14:42, while Zakah Zahara finished in 6th position, ridden by Mubarak Kalifa Bin Shafya, in a time of 9:21:39.

The grey horse in the front of the field is Zakah Zahara, leading the pack out at the start of the race.  Splendacrest Kamouflage is the chestnut horse behind and just to the left of Zak.

Zakah Zahara (number 120) and Splendacrest Kamouflage (number 6) on track at the World Endurance Championship race.

WOW! 

The 2008 Nanango Tom Quilty Gold Cup ride has been run and won by Meg Wade on China Doll!  With over 200 entries, dozens of volunteers, hundreds of spectators, and a cast of thousands of strappers/crew/kids/families/supporters, this ride will go down in history as one of the most exciting Quiltys EVER!
 
The Splendacrest Team arrived at the Nanango Showgrounds on the Wednesday before the event, and settled the horses in.  During the day our foreign riders also arrived, to be amazed at the scene before them!  Takeshi Ito, Satomi Kitamura, and Riyo Noyori (all from Japan), and Kim Fuess and Charisse Glenn (from USA), were joined by Liz Cullam (from Western Australia), and welcomed to the Splendacrest camp.  And what a campsite we had!  A large marquee, complete with flashing coloured lights and all the comforts of home, together with a secure and well-laid-out yard area for the horses made up the campsite.
 
Wednesday evening saw everyone welcomed to the 2008 Quilty with a cocktail party for our friends and neighbours, and much fun was had by all (along with a few laughs)!   Thursday dawned bright and warm:  just a taste of what was to come.  Everyone sorted out their horses and went out for a ride to look at the last phase of the track... a 14km loop.  During the day on Thursday there was also the opportunity for riders to attend a series of lectures hosted by the Australian Endurance Squad, which several of my riders took up and commented on the value of doing so.
 
On Thursday evening everyone was invited to the AERA Awards ceremony and a dance party to follow, with a very good band playing.  By all accounts this was a most successful evening, and the excitement continued when a stoush with a group of local hoons broke out.  But all ended well, and the music and dancing continued on into the wee hours.
 
Friday morning was also quite warm, and the final nominations were taken care of.  The entire secretarial team put together by the ride organisers was professional, friendly, warm and welcoming to everyone, and the nomination process proceded very smoothly.  Then it was off to the pre-ride Vetting, with Dr Brian Sheahan overseeing a group of about 20 Veterinarians from all over the country.  A smooth operation was managed by Chief Chief Steward Tom McCormack, ably assisted by Dorte Colja and Jeff Bonham amongst others.
 
The entire showgrounds then quietened down somewhat as the riders and strappers all tried to get some much-needed sleep prior to the ride commencing at 4am Saturday.  However I also noted many riders up and bright-eyed by 2am, waiting nervously for the start time! 
 
I relied heavily on my crew of helpers to assist with the saddling and preparation of the 11 horses in my care.  Thanks to Sam Dobson, Alissa and Steph Tulk, Jess Hewitt, Renae and Robert Kuhn, Mal Caldwell, Jan Kittel, Angela Head, Britt and Liz Geddes, Yuko Crease, Diane Wilson, Kristan Kershaw, Gesina and Horst Krause, Deb Jewell, and Kim's friend Cherry, for all capably carrying out their assigned duties throughout the ride!  We couldn't have made it without you all!
 
And they were off!!!!  Out of the brightly-lit arena and into the darkness of the early morning, over 200 horses quietly departed on their long and gruelling day.  The first two phases of the ride ended at an away Vet-check called "Treeby's", which was at the top of a long and tiring climb for both horses and riders.  Here we met our charges as they arrived, and were successful in getting all but one horse through the second Vet check.  Unfortunately Liz Cullam, riding Bullarto Fiorelli, was vetted out after 70kms with a slightly elevated heart rate (due to a VERY excited horse!).  The ride organisers had all the transportation of horses back to base camp very well organised, and Fiorelli was floated back to be checked out by the Treatment Vet there.  All was good however, and she was pronounced well and happy and returned immediately to her yard for a big feed! 
 
The third phase of the ride returned to the Nanango showgrounds, and here we had our first withdrawal of the day, with 16-year-old Lilonda Count Richael (Ricky) looking a bit tired after doing 100kms in the heat!  So unfortunately my great friend, Kim Fuess of the USA, only experienced part of the 2008 Tom Quilty!  Oh, but let me mention the heat!!!  It was HOT!  Very hot!  There were several casualties after the second and third legs due to the heat, and the water provided on track and at the Vet checks was used at a great rate of knots!  After all the remaining riders came back in off the fourth leg we suffered another Vet out when Aratahnes Galaxy (Chevy) was lame in the trot out, therefore knocking John Dugan out of the ride.   And it was at this stage that Riyo Noyori decided that she wasn't able to continue her ride, and therefore the great little Bulgari Bentley was withdrawn (looking great, and obviously able to continue easily!!).
 
I was just about to send our Japanese riders off onto the fifth leg, when a storm warning was posted, so I decided to hold them in camp until the storm passed, and BOY! was I glad I did!   The mother of all storms was suddenly upon us, and we all huddled under the marquee throughout the lightning and thunder, hail and rain that swirled all around us.  For over an hour we were deluged, and our thoughts and prayers were with those riders out on track with their horses.  I was extremely concerned because my two youngest riders, Tarni and Ingrid, were out there along with Charisse.  But then we heard excited screaming approaching through the storm, and Tarni and Ingrid appeared out of the rain with their horses, Splendacrest Dryad and Shaah, having finished the last leg of the ride in the storm.  We hastily put the horses into a secure yard, and then left them to their own devices....... no strapping measures taken, just hoping that they would survive the storm!   The girls were soaked and freezing (along with the rest of us), but that didn't stop their excitement at having completed the 160km course.
 
The rain finally abated, and with it came the news that Charisse was on her way in off track, so we eagerly awaited her arrival at the finish line.  She arrived with stories of lightning striking close by, and the biggest storm she'd ever seen!  Apparently she had decided to get off her mount, Bacchante Silver Lace, and run along the track to keep warm!  During the storm the Vetting area was totally closed down for 1.5 hours, and the ride officials decided to suspend the ride for that period of time, adding 1.5 hours to the total riding time to be allowed for completion.
 
We were finally able to vet the three horses through, and they all passed with flying colours.  So, Tarni and Ingrid had attained the coveted silver buckle of a Quilty completion!  Charisse still had the final leg of 14kms to do, as did Gerard Bou on Splendacrest Fiesta (owned by Shigeru Ogawa of Japan).  Both arrived back at the ride base on happy healthy horses, and both then vetted through easily.  Splendacrest rider Amanda Powell had been riding Summit Park Ras for Lisa Stone of Marburg Manor, and this combination also completed at this stage.  And we were now up to a total of 5 completions!
 
The remaining two Japanese riders, Takeshi Ito and Satomi Kitamura, took a little longer to complete the last two legs, but also arrived back at ride base with healthy happy horses, and both vetted through very well at the finish..... another 2 completions to add to our total!!!
 
So we finished the ride with 2 Vet Outs, 2 Withdrawals, and 6 Buckles from the horses in our camp, with an additional buckle gained by Amanda Powell on her borrowed mount.  Another Japanese rider, Yukinobi Horiuchi riding Pinfeather owned by Alwyn Torrenbeek, was also successful in gaining his first Quilty buckle!   All in all, a very good result, and one that I am very proud of!  
 
At the presentation ceremony on Sunday afternoon, the final results were posted, with our riders placing as follows:
 
Ingrid Ambrosiussen riding Shaah:  4th Junior in 14:03
Tarnia Kittel riding Splendacrest Dryad:  13th Middleweight in 14:03
Gerard Bou riding Splendacrest Fiesta: 26th Middleweight in 16:20
Amanda Powell riding Summit Park Ras: 9th Lightweight in 16:22
Charisse Glenn riding Bacchante Silver Lace:  29th Middleweight in 18:06
Takeshi Ito riding Splendacrest Perfection:  50th Middleweight in 21:53
Satomi Kitamura riding Mt Eerwah Silver Mariner: 23rd Lightweight in 21:53

I couldn't have managed this ride at all without the help of Shane Hopkins, who drove two loads of horses to Nanango and back home again!  Thanks Shane!