On God's Horse

Monday September 13 2010

"You should have seen him! He trotted out like God's Horse!" Richard said, of Dougal's pre-ride vet in at Le Grand Luce. Dougal powered up and down the trotting lane, neck arched, looking all around, floating on air. Like he usually does. At one ride he actually got applause from the onlookers.

I'd gotten a somewhat mysterious text from Nicky just before I arrived at the venue, "Are you at the ride yet and is Dougal ok!"

Apparently, when Richard rode out on Mr Ox to start his 40 km ride, God's Horse, in a 3-strand tape pen back at the trailer (waiting to start his 20 km ride with me a couple of hours later), took off straight through the tape and ran through ridecamp, then strutted back to the trailer where he was caught. Apparently he was announcing to all present, "I am God's Horse and I am back!"

Dougal had not done an endurance ride since 2007, when his career was interrupted by a blackthorn which punctured his ankle above the fetlock, which became infected and took a very long time to heal. This would be his first endurance ride since then.

Dougal's 12 now. He had been in one of Shaikh Mohammed's Arabian racing stables, destined to be a racehorse... but he was possibly tried on the track at 3 and found to not be fast enough (he's built unlike a sleek Arabian racehorse - he's more bulky), and he was turned out in a field for 3 years. Team Nellie - Nicky Freud and Richard Allen - bought him as a 6-year-old, and re-broke him.

Dougal turned out to be fast enough on the endurance tracks - since he started endurance at 7, he'd won 3 rides, finished second 3 times, was third once, and fourth once. He'd gotten a bit of a reputation because of his good record; and Dougal simply knew he was King of All Horses. It's not a conceit he exudes, but a supreme confidence.

So I felt a somewhat large responsibility to ride this majestic horse correctly in our 20 km ride today.(Dougal didn't have to go only 20 kilometers at set speed, but I did, since I'd never done an official endurance ride in France, and I am not a USEF member nor FEI rider.) And luckily, we'd be riding our first (and only) 20 km loop with Richard and Mr Ox on their second 20 km loop (of 40 km total).

All riders and horses in France have go through this endurance qualification procedure (and many European countries have the same, or similar steps): a 20 km ride, a 40 km ride, a 60 km ride, and a 90 km ride, all at set speed, between 12 and 15 km/h (7.5 - 9.3). After successful completions of these, you must do a 'free speed' 90 km ride before you can compete in a 90 km CEI* race - and on up to the 160 km CEI***.

In the set speed rides, you have a 'start time' - meaning you can start at (for example) 10 AM... or an hour or two later. Finish placements are determined by your horse's final heartrate and your finish time (within the alloted 12-15 km/h - you will be eliminated for finishing too fast, even if your horse might have an ending heartrate of 28 bpm).

I can gauge a pace fairly well in my head, from 6 mph to 12 mph, but it would be good to have Richard to ride with, since he knew Dougal well and how fit he was. It really took all pressure off me and allowed me to, simply, have a fantastic ride on the King of All Horses!


We headed for the "Depart," where Dougal followed Mr Ox out onto the trail - and then he quickly took over the lead, and headed happily down the trail, ears pricked forward, bounding along in the lightest, softest, most comfortable canter a horse could ever do. It was impossible to get lost, as temporary signposts marked the 20-km blue loop every kilometer, though Dougal seemed to know just where he was going anyway.

We followed good bridle trails past farms and through forests, paved roads through villages and onto old country lanes. Volunteers directed us across roads or through villages, and at one spot they took our numbers (which Richard had to call out for me, because I can only count to ten in French!)

I could feel Dougal beneath me, truly loving the ride as much as I was - and Richard thoroughly enjoyed watching him - his ears, his eyes, his expression; his front feet shooting out in front of him like pistons, attacking the trail, but moving lightly, and not tugging on the reins.


That all changed when some stallion had the audacity to catch up with us and pass us. Some nerve! Dougal was insulted. I had my hands full for a while, convincing Dougal we weren't going to race after him and pass him back up. After a while and a couple of corners through a village we could no longer see the stallion, but Dougal knew he was still up there and he remained incensed for a while.

We came to a couple of crewing stops where - as is the norm here in Europe, our crew (Nicky, Selina, Graham and Elsa) met us on the road, where they handed us bottles of water to dump on our horses to cool them down. The day wasn't hot, but Mr Ox was not the fittest he could be, and Dougal was slightly on the pudgy (but still ever so majestic) side, so the water was refreshing for them. However, Dougal thought one bottle of water was quite enough, and the subsequent bottles were wasting time where he could have been assaulting the trail.

Ten utterly delightful kilometers flew by, and another nine - and suddenly the "Arrivee 1 km" sign indicated we had one kilometer till the end of this lovely ride on this terrifically fun horse.


And then with just a half a kilometer left, suddenly behind us on this single track lane, someone was yelling. I speak not a dozen words of French but there was no mistaking what she meant, "'Scuse me, coming through!" She was racing for the finish of the 90 km ride. Uh oh! I managed to get Dougal off the trail, and she galloped past, without Dougal getting too aggravated.

Until 5 seconds later, when another voice came yelling from behind with the same sense of urgency.

Oh no! Dougal was not about to let a second horse race past him without a fight. I tried every which way I could to move him over, but I could not get Dougal out of the trail. I yanked on his right rein, I gouged his left side with my heel, but as I managed to wrestle his head to the right off the trail, he threw his butt into the trail to block that oncoming horse.

There was yelling (from the galloping rider). There was a commotion (did he fall off?). There was cursing (I think that was from me) and apologizing (definitely me). There was snarling (from Dougal). I don't know what happened, other than I stayed in the saddle. I don't remember getting Dougal off the trail, I don't remember if we spun around, but at some point I looked up, and the boy had gotten by, picking up a gallop again and chasing after the girl.

We heard a few moments later over the loudspeakers that he had finished second (and first place got a Gaston Mercier saddle!). I hoped he wasn't going to hunt me down and pummel me, but in fact, we saw him later, and he apologized! Dougal, on the other hand, was clearly unrepentant. This same young man had beaten Richard and Dougal in a race a couple of years ago, so clearly Dougal had carried a grudge and was exacting his revenge.


We trotted on into camp, and Dougal and I (and, of course, The Raven) strolled across the finish line, completing my first French endurance ride! Of course I was ready to go out on another couple of loops, but that was it for today. And it was a good physical and mental refresher for Dougal on his return to endurance. (Nicky said later, "I don't think he lost a pound!")

As soon as we got back to the trailer to unsaddle, Dougal's pulse was already down to 43. We all escorted Dougal and Mr Ox to the vet ring for their final vet check 30 minutes after crossing the finish line. Dougal stood there almost bored as the vet checked him over and took his pulse, but then as Richard trotted him out for the vet, the King of All Horses, "The Champ," as Richard and Nicky like to refer to him, came alive. He lifted his head high and spread his hind legs wide for a big power trot, showing off, shaking the earth like God's Horse, attacking the trot out like he'd attacked the trail today.


At the awards ceremony, the ride management was kind enough to not just acknowledge my presence as a foreign rider, coming to ride in their 20 km ride (and mention my Tevis Cup finish : ), but, besides the goodie bag we all got (Tshirt, baseball cap, plaque, fold-up hoofpick, tub of little rubber bands, bag of horse treats), they presented me with a special bottle of white wine made in this very region! (Also after the final vetting, each horse got its own goodie bag of apples!)


It was a fun experience, on a delightful horse who was a blast to ride. Thanks to everybody who put on Le Grand Luce, thanks Carol Arthur for getting me a French riding license, thanks Nicky and Richard - and many to thanks to God's Horse, for the great ride!

Ready To Ride

Sunday September 12 2010

At Le Grand Luce today, I'm riding a 20 km ride on Dougal; Richard is riding a 40 km ride on Mr Ox, a new horse Richard and Nicky bought for their client Selina.

Selina and her husband Graham and charming daughter Elsa drove down from England yesterday to watch and help crew.

The way these qualifying rides work is: you sign up for a distance, you show up on the day, vet in, and take off down the trail whenever you want. You have a minimum and maximum speed in which to do your ride, which I believe is 12-14 km/h (7.5-8.5 mph). There's no mass start for any ride but a 'starred' ride - i.e. the 90km CEI* ride will have an 8 AM starting time.

Nicky and Richard were going to turn me loose on Dougal to do my own thing, but I was happy to hear that Richard will try to time it to have completed his first loop of the 40 km and vetted through, and meanwhile Nicky will have vetted Dougal in so I can ride my only loop with Richard on his second loop. Dougal's an easy and fun horse to ride, but he's not my horse, and I don't want to cause him to put a foot wrong!

And most interesting (and odd) for me is that I will be crewed out on course! Nicky and Selina and Graham will meet us out on crew points to dump water on Dougal to cool him down. Heck, normally I'm lucky if I have crew helping me in vet checks, but that's what they do here.

Nicky and Richard and Selina have pulled out with the horses; Graham and Elsa and I will soon follow. The ride is an hour and a half down the road. We'll be following soon.

On the Other Hand...

Saturday September 11 2010

Yes, there is a lot of French beaurocracy involved in getting a French endurance license to ride just 20 kilometers.

On the other hand, if I happen to get hurt riding in Sunday's 20 km ride, or if I happen to get hurt in any endurance-related activity, during a ride while training anywhere in France (and possibly elsewhere - I haven't confirmed that, though that seems somewhat unlikely) from now until next September or December (for at least a year), I am covered by insurance.

And while it may seem ridiculous that I can only start out at 20 km here, despite being overqualified in the US, the system also serves to protect the horses. An inexperienced rider can't just go out and ride a qualified horse 160 km, nor can a horse go out and just start on a 160 km ride without working his way up. I can hear some saying That's Takin My Freedom Away, but, it does prevent some unhappy scenarios for horses who would not be capable of completing a ride without problems. We all have seen that happen at some point.

My 20 km ride starts at noon tomorrow, and it's about 1 1/4 hour's drive from here.

Here's Richard putting on Dougal's glue-on boots behind.

A French Endurance Ride!

Friday September 10 2010

"Let me see - is it easier to ride Tevis or ....... get a licence in France to be able to ride 20km at Le Grand Luce? Which do you think?" asked Carol Arthur, who runs a French riding club, and who's been helping to get me a French endurance riding license.

The answer is: it was much easier riding Tevis!

If one is not an FEI rider, which I am not, one does not just waltz into France and expect to do an 80 km (50 mile) ride like one is accustomed to doing. One does not do a 40 km (25 mile) ride. One does a 20 km. Doesn't help if you try to flash your 4000 AERC miles or your Tevis buckle. One starts off with a 20 km ride. (Twelve miles!)

And that only after some fancy footwork by a number of people. Before I could even apply to get a French endurance riding license, a doctor had to affirm that I am capable. Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring along such a letter from my doctor saying I was alive and kicking. I had her write that I am "capable of participating in extreme sports which would include hang-gliding, mountain climbing and endurance riding to a distance of 100 miles." (You know, just in case I have a hankering to join a climb up Mont Blanc, France's highest peak at 15,771 ft or jump off said mountain in a hang-glider.)

Unfortately, I didn't ask for the precise wording in the letter, so it had to be redone by a French doctor, who I had to go see. Next, Nicky Freud had to arrange for me to get a club license, which was done with Carol via emails, and - I am now qualified to ride 12 miles in France on Dougal, one of Nicky's horses! (Who, by the way, has already competed in 120 and 140 km rides.)

Don't even ask me to explain all the French endurance riding divisions (for example, at the 160-km Florac ride this weekend there are a CEI3*, a CEN3* Amateur and a CEN3* Pro, all at 160km) - for I will be riding 20 kilometers - 12 miles - on Sunday at Le Grand Luce. Stay tuned!

Les Ecuries du Roc'h

Monday September 6 2010

Even when he was a teenager, Allan Leon knew exactly what he wanted to do. "He was completely focused on endurance, something it was somewhat 'unfashionable' for a teen to get into," says Nicky Freud, fellow endurance rider and trainer. "He was a good rider, and he could have gone into eventing or show jumping, something with a bit more glamour in it, but he was totally set on endurance."

At 31 he's still young, but don't let his tender age fool you. Allan is still passionate about endurance, and he has learned quite a lot about what he's doing through hard work and dedication.


Les Ecuries du Roc'h ('Rocky Stables') are the endurance and sport horse stables owned by Allan Leon and his parents Christian and Sylvie, located in Brittany in the northwest of France.

If you can catch Allan between riding out on his endurance horses, he'll be happy to show you around. "I started out riding when I was 9, for pleasure," he says. It wasn't until several years later that he discovered endurance and did his first endurance ride.

His first horse was not an Arabian. The French Trotter Falpasse du Vivier took Allan on 7 seasons of endurance rides, and in their 29 rides together, they had only one elimination. As Allan's riding experience grew, so did his knowledge. He did an internship in England with a jumping and racing trainer of Thoroughbreds; he worked in the south of France at an endurance stable; he worked as a rider in Dubai for a season; he advised and assisted the Malaysian team - including the King of Malaysia - in Europe in 2006, and in Malaysia in the pre-ride for the Malayasian World Endurance Championship in 2008.

In his work and travels he met the Bahraini endurance team; they gave him a couple of horses from the Royal Stables to train, and he did well enough for them that he was given some more. Now he trains around 10 for them at any one time, one of 3 French trainers to do be doing so.


Les Ecuries du Roc'h is tidy, unpretentious, comfortable, and practical - a barn with a half-dozen stalls and shower-solarium, numerous big paddocks, outdoor arena, and a walking machine. Even riding out 3 horses a day, and with 2 other riders helping him, with all the horses Allan has to train, the walker has become invaluable in his training program, like many of the top trainers around the world have put to use. "Without this walker, I would not be able to train all these horses!"

Allan now has 22-25 horses in full time training (less than a dozen of his own - the rest are for clients) - and about 25 others for breeding, or growing up before they begin their training. The horses in his spacious paddocks (from France, Australia, Bahrain, England, etc) look well-fed and well cared for. Any horse overridden or injured in a ride he'll say to the owner "talk to me in a year" - and the owners will defer to him.

He knows his stuff - he qualifies horses starting at the 20 km distance and he trains horses up to the 160 km distance; he can advise one on what to look for in an endurance horse as to best size, conformation, and breeding.

He has a great sense of humor and he isn't particularly reverent about anybody, because he is confident in what he is doing - and his record speaks for itself. And - if you do factor in his tender age - you'll see he's got a whole lifetime of endurance ahead of him.