Exactly six weeks after my arrival in Namibia I was riding in my first Endurance ride ever, I and Ibn Scorpion, two green horns on a steep learning curve. Gallant was on his first ride too but Di had ridden many rides previously and her daughter Anna Wucher had represented Namibia in the 2010 Kentucky world Championships after spending a year there to qualify.
Di has all the gear, experience and horses but no time to regularly train them. She had bought the horses a little over a year before, had them broken in, ridden for a for weeks then they were turned out to run on 2600 hectares of Namibian bushveld (bush field) which is basically wild African bush with a few fences in it. Wild animals come and go as they please, some over the plain wire fences, some under, others through. There are also about 200 head of cattle running on the property but most of the gates are open so the horses had a year of freedom… until I came along.
The horses were in good health and walking fit but I had to make sure their back muscles became accustomed to carrying a rider and improve their aerobic fitness. Each had their own character – Ibn Scorpion, the Anglo-Arab was always eager to go, ears pricked and a fast walker, Gallant , pure Arabian with a strong tall build was more laid back and Sahara, almost pure Arab mare was extremely suspicious and nervous. She developed a cough after some unusually persistent days of rain so her riding was mostly about exploration and building mutual trust with very little aerobic work. We pottered about ‘off piste’ avoiding wart hog holes, looking for oryx, kudu and mountain zebra.
No longer being a spring chicken means I have to use extra brain cells to compensate for less physical prowess so it wasn’t long before I trained by riding and leading Ibn Scorpion and Gallant alternately. I started by short rides up to 5km building up to 10km and finally a 20km ride 7 days before the scheduled event. Not ever having trained for or ridden in Endurance races before I was literally riding by the seat of my pants. There was never any pressure from Di to compete and we both discussed that she make the entries but if there was any doubt, we could withdraw the horse or horses at any stage.
In accordance with current F.E.I. rules novice horses have to complete a number of rides of shorter distances over a period of two years before they are eligible to compete in the One, Two and Three Star events – 100km, 120km and 160km. We decided we may as well try to start qualifying them so entered the 40km race rather than the unofficial 30Km. If they were stressed in any way we could withdraw them half way at 20 Km. Veterinary checks are compulsory and comprehensive throughout.
The horses were only grazing on nutritious African grasses and holding their condition well so I decided to leave any supplementary feeding until after the event. Making any feeding changes in the last weeks was too risky and I would start them afterwards as winter approached.
We drove the 200km south from Windhoek to Gobabis on the Friday prior to the racing as registration started from 10am and the Pre competition veterinary check was from 3pm. Di was riding in Novice “No Weight” 40km, while I was in the Novice Standard Weight with a minimum of 70kg including saddle; we were not competing directly against each other but could ride together.
I couldn’t tell if my sweating was the hot sun, nerves or a hot flush – maybe all three. I felt like I was at my first pet show with Jenny my Shetland pony (which was a long time ago), not knowing where to go, what to do, where to line up.
Everybody started to congregate for the Veterinary inspection and the ‘boys’ were remarkably well behaved amongst the melee. I was aware of quite a few red ribbons on tails warning us to stay back from testy mares, yellow ribbons for stallions. Each horse has an F.E.I. registration book with rides to be recorded, descriptions, etc. Some horses are micro chipped. Di has a corporate rider registration so I was riding under her banner. There was also a printed sheet that would be used to record each of the Veterinary checks on each stage of the race.
The vet from South Africa checked for pulse which must be lower than 64 beats per minute at every check, dehydration, anaemia, back soreness, lameness, etc. The horses are lead at the trot up a 20m lane and return. They must trot easily and you are not allowed to encourage them with anything so teaching them to lead freely was one thing I had to get right before we could even start the race. They both trotted beautifully at all vet checks. Phew!
Gallant had thrown a shoe the day before and showed same lameness before we loaded him on the float however once replaced by the duty farrier on site it he was fine.
We had planned to fence the horses on the plentiful grass with an electric fence unit but Di discovered much to her chagrin that the battery pack had ‘disappeared’, probably at the same time as a previous worker, so we had to pen them and get our groom Stanley to cut grass with a sickle for them. They settled quite well despite the surrounding hustle and bustle.
The race briefing the evening before was conducted entirely in Afrikaans except for when the Club President surprised me in English, announcing that I was a visiting “international rider”. How embarrassing! I quietly threatened to get even with Di.
It is obvious that Endurance Racing in Namibia is family affair with most people knowing each other from years on the circuit, there being about one event per month throughout the late autumn and winter. It is the first competition that I have ever entered where there has been a bible reading followed by a group prayer. Can’t hurt to have some help from above I guess, although I suspect I’ll be heading down below – more fun with all my friends there.
Competitors entered in the 160km race were scheduled to leave at 2 a.m.; yes, you read correctly, two o’clock in the morning under what was hopefully moonlight. Our 40km ride was to leave at 6.30am, just after dawn. Talk about dedication to the sport! Stanley had slept on the grounds in the horse float so he could check the horses, feed and water them earlier than early… he was still sleeping when we got there just after 5.30a.m. How come they can talk for hours on mobile phones but not know how to use the alarm clock setting?
We saddled up and made our way to the start line with eight other riders in the 40km ride. This ride started on the edge of a small country town and the various planned routes followed tracks on the outskirts. Di and I decided we should set good habits for the horses and keep the horses very quiet until the others were about 20m before us.
It wasn’t long before we wanted to pass some moving at slower paces, a stallion with a yellow ribbon and a mare with red, beware! Rules are like the Namibian road, overtake on the right. There were also horses returning from other laps coming directly towards us on the track – pass right hand to right hand.
Scorpion’s eyes were popping at all this including the half tyres painted to mark the colour coded lap and directions. Our first lap was ‘orange’ which also looked very close to red but we didn’t get lost. Di insisted I was wore the GPS. I had used it a couple of times while training but I didn’t have much clue so was reading miles per hour instead of kilometres. I am not usually so technologically challenged but luckily my senses told me the speed didn’t look right so I ended up calculating the time taken against the distance covered to estimate we were not exceeding the maximum 16km/hr for novice horses.
Di had only ridden Gallant about four times before the race so she was nervous, holding the reins too firm and he reacted by pulling. I coached her along, getting her to relax and he responded by doing the same until they were both having fun.
I meantime, was having massive problems with my near side stirrup and leather on the western style saddle. It kept twisting forward from the outside leaving me riding on the tip of my big toe only. With the leather safety ‘cup’ I couldn’t even ram my foot in harder to offset the twist. The pain on my dicey, much injured and operated knee was too much so I took my foot out and practically rode the 40Km on one stirrup. The saddle is relatively new and had caused issues while training so I had oiled the leathers before we raced – obviously not enough. Lesson learned; do not use gear you are not 100% comfortable with.
Both horses were awesome for such inexperienced beginners and DI was rapt with their behaviour. Coming in to the end of the first lap four riders behind us rode right up our bums (and I mean VERY close) which did nothing for our horses heart rates. Might be a good tactic to put red ribbons on the horses next time, if only to make riders keep their distance…
Coming up the finish of the first lap we had to dismount before crossing the finish line so our provisional lap time would be taken; actual lap time is taken when you get to the Veterinary check. Before going to the veterinary check it is imperative to get the horse’s heart rate to below 64 beats per minute, or the horse is eliminated, and you have 20 minutes from crossing the line to get to there. The ultimate endurance racer has to cross the line chilled in every possible way to get to that vet check a.s.a.p. They, of course, also have to be sound with no soreness anywhere, hydrated, willing to trot, etc.
Di had arranged large containers in the ‘grooming area’ full of water, plastic jugs, sweat scrapers, sponges etc. to help bring down the heart rates. Each horse responds differently but I suspect quiet moving with water sluiced on and scraped off might be best, which would require a team of experienced grooms that we didn’t have. Even wanting to pee and not, can send heart rates flying and they shouldn’t eat – apparently that sends it up too.
Scorpion’s heart rate was slow coming down from 76 and one helpful, but somewhat disapproving older man with a pulse meter kept repeating, “You have to groom him!” Groom him? How will brushing help? Talk about foreign country, foreign language! What he meant was, throw water over him to cool him, stand him into the breeze, anything that helps his heart rate go down.
Further to ‘grooming’, I completely misunderstood what was actually going on at this point with ‘provisional lap time’, ‘actual lap time’, ‘slip time’, ‘mandatory rest time’ – of 45 minutes. We also had a few paperwork issues to deal with but it was all the clearer for the experience. Scorpion’s rate did drop and we did complete the vet check with no problems however our ‘slip time’ of 12 minutes meant our competitors with little or no ‘slip time’ started their second lap ahead of us.
We started on our second 20km ‘white lap’ with the horses still quite fresh and at least we had no one riding up our bums – we were last. My stirrup was a fraction better for being a hole shorter but certainly not perfect so I just had to grit it through; never mind I could hardly walk for the next week or so. At about 15km we had caught up to riders in front; they were inconsistent, trotting, cantering and then back to walk for no reason. Di said it was best to keep a steady trot and some canter so we just pushed past them and kept going.
Scorpion even seemed to sweat less on this lap, maybe he was more relaxed helped by the cooling head breeze. These are all things endurance riders keep in mind; the serious competitors also ride with pulse metres on their horses the entire time.
Final race time is taken crossing over the line, this time in the saddle and we had 20 minutes to get to the vet check with the horse’s pulse rate below 64. No problems this time when I knew more about ‘grooming’. It is all about time and rates, and endurance of course.
Because of our slip time our first lap, we only averaged at 12.45 km/h but our second lap was a respectable 16.87 for average 14.66 over the 40km. And both horses were sound and happy, if a little tired. Not bad for tough horses that had only been in work for 6 weeks.
We stayed for some hours longer to watch the longer distance riders finish their FEI races. I saw some tired riders, one even vomiting while waiting for the vet check prior to the last 30km of the 160km ride. She had been racing for more than 12 hours, including rests between laps.
I know of no other competition where horses are monitored so thoroughly and regularly. No spurs, whips, long reins or any other form of coercion is allowed at any time, while racing or at the vet check. Some horses were eliminated because of sight lameness; when a horse exhibits any possible sign of soreness, three of the vets take a vote as to whether it can continue.
I can see why this sport has its attractions. This particular area did not have any wildlife popping out of the bush but there are some races where riders come around the corner face to face with a rhino, or kudu… or wart hog! Now that would add another dimension – flying through the air!
As the horses and riders completed the last lap over the finish line, Vangelis Chariots of Fire blasts out across the sound system. Can’t help but bring a tear to the eye after 100 plus kilometres of racing – sniff.
Farissah Adventures 