The most recent test event for next year’s WEG was yesterday’s endurance race … and endure they did, both the horses and the riders. We’ve had an oddly wet October here in Lexington, and yesterday’s weather varied from pouring rain to misty and windy, with temps that never climbed out of the 40s. It’s usually the safety and well-being of the horses that is topmost in everyone’s mind during an endurance race, but I read in the newspaper this morning that one of the riders was treated for hypothermia at the first vet check. The track, which wound through the Horse Park and a dozen or so neighboring and nearby farms, turned into slippery grass and/or sloppy mud in most places.
There were actually two races being contested at the same time: a CEI** of 120 km (approx. 75 miles) and a CEI*** of 160 km (approx. 100 miles). In the end, the 3-star event was reduced to 120 km as well because the conditions were becoming dangerous, with horses slipping and sliding too much in the mud and, as one vet said, a lot of “low-level lameness” showing up in the vet checks.
It had all started well enough, with a big, impressive first horse inspection on Tuesday in the new outdoor arena. Horses were presented in teams, or by nation. Six jogging lanes arranged side by side allowed for several horses to be inspected at any one time. Because the sport of endurance depends so much on purely objective factors — whether the horse is fit to continue — the judges here are all veterinarians.
Over to the side, away from the jogging lanes, riders were being weighed with their tack.
In a fantastic show of international support for this test event and, we can only hope, for the WEG itself, riders from 23 countries competed at this event. They came from all over the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, and Africa. Some brought their own horses and some borrowed or leased them (this is a fairly typical practice in endurance, unlike many of the other WEG sports).
I didn’t make it out to the start/finish line yesterday to watch everyone leave in the early-morning gloom (and pouring rain), but I did make it just in time in the afternoon to hear the announcer welcome the first-place finisher in the 2-star event. Of course, crossing the finish line first doesn’t mean that you’ve won the race. Once over the line, there is a final cool-down period and a final vet check. Even at the end, the horse must be declared by the vets to be “fit to continue” before it’s officially done for the day. Surprisingly, given the mud and water one had to slop through to get to the back field where the finish line, vet check lanes, two-story VIP “party” tent, food vendors, etc, were set up, there were quite a lot of people there.
This morning, I happened in to the awards ceremony in the Horse Park’s covered arena. There had been a delay in getting things started, which allowed the crowd to continue to enjoy the huge breakfast spread that had been laid out for them (hot egg casserole, scones, croissants, yogurt, fruit, juice, coffee).
In the 2-star event, 22-year-old HE Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, son of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (ruler of Dubai; husband of the FEI president, Princess Haya; and horse- and land-owner here in Kentucky), won the race with a ride time of six hours, five minutes, and thirty seconds. The ride time, of course, doesn’t indicate the actual time elapsed on course. During each event, there are a number of vet checks (also known as gates). When the horse and rider arrive at the check, the rider jumps off and the crew strips the saddle and begins cooling the horse down. Once the horse’s heart rate has reached the maximum allowed (64 bpm), he is checked by a veterinarian. Once deemed “fit to continue,” the horse enters a mandatory rest period of either 30 or 50 minutes. When that’s done, out they go again.
The medals in the KY Cup event (the 3-star) were all won by American women. Danielle McGunigal (daughter of endurance superstar Valerie Kanavy) won the gold medal with a ride time of 6:30:41. Ellyn Rapp won the silver medal with a ride time of 6:52:16; and Jan Worthington won the bronze medal (and her mount, Golden Lightning, won the Best Conditioned Award) with a ride time of 7:01:33.
The poignant moment in the awards ceremony came when we all were asked to stand for the national anthem … and the music wouldn’t play. So everyone in the audience sang the Star-Spangled Banner instead of just humming along.
The Slower Road 