Going Dutch (Endurance) I

Friday – Saturday, August 3-4 2007

It was a training weekend/get together for the Dutch riders, those hoping to go to the European Championships in Portugal in September, and a few others. The Raven and I joined them!

I drove with Jeanne and her mare Elana 3 hours south to Laandgraff in Holland – just across the border from Germany on Friday afternoon. Jeanne's horse Macho is fine – shows no lameness after the Libramont ride - but he didn't need to do any training this weekend. Jeanne brought Elana to ride – she'd done some endurance on her, before it was discovered she had a heart murmur, and now she just rides her for pleasure and breeds her – and I'd be riding a horse of Carmen Romer's.

The horses were bedded down at the stables of Carmen's father Lei – crew extraordinaire and biggest fan of his young daughter Carmen's endurance career. Lei's stables are tucked right into the middle of an industrial area – which backs up against miles of forest full of riding trails – and in fact his stables are a part of his business, which is building stables and stalls. He also designed an automatic feeder that dispenses food in small amounts to horses 8 times a day, for a week at a time, and he sold them to stables in the UAE, an accomplishment he's very proud of. He's always busy – building, designing, training, riding, endurance endurance endurance. “I no longer know the line between my work and my hobby! My customers are my friends, my friends are my customers. It's good,” he said with a smile.

Nine riders showed up for the weekend – Jeanne, Karin Stirrus, Jarmilla Lakeman, Marjolein Vos, Jannet van Wijk (I met her in Florac), Barbara Pearse (I met her in Malaysia, with Jeanne), Janet Lam, Suzann van Rijswijk, and Anita Lamsma, (who I'd be going to visit next), plus the team veterinarian Dr Ben Horsmans, team farrier Arnold Grund, and chef d'equipe Mechteld Gerding. We bunked at a nice boyscout camp facility in the forest just down the road.

These training weekends are held about twice a year, says Mechteld, to get the Dutch riders together. “They are spread out all over Holland, and some may see each other at rides throughout the year, say hi, and talk a little bit, but then leave. Here they can all get together for a while, get to know each other, ride together, the horses can get used to each other.” Mechteld would be picking the team for the European Championship in Portugal in September – 6 horse-rider combinations, of which 4 would be on the team and 2 would ride individually. With input from team veterinarian Dr Horsmans after his inspections and opinions, and looking at the horse's past performances and abilities, and watching how the riders ride, she'd be making her decision.

Jarmila is the only Junior rider; she started endurance riding 4 years ago, and has ridden in Holland, Germany, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Bahrain. She finished school, is spending the summer with Anita and Eric Lamsma, rides horses for Anita and for Carmen, works in an endurance tack shop, and eats, lives and breathes endurance. She's going to Australia to stay with Brooke Sample's family for 6 months to learn endurance riding Aussie style.

Carmen, 22, rode her first endurance ride in 1995. And what an endurance career she's had as a Junior! In 1996 and 1997, when the Dutch Championships were awarded by points (instead of one championship ride), she was Dutch champion. This was on a very good mare, Glenn Allen Sheida (she'd previously won the Quilty twice), obtained from Meg Wade. The mare is 28 now, and they got one foal out of her, Luna R, who's 6 now and is so far is looking to have some of her mother's ability.

Carmen is now also riding another good mare, Fadila R, on whom she won this year's Czechoslovakian Junior European Championships. Carmen's ridden the last few years in the Junior and Senior divisions, gaining a lot of valuable experience. In 2005 alone, she rode in Holland, France, Bahrain, Germany, Australia, 7 championships altogether, and didn't finish in only one of them. She will no longer ride as a Junior this year, but she should fit right in with the seniors in the open division, with her experience and her good horses. She'll be riding Fadilah R in Kreuth, Germany next weekend in the 80 km ride, in preparation for Portugal.

Marjolein is Anita Lamsma's sister; they, along with Jannet Van Wijk, won Team Bronze in the European Championships in Ireland in 2003.

The Dutch riders spent much time Friday evening, visiting, talking, over dinner and coffee, answering questions and discussing situations on endurance riding – trailering, crewing, training. After a slumber party in a big dorm room, (where everybody slumbered, not partied!), we got up early Saturday morning for a team aerobics training exercise. I went along, but I did not exercise so well, since I don't function well in the morning, unless it's lifting my coffee cup.

After breakfast, and over more coffee and tea, sports psychologist Dr Joep Teeken gave a talk about stress relief, and how riders might apply some techniques during the pressure of international competition.

Saturday afternoon, we went for a ride!

http://www.endurance.net/merri/stories/2007/08/going-dutch-endurance-i.html

Amsterdam

Wednesday August 1 2007

I must be one of the few tourists to visit Amsterdam without the goal of smoking pot. However, the Raven wanted to, so, we went to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, purchasing small amounts (5 grams) of cannabis is “tolerated.” I haven't found out if that means completely “legal,” but then, what harm is it going to do to a Raven? Really, it wasn't for me. I'd tried smoking hash once in Egypt (wait – is that legal? Talk to the headman of the village, who rolled the joints) and I just couldn't get it down into my lungs, and I coughed my lung linings up trying. It was worse than a cigarette, which feels like pouring burning tar down your lungs (wait – it IS burning tar!), which I also couldn't smoke. I just have pansy lungs, so, I'd leave smoking things to the Raven.

I'd informed Jeanne and Charles the night before of the Raven's plans, and we got to talking about Amsterdam. They talked about some of the tourist attractions, and mentioned coffeeshops. “Oh, yea!” I said. I was dreaming of a doppio espresso over ICE with a dollop of half and half at a Starbucks. Then I realized they were talking about Amsterdam COFFEESHOPS, not Coffeeshops. You can buy and smoke your small amounts of pot or hash in the myriad Coffeeshops, but my question was, “But do they serve coffee in the Coffeeshops??”

Charles and Jeanne didn't know. I said, “What, you Dutch aren't informed about these things in the Netherlands?” Said Charles, “Many people outside of Holland think all we Dutch do is wear clogs, eat pancakes, live in windmills and smoke pot all day. But we don't!” And I can assure you, they don't, at least these Dutch-landers. Between full time jobs, rebuilding their house, taking care of six horses (with 2 more boarded away), conditioning her endurance horse and attending endurance rides, they don't have time for coffeehouses and windmills. (Though, as a carpenter by trade, Charles used to restore windmills.)(And there are a few pairs of clogs outside their house.)

Jeanne dropped me off at the train station on her way to work in the town of Almelo. One problem I've had with a train in France and now a train in the Netherlands, when there is only a ticket machine instead of a ticket window, is that they only take one certain kind of credit card. Which I don't have. This one didn't even take cash. It would have been one long walk to Amsterdam, but for Jeanne using her credit card for me. We got my ticket, the Raven and I hopped on one train, changed to another halfway, and arrived in Amsterdam 2 hours later.

Amsterdam came into being in the late 12th century as a small fishing village. It grew into an important trading center, and in the 17th century was one of the most prosperous cities in the world, establishing trade with countries all over the world. Amsterdam's preeminence declined in the 1700's and 1800's, but began to prosper again after the beginning of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815.

Being known today as a city of tolerance perhaps has its roots in Dutch independence from Spain in the 1500's or 1600's. The Dutch Republic became a haven for religious refugees (except for Catholics, who had to worship in secret, as Amsterdam was a Catholic city before the Dutch revolted against the Spanish) and economic refugees.

The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, but were invaded in 1940 by Hitler. While the Germans installed a Nazi government in Amsterdam, many people risked their lives hiding Jews. Anne Frank and her family hid in a house just a short distance from the center of Amsterdam, for 2 years before they were betrayed and hauled off to a concentration camp. The apartment house still stands today, next door to a church (how ironic), and along a scenic canal.

The trademark Amsterdam canals were begun in the early 1600's. The original four main canals were built for residential development and for defense and water management. Other connecting canals were built for commercial development and transportation of goods. They're still used today, mainly by tourists.

And so, the Raven and I walked the city of Amsterdam, (I walked, he stuck his head out of my vest pocket), taking in the sights. The distinctive character of Amsterdam would have to be those picturesque canals reflecting 17th century houses; the Red-Light district where “window brothels” are legal and sport skimpily clad working women standing behind glass doors waiting for customers; the myriad coffeehouses; and, the bikes! Bicycling is a big part of the Netherlands, with a nationwide system of paths; and this cycling activity, or regular means of transport, is over the top in Amsterdam! You know how America has parking garages – well, Amsterdam has bike parking garages! Or at least several levels of parking ramps just for bikes. I wondered how people find their bikes after a day at work when there are 5000 other bikes next to each other! Sounds like another Seinfeld episode to me. Bikes also line every street and canal, crowd racks outside every coffeeshop and restaurant.

Well, on to a Coffeeshop. The Raven liked the looks of the Siberie, with its techno-pop music pumping out the open door, so in we went. While looking at the cannabis and hash Menu, I found out the answer to my question, yes, some Coffeeshops really DO serve coffee! I had two cappuchinos, while the Raven did his thing.

After that Raven adventure, I couldn't tell if the Raven was high, because he's always happy. He did, however, get the munchies, and then later he tried on clogs, which might be considered strange Raven behavior, but I'm not sure.

We put a few more foot miles on around the city, skipping the museums (the Vincent Van Gogh museum houses the largest collection of his drawings and paintings in the world) and canal boat tours, instead walking by Ann Frank's house. That line was too long, but it gave me pause to think, looking at their door, and the original little mirror on the building that allowed them to watch what was going on in the street. That dark time happened only 65 years ago... have we really come that far in ethnic tolerance since then? Or could something like that happen again? Is it happening now in some places?

And so ended our sojourn in the colorful city of Amsterdam. The Raven had a happy train ride back to Almelo, where Jeanne was waiting to pick us up.

Back home the weather was clear and mildly cool, and Charles barbequed pork and chicken to dip in Jeanne's fabulous peanut satay sauce. A delicious salad went with the cool beer, ending a nice day with wonderful Dutch company in the quiet countryside of Germany!

http://www.endurance.net/merri/stories/2007/08/amsterdam.html

Raven II Drives Germany!

Monday July 30 2007

Well this was a first – a first for the Raven horsing around in Germany, and a first time driving a carriage!

Jeanne had taken the day off to take me sightseeing; we went to the Het Loo Museum, the former palace of the Netherlands Royal Family, and then to eat a traditional Dutch meal: pancakes! These pancakes are made with egg and milk and flour, and are stuffed with whatever you want: meat, fruit, shrimp, garlic, just about anything. I ordered one with bacon in it... and wondered why he brought me bowls powdered sugar and thick maple syrup to pour on it, as you'd think that would go with the sweet pancakes. No, powdered sugar and maple syrup goes with kind of any pancake! Yum!

Charles came home from work early, and in the late afternoon we got Jeanne's Haflinger pony Storm ready to go out for a carriage ride! For Storm, after dressage and jumping competitions came endurance competition, but before all of that came pulling a carriage – he was broke to that before he was broke to ride.

He's built for pulling a carriage – big and stout – like a miniature Belgian draft horse. Jeanne did 5 years of endurance on him, “but he was really too big for endurance.” Looking at him from the front, you can see exactly what she means – he's very broad and heavy boned. But he handled everything that he did well, and he still pulls a mean carriage!

Charles rolled out the carriage, which hadn't been used in a year (“we used to go for a drive every Sunday, but now – no time!”) and dusted and sprayed it clean, and Jeanne brushed Storm (while the Raven watched) and got out his harness.

When he was all dressed out, Charles drove him to the waiting carriage, and backed him up, and Charles and Jeanne attached the carriage arms to his harness and fastened the buckles. It brought back my memories of the Percheron Slim and the carriage I drove a few Christmases ago in downtown Seattle!

Once hitched up, we all piled in the cart and went out for a drive in the German countryside and Dutch sunshine. It's a farming community, so the roads are narrow and the traffic almost non-existent. Some of the roads are paved with hand-laid brick, and one of them leads to the little restored old village of Itterbeck. We walked and trotted along these roads, passing a few people, some cows, and a couple of other Haflingers who looked like they wanted to run along with us. Storm motored right along, and seemed quite happy to be out for a spin. It was a lovely cool sunny day and we met little traffic.

Something a little different than endurance riding today, and another great way to relax and see and appreciate the countryside!

http://www.endurance.net/merri/stories/2007/08/raven-ii-drives-germany.html

Horse of a Different Color: Akhal-Teke and Arasier

Monday July 30 2007

I didn't get enough driving on the Autobahns yesterday, so I accompanied Charles on a 3+ hour drive across Germany to near Frankfurt to pick up Jeanne's mare Elana, who'd been bred to the Arabian stallion Ganimed. He's standing at Classic Performance Stallions, owned by Urte Kern and Jost Appel. Ganimed was a very successful racehorse, and also performed well in dressage and jumping. Jeanne and Charles searched far and wide till they found this horse, who fit the bill of just like what they were looking for in a stallion for an endurance mare.

Up until recently Urte and Jost had a rather large collection of horses – dressage horses, jumpers, eventers, a few endurance horses; stallions, mares, foals, and every age in between; Arabians, Thoroughbreds, Anglo-Arabians, the Akhal-Teke, and the Akhal-Teke – Arabian cross.

The Akhal-Teke comes from Russia where they are used for flat racing. They have a reputation of being tough horses – if they survive the conditions getting to the races, and they then survive their racing careers, they are indeed a strong horse.

Over the last few years, Urte had been frustrated by the registries snubbing the Akhal-Teke – Arabian cross; the standards said the horse had to look a certain showy way, decided by people who only want looks and nothing practical that would be useful as a performance horse. In fact, they seemed to be afraid of the performance horse, wanting only the ornamantal show horse.

And so, a year ago, Urte and Jost decided to start their own breed with the Akhal-Teke and Arabian cross: the Arasier (sometimes you'll see it as Arasien). They've established their own guidelines for the breed, which are based on half-Arabian sport horse standards. It's not limited to looks, or size, or color.

Urte was happy to show us her horses, talking extensively about each one of them. The Akhal-Teke breed is quite distinctive. A golden coat is very typical of (though not exclusive in) the breed, as is their build: very angular, defined muscles, long back, distinctive neck, high head carriage, amazing floating extended natural trot, very light canter. Urte said they all have great temperaments, are very calm, obedient, and very versatile – all their Akhal-Tekes have excelled at dressage, and jumping, and some have shown promise at endurance. The movement of all of them, even the month-old Arasier foal was outstanding – some horses you train for years and never get that extended trot, and these horses all did it naturally.

In their stalls, Urte showed us their 3 Akhal Teke mares, all of the same typical golden color; this year due to circumstances beyond their control, all 3 mares unfortunately did not have foals.

Also in stalls she showed us a beautiful black Anglo-Arabian stallion, Neesahn; since they've decided to concentrate on the Arasier breed, he doesn't fit in with their program anymore. But he was such a successful dressage and jumping horse, and has passed on his genes so successfully – and has been a part of the family for so many years – it's hard to think about selling him. He was a beauty – the big solid Thoroughbred-type horse I love to look at, and a knock-out black color to boot.

Urte then brought into the indoor arena several horses to look at, to watch them move about freely. First was the chestnut stallion Ganimed, a fine specimen of the Arabian breed. Ganimed was a very successful flat racing horse, and his sire Drakon was also a successful racehorse and has produced a number of successful endurance horses in Germany.

Next was an Arabian mare with her Arasier foal (the stallion an Akhal Teke) named Eurowings. Already, at one month old, he looked like an Akhal Teke, with that characteristic high head carriage, unique neck shape, defined muscles, and that amazing floating extended trot.

Next was the pride of the stable, the golden stallion Daimir. Again, very successful at dressage and jumping, and a very natural floating, extended trot. He is very quiet and kind (Urte led him around with just a string around his neck, and he followed like a dog), and has always willingly done everything they've asked of him. “He would give you his last Tshirt,” said Urte, with obvious pride in her eyes. “He would give you two, even if he didn't have them.”

Next was a yearling Akhal-Teke colt who floated around the arena; then we looked at a few more Akhal-Tekes or Arasiers outside.

You can see the passion in the eyes of Urte and Jost about these horses. Like David Marshall and Sandie Maclean in New Zealand with their Straight Egyptians: they are passionate about breeding these horses, they believe in them. They can recite every horse in the pedigree for 3 generations and what they've done and who they're related to and their eyes light up when they're talking about them.

You can't help but feel that with such dedication, they will be successful.

You can see their websites at: www.akhal-tekes.de , www.arasier.de , www.arabians.de

Egger Rieser Endurance

Monday July 29 2007

Jeanne Linneweever is one of the leading international Dutch riders. Last year she was 30th on the open FEI rider rank, 8th on the FEI open combination rankings with her horse Riki's Macho Man.

Jeanne started riding when she was young, competing in dressage and jumping. In 1994 she and her husband Charles went to the World Endurance Championships in The Hague in Holland, where they saw the galloping finish of the 160 km ride with America's Valerie Kanavy on Pieraz in the stadium. Jeanne decided that was what she wanted to do! And since she was getting a little tired of the show world, she did just that – switched to endurance!

At home she had a Haflinger pony, Storm, that she'd been doing dressage and jumping on (quite successfully), and he became her first endurance horse. Their first ride was in Hottenberg Holland in 1994. For 5 years they did endurance rides together, up to 80 km. Storm is big and golden with a blond mane and tail, and people always recognized him at rides - “hey, there's Storm!” - though not necessarily always Jeanne on his back! He was really too big for fast endurance riding though – big boned and wide – so she had her eyes out for another endurance mount.

Through the Dutch endurance club she'd joined, she met Eric and Anita Lamsma, who live in the area. Anita rides endurance, and her husband crews and organizes the Dutch Championships every year. Anita had a horse she wasn't getting on with well in 2000, so she asked Jeanne to ride him. Riki's Macho Man was off the racetrack, and at first he was a tough horse. He was a bit crazy, was not used to riding out on trails, would sometimes panic, and was quite spooky. He broke a few of her bones – a few times. Once Jeanne even thought of selling him, but something told her he would be a nice horse.

Jeanne and Macho completed their first 160 km in 2004, and now they've finished 5 160 km rides. They finished 26th in the 2005 European Championships in Compiegne, France; 16th in the 2006 World Championships in Aachen, Germany; and second in this year's Dutch championships at 160 km. We may see them this year's European Championships in Portugal.

In addition, they have been invited to compete in the 2007 Pre-World Championship ride in Malaysia in November. That will be a hard decision for Jeanne and Charles to make for several reasons, not the least of which is it's a long way getting there, and Macho is not the easiest of travellers. He does have a companion Shetland pony Julia that he travels with, and that does help to keep him calm. Malaysia is a tough country to ride in – tough on the horses and tough on the riders with the hot and humid conditions. But the challenge still calls.

Now 14 years old and a pro at endurance, Macho can still be a handful; he'll still spook on training rides, and twice he's dumped her off at the finish of rides – though that's been a few years ago now. He's usually all business in a ride (though he gets bored on flat rides with repetitive loops, and he'll be spooky on rides if they're only 80 km – and he knows when he's only doing 80 km!), and sometimes he doesn't care to slow down, like on a few hazardous parts of the trail in the mud at Libramont last weekend!

Though Jeanne still takes dressage lessons, and all her horses get worked in dressage, she's happy to have left that world behind, and to be doing endurance. She loves the opportunity it gives her to travel around the world and meet people from different countries doing the same thing. It is hard, though, when you have full time jobs to support your endurance habit, which is a full-time job in itself!

Jeanne and Charles have 2 broodmares, one Adria with an adopted foal by her side (not their own) and scheduled to be bred, and the other Elana, having just been bred. They have 2 yearlings with a friend further north in Germany. The foal at Adria's side is by an Akhal Teke stallion – we'll look at Akhal Tekes next story – and owned by the stallion's owner Urte Kern. Urte may convince Jeanne to try out an Akhal Teke for endurance, so this youngster currently galloping in the paddock and terrorizing his mother (he chewed off most of her tail!) may one day be under saddle under Jeanne, going down the endurance trail!

See Jeanne's website at www.endurance-eggerriese.com

To The Netherlands

Sunday July 29 2007

I was catching a ride Sunday morning with Netherlands rider Jeanne Linneweever, from Libramont, Belgium, to Jeanne's home 6 hours north. Jean and her husband Charles are Dutch through and through, but their home is actually just over the border in Germany, out in the farming countryside where it's quiet, and there's plenty of room for her horses, and for riding.

I had to take the train back to Libramont in the rainy morning, then a bus from the station to the Libramont Fair. Instead of going right in the backside, where the endurance was, I was dropped off a ways from the front entrance. I followed the people, in the rain, into the Libramont Fair, intending to head right for the endurance area, and I got lost. This is one of the biggest agricultural Fairs in Europe, after all. Not too many of the workers even knew in which direction the endurance village was!

In the rain, with hundreds of other people, already this early in the morning, I wandered through display booths (lots of sausage booths and wine booths) and tractors, pig barns, sheep barns, horse barns, dairy cow barns. Now, a word about these dairy cows. I didn't get to see what kind they are, but they had big lumps all over them like they were afflicted with some terrible disease or were disfigured! But no! These were some prize-winning milk cows. The lumps are supposed to be there. What are they – muscle? Fat? Makes the milk richer? I didn't have time to find out, or taste the milk.

I ran, through the rain and mud, past stalls of the Ardennes draft horses, past a show ring where, in the rain, draft mares with their foals were waiting to show. And everywhere – loads of people, walking with and without umbrellas, slopping through the rain and mud, enjoying the Fair. I ran past a stadium with pony games going on in the muddy grass, past the jumping arena (sand) with competition going on in the rain.

Finally, near the jumping venue, I knew I was getting close to the endurance venue. Parked outside the jumping arena was the horse van parking – hundreds of vans, parked in a sea of mud! But which way was the endurance village? Nobody knew! It was getting close to 11 AM when I told Jeanne I'd meet them. They were probably already packed up waiting for me. I was soaked, in mud up to my ankles, and lost among a thousand horse vans! Which way – this way through the mud, or that way? Climb up on a van and look? That would have been the quickest way, but I ran and slipped back and forth through the mud until I finally came to a fence. Once I crawled through that, the trailers thinned out, and I could see I was on the backside of the endurance parking.

Jeanne and Charles and friends were indeed waiting on me (“not long,” they said, uh huh); Jeanne fetched her horse Riki's Macho Man from his covered stall, and loaded him onto the horse van with his travelling companion, rather round Shetland pony mare Julia. They closed up and handed me the keys to their assistance van... I'd be driving their niece Scarlett in the van and following the Linneweevers home. Yikes! But, the steering wheel and gear shift was on the right side, and over here they drive on the right side of the road, so it was just a matter of driving through rain – about 6 hours of it!

We stayed on roads in Germany all the way, much of them the autobahn – they are better and faster than the narrower Dutch highways (though of course we weren't driving that fast with a horse van) – and arrived at the Linneweever home, in the SUNSHINE, near the little village of Itterbeck, Germany. Jeanne and Charles moved here 4 years ago (it's just a few kilometers from the border of the Netherlands), because there's more land available, there's plenty of area to ride in right from their house, and it's less expensive than in Holland. They have been remodeling the house since then... horses take up all their spare time, imagine that!

We unloaded the horses, who went straight to roll in the mud, got them settled. Then we got ourselves settled, ordered Indonesian Chinese food. Welcome to Dutch endurance! (Or, technically, a little Dutch endurance part of Germany!)

Belgium Libramont Fair and Endurance Ride

Saturday July 28 2007

Every year since 1926 the Libramont Fair has been held in the southern Ardennes region of Belgium, an area of dense forests and rolling hills. The forests much resemble the Pacific Northwest rainforests in the US – thick, bright green, and wet. The idea of the first Libramont fair was to promote the Ardennes draft horse. Named after this mountainous French-Belgian border region, the Ardennais originated centuries ago. It was used until the 1800's for draft work and riding; it was used in wars as a draft horse by the military up until World War I. Today the Ardennes draft horse is still used for work in the forest – where the hills might be too steep and slippery for a tractor, the draft horse is safer and more efficient.

The second Libramont Fair in 1927 had 160 horses, 3 exhibitors and 10,000 visitors; today the Fair has some 750 exhibitors, 3500 animals, almost 170,000 visitors. In addition to agricultural, livestock and forestry industry exhibits and animals, the Fair holds equine events such as breed shows, jumping competitions, pony games, driving competitions, draft pull competitions, and endurance.

Coinciding with the Libramont Fair for the second year was the Belgian Junior Championship 126 km ride, plus an open 126 km ride, and a 109 km ride. I'll skip all the ride details – you can see that at endurance.net, but I'll sum it up in one sentence: think wet, mud, gray skies, rain, and more rain – endurance in Belgium!

I'd come to the ride with Belgian endurance riders Barbara and Robert, friends of Leo's and Caroll's. Leo and Caroll left for the ride in Malaysia, so Robert and Barbara picked me up on Friday evening, and early Saturday morning (after a record 2 ½ hours of sleep), we made the start of the rides. It had started raining during the night, and was still raining steadily; already the dirt tracks were muddy and the grass tracks were soggy. The heavy gray skies made the start look less like morning than it did dusk-to-darkness. Riders were hunkered down under their helmets and in their raincoats on their horses. In Malaysia I had met Dutch endurance rider Jeanne Linneweever from the Netherlands, and I was going to be leaving Libramont with her on Sunday. She was riding the 109 km, but in the dark and rain and with raincoats and helmets, I didn't even see her on her horse.

The weather didn't seem to affect the participants however; horses were amped and riders were cheerful and optimistic as they left the grounds following a lead car out on course. Horses all wore a timing band on their leg, which Chronorace used to electronically track the horses in and out of the vet gates. Not everybody's stayed on... Jeanne found one in the mud on trail.

As the day went on, and the riders went out on their loops, everything and everybody got wetter. It got a little cool with the strong breeze at times, if your raincoat was soaked through. Which mine was. My “rainproof” Aussie hat is not Belgian rainproof. I think it held more water than my shoes. But nobody really looked like they minded the rain – it is Belgium after all, and most of the people there were used to it, and to me, it's just like 'home' – Seattle, rain rain rain, you just go on doing your thing, it's just a part of everything. And people were quite friendly, always a smile, always a hello. They seemed to enjoy being there, even the crews for the frontrunners throughout the day. The tracks for the horses, however, got worse and more treacherous as the rain continued.

Jean-Louis Leclercq, the French Chef d’Equipe, said much the same thing. “Strange weather,” he said. “This is the second time this year I've been to a ride in Belgium, and it's the second time it's been like this!” He was at this ride with 7 junior riders. “You have to ride a ride like this differently. The trail is very treacherous and slick, with holes under the mud.” Leclerq likes to see his team riders stay together for the first 2 loops, then continue on according to their horse's ability for that day. With so many good French horses being sold after rides to the Middle East and other countries, Leclerq is finding it a little hard picking enough rider-and-horse pairs for the European championships, which will be held in Lezirias, Portugal on September 8th. If the French keep selling all the good ones, the French team might be in a little trouble for good horses for themselves in the next few years. “We'll see,” he said, “it might be interesting.”

The first crew point we went to on the first loop was at a place where riders crossed a set of railroad tracks. Some horses spooked as they came to the wood and rails crossing the paved road; some slipped on the wet greasy wood, and some horses leaped in the air – as if they were electrically shocked. They were! If a horse stopped on one of the metal rails at one spot, he got a good shock, figuratively and literally!

The rain stopped around noon, and blue skies even punched a few holes in the clouds, but not for long. The clouds came back, though the rain held off. That didn't dry the track out any, however. Each loop horses dropped out due to lameness.

The finish of the Junior 126 km ride was an exciting one with 3 French juniors duking it out, 3 across the finish track at a gallop. I totally missed seeing all the 109 km riders, since Barbara and Robert and I followed the course of the 126 km ride. Jeanne Linneweever was in the lead coming in off the third loop, when her horse Ricki's Macho Man vetted out lame. He'd slipped and pulled something in his shoulder. It was only slight, and it was only the second time in his career he'd vetted out. She said later this might have been the toughest ride she'd ever done due to the wet, slippery conditions. It certainly made for a different kind of challenging endurance ride.