19 – Endurance at Horse of the Year 2008

In spite of my spectacular failure at the Horse of the Year Show last year (2007), it was such a fantastic ride and experience that I still wanted to go back this year.  Maybe even more so as I felt I owed it to Lace not to mess things up this year!  Lace and I crossed the line first in 2007 but then went out on heart rate.  The only consolation being that I wasn’t the only one and Lace’s heart rate wasn’t the highest…

The HOY course was fairly unique for NZ endurance as it not only has vetting away from the main base but the ride finishes down the main street of Havelock North.  So one of the main requirements if you plan to ride at HOY is a strapper, and your strapper needs transport so that he/she can get your gear to the various vet-gates.  This was proving a problem… Nicola was all set to come again.  After last year she was determined that Lace and I would succeed and had attended a High Performance course as a strapper in order to learn more… but as luck would have it she came down ill and wasn’t able to come.  Plan two was to have a show rider I know give me a hand as she was going to be there already and it looked like she might not be riding on Friday… she knows nothing about endurance but knows horses and can drive (albeit we would have to OK it with the insurance as she was under 25).  But no, she had a dressage test that day and when she found out that we started at 6am and wouldn’t be back at the showgrounds until 4ish that was the end of that.  So what do you do when there is a personnel crisis?  Take you Mum.  She isn’t very horse active (although did ride on a Pony Club trek 30 years before), doesn’t know endurance (although did vet writing at Putaruru a year before) but she can drive and definitely has a competitive spirit (gold medals at veteran world athletic champs).

So we set off at about 5:30am Thursday – ride packs to be collected at 11am and it’s a long way to Hastings – and were rewarded for our efforts by an amazing view of the moon, a thin sickle with Venus (I think) shining brightly right beside it, something you only ever see on flags!  So spectacular it was not only mentioned on the radio that morning but was also in the paper.  There have got to be some bonuses to an early start.  The trip down was straight forward and uneventful and we arrived at the show grounds at about 10:30.  Another good thing about taking Mum… we are both time obsessed and hate being late.

Last year we had all camped with our horses next to the trucks, even though no-one else at HOY is allowed to do this, and we had got away with it.  This year we not only had permission to do so but had been allocated a lovely area near the main entrance under some large pine trees.  As well as this there were also pens for each horse (larger and closer than the ones allocated last year).  This was great as it enabled the horses to be put somewhere while we set up camp and again at the end when we were packing.  Petra had already arrived and we parked near her, soon to be joined by Lois and then Mel and Nadine, so we had a nice little Waikato area together.

The vet ring was right next to the yards, Lace vetted through pre-ride with no problems, and I think everyone else did as well.

At the ride brief we were introduced to the team from South Africa, they were all from two families.  I was very excited to learn that I had been selected for the NZ team and so I received a lovely black team shirt to ride in – I had been very envious of Lois’s shirt last year!

A lovely evening as usual spent chatting with friends… we were excited to learn that when you’re at the show-grounds in town, and camped next to the road, you can order pizza and have it successfully delivered! (even after I misread the number of the house across the street).  Certainly a first for any endurance ride I’ve been to and a novelty to all those of us who live outside city boundaries.

We gathered at the vet ring at 5:30am on Friday morning and rode in a group to the main arena for the start.  Another exciting difference at HOY is that, with the show-grounds being in a busy traffic area, you get escorted out for the first nine kilometres or so by a police car.  All traffic waits for us as we trot along behind the flashing lights.  None of the horses seem to mind it at all and they seem to be able to see where they’re going in spite of the bright lights.  So, even though it was quite dark when we started, by the time the escort had got us to the orchards it was light enough for us to navigate.

The course was essentially the same as last year with a lovely stretch along the stop-banks between the river and the orchards followed by crossing the river.  Now this is not just a small stream but a full sized river, stony bottomed, about 50-ish metres wide and up to chest depth on the horses at one point.  This year there were no mix-ups and most of us got across without mishap… except one whpse horse took exception to the sudden drop as we went in and hastily departed… leaving his rider to take a bath!

The rest of the first loop took us through farmland and out to the coast, the first vet check being by a woolshed just behind some sand dunes from the ocean.

Lace did her normal quick vetting (not bad with a novice strapper), but I was a little concerned when, after being 57 before going in, her heart rate was 64.  Everything else was ok though.

The second loop is one of the most beautiful you will ever ride.  It starts with eight kilometres down Ocean Beach, lovely yellow sand, towards Cape Kidnappers.  Then you go inland a little making a huge climb to the top of the hills with a magnificent view out over the ocean one way and lots of hills and valleys the other.

Lace was going fine down the beach, she always likes to be in the lead, so after starting a minute or so behind the leaders we soon picked them up and were cruising along in front.  But once again (she did this to us last year in the same spot!) near the end of the beach Lois came charging past on Cloudy, this year with Petra on Dancer alongside.                            

Once again I cursed her for ruining our peaceful ride!  And once more she was totally unrepentant!! A mix-up with the marker meant to guide us off the beach having disappeared saw others catch up and we were all in a bunch coming off the beach to the first check point behind the dunes.

Not far from there was the first trough where Lace showed that she really wasn’t her normal self.  She wouldn’t settle and drink at all but was quite agitated.  I tried getting off and sloshing some water on her, but that made matters worse as the others headed off and I had trouble getting back on.  Doubly a worry as she hadn’t drunk as much as usual at the first hold – she often doesn’t drink on the first loop but will then tank up during strapping – and I had given her electrolytes, so she needed to drink soon or things would get worse.  So once I caught up with Lois again at the bottom of the hill we both slowed down and took it easy up and over the hill, stopping for a good drink at one of the dams there.  Lois needed to slow down too as Cloudy had been having a mixed season of successes and lameness, so this suited us both.  Lace was still stressing though and when we got back to that trough (you do a loop up over the hill and back down to behind the dunes) she was trembling and again didn’t want to drink.  But Lois was happy to wait while I hopped off and sloshed Lace and Cloudy with water as we waited for Lace to calm down and drink, which she did. (Thanks for that Lois).  We cruised back to base from there drinking well at most of the troughs and having a lovely ride, all flat country behind the dunes, through and alongside the pest proof fence set up to protect penguins (I think, at least there’s a sign about penguins nesting….).

Unfortunately Cloudy vetted out lame at the end of that loop.  Lace was looking good but once again her heart rate went up when we went into the vet ring, this time to 67, so we had to represent.  Back in, 52 outside, 64 at the vet.  Now I was a bit worried as this is so not like her, but once we got back to our pen I discovered that she was in season, so that could well be the reason.  However she was not settled there either and wasn’t eating, so Lois brought Cloudy over and they shared each others feeds and hay and all was well.

There were quite a few casualties at the end of the second loop, including another South African.  Mel withdrew Billy as his heart rates were not right, so our Waikato team were down to Petra, Denise, Nadine and I.  The New Zealand (and Waikato) team had also suffered a loss, with Trina’s horse going out lame.

Fifteen horses continued out onto the third loop.  This is where the course varied from last year, not in the actual track but in the loop distances.  Last year the third loop was an out and back of only 16km, this year we did the out and back but then continued to the next vet gate which was about halfway towards home.  The fourth loop last year was nearly 40km long and this could have been part of the reason that a lot of horses had gone out on heart rate at the end, so I for one was very pleased to see this change.

So we went out along the back of the dunes to the checkpoint again.  Lace was feeling really good and happy to be out on her own, consequently we caught up with another horse and rode the rest of the loop with them.

Mum was really getting the hang of strapping by this stage and had our water right by the finish in the shade, but although Lace seemed happier we took no chances, with her heart rates being so erratic, even so we vetted ahead of Denise and headed out on the last loop in fifth place with Petra about 10 minutes ahead of us.  Two riders were in the lead and really going for it.  Third place was sitting about 10 minutes behind them with Petra less than 10 after him.

There had been no problems for anyone with the compulsory represent to the vets at the end of a one hour hold.  Again this year the last hold time was extended as we weren’t supposed to ride into Havelock North before 3:30pm.  It didn’t help much though as I believe they finished not long after 2:30!

Even with Denise only about two minutes behind me I decided not to race it.  There was a large gap to the seventh rider (about an hour) and after cantering all the way home and vetting out last year, I was not about to push her hard when her heart rates were already a bit sus.  Add to that the pressure of being on the NZ team and I really just wanted to get through successfully.  So I walked Lace up the large hill at the start of the loop and, not surprisingly, Denise passed me soon after that.  We could see Petra down in the valley not far ahead, so again it was not a surprise to see Denise catch up with her too.

Lace and I really enjoyed the ride home, crossing the river on our own with no problems.  It was interesting to see the DVD of last years’ ride at this stage as it was clear then that she was tired as the water was pushing her sideways – but not this year, she forged straight across.

Back along the stop-bank, through the orchards, along the roads and then up the main street of Havelock North to finish in the park.  The first horses had both finished and vetted through ok by the time I finished, apparently there had been some drama with the two leaders though as they were neck and neck coming to the park and one horse slipped and fell, leaving the other to win by over a minute.  Both horse and rider came out of the incident ok though, just minus a bit of skin.

Micah and Dancer both vetted through fine – 4^th and 5^th – well done Denise and Petra!  Lace vetted through fine too – YAY!! So 4^th, 5^th and 6^th for Waikato.  Nadine was last in having slowed down on the last loop to help two of the South African team along.  Nadine qualified, Gemm doing her final trot up in style, tail in the air looking like she could do it all again…. Amazing what a skateboard park in action close to the vet ring can do!  Unfortunately the South African’s horses both vetted out, so only one of the team managed to qualify, coming in 7^th.

That evening we went to watch the “horse spectacular” in the main arena, wedging ourselves a seat on the stairs of the grandstand.  Very impressive to see John Whittaker from the UK win the high jump on a borrowed horse.  Two horses cleared 1.90m but neither cleared 2.05m, however John’s horse knocked it down while the other horse had a stop and then sensibly retired.  It must be quite something to ride a horse into a wall that height where neither of you have a hope of seeing over the fence – very brave.  We also saw some vaulters in action and some racing carriage ponies – one of whom was only 28 inches high! 

Pizza was ordered again… just because you can.

The next morning at the prize giving Lace was a complete idiot – she discovered last year that she doesn’t like applause, combine that with the grandstand and the jumps and it’s a bit tense.  Last year she had her friend Portia with her but this year she was on her own (so to speak, of course the others were there but it’s not the same) and what’s more we had to go up and get our 6^th place ribbon and our team ribbon and medal… not pretty, but at least not boring to watch I guess!  Kirstin won the best conditioned as well as coming first, so she got one of the trips to South Africa to ride.  Teresa as the next home got a trip and then Tony Masters and Nadine each won a trip as one was drawn from the rest of the NZ team and one from all qualifiers.

The highlights of the HOY experience?

• Completing the ride successfully – it is a wonderful course, in spite of her difficulties this year Lace really loves it as you actually go somewhere, not just around in circles.  The course flows really well and the scenery is spectacular.  I loved it.
• Riding around the show grounds – on both Thursday evening and Saturday morning Lois and I headed off on our horses and circumnavigated the show-grounds.  So many horses, all shapes, sizes and disciplines, all immaculately turned out.  So many really expensive horse trucks.  The amount of money in top horses and their transport is just staggering.
• The atmosphere of the show – everyone’s having a good time, there are lots of other events to watch during the odd moments of spare time – it would be great to come down a day or so earlier and leave a day or so later!  Show jumping, dressage, carriage driving, miniatures, games ponies, show ponies, in hand breed events, etc.  Not to mention the Clydesdales to upset our horses again – especially Cloudy!  The games riders are great fun to watch, picking up stuff off the ground from pony-back, leaping off and the back on while their ponies scarcely pause.
• The stalls which are situated around the two main arenas – you never saw so many horse shops in one place.  If you get to go, be sure to take your credit card!
• And of course having Mum strap for me – no-one else really has your interests so much a priority as your Mum.  I loved her comment when we got home… of course as one normally does she had taken too many clothes, catering for all weathers and possible contingencies.  Not having done this before she packed as she would for a running event and then an extra set of clothes to change into because working with horses was bound to get one dirty… Her comment – “You do get dirty, but nobody cares!”  Welcome to endurance Mum.