#weg14

Swedish team rider Anna Hilton broke her lower arm in two places after a gruesome fall at the Rolex Water Through this afternoon. Hilton’s horse Matrix W walked of the scene after being assisted to roll over to be able to get his feet in to position to get up again.

The host nation had plenty to celebrate when taking team and individual gold at the FEI South American Eventing Championship 2014 staged at Cross Horse Stables in Barretos, Sao Paulo, Brazil at the weekend. This important CCI 2* is one of the two qualifying competitions in the South American region for the Pan-American Games which…

Daniel and I (well it was really me) decided ages ago that we were going to get married on August 16th so that we could have our honeymoon in France to incorporate the World Equestrian Games. It was our kind of holiday, we aren’t the type to lie on a beach somewhere, we get way too bored after a few days! We had a few nights in Paris, which was beautiful, then headed to Caen for the WEG!

The first few days were spent exploring the Games Village, which involved a lot of shopping, eating, drinking and horses.

Then we headed down to the bay of Mont St Michel for the Endurance. We went a day before the event so we could explore the incredible Castle of Mont st Michel! It was amazing, I highly recommend it!! Our hotel room was very medieval which made us feel like we were living there back in the olden days!

We were up early Thursday to head off to the Endurance. The race started at 7 am, which meant we had a lot of convincing to do to get off the island at 5.45. The hotel had to organise a special bus to take us off the island then sweet talk a cabbie to get up that early (no cars allowed on the island and no one wakes up early in France!!!) once the cab driver heard we were going to Sartilly he promptly said yes.... It was a 100-euro journey there!!!!! Yikes I nearly died!

 It was still dark when we arrived. There was an electrifying buzz around the venue. You could feel the excitement, nerves and anticipation in the air.  We didn’t really know where we were going so we followed the masses out to the start line where all the riders were warming up. All the horses were trotting around the warm up pen and they were all looking fit and rearing to go. Gosh, there were some spectacular looking horses there! The start of the race is something I will never forget. It was a gallop start, there were so many fit crazy Arab’s flying down the straight out on to course. One girl sat to a few good bucks but unfortunately fell off only 30 meters from the start line.

Once the riders were out on course Daniel and I went and got a good seat in the stands near the vet ring and trot outs, which also had a big screen showing great footage of all the riders out on course, as well as a GPS tracking of each rider! Opposite us was the huge UAE Marquee which hosted their VIP’s and riders. After each leg the horses went with the grooms and the riders could sit and have a meal and a drink…not bad!! We spottedMohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in there which was cool!

 Just 38 of the 165 riders made it through the grueling course. The weather conditions on the days leading up to the race had left the ground slippery and sticky, which made the already technically demanding course even more tough, forcing the riders take every stride carefully.

 The weather didn't stop the crowds from attending…. there were heaps of people scattered through the ride base and at each crew point! The crowds also stretched for the length of the beach of Mont st Michel. French rider Jean-Philippe Frances described it as a mini Tour de France! Some spectators even bought a glass of wine along. Endurance is known for not really being a spectator’s sport so it was great to see so many people out supporting the riders! The coverage on the big screens at the ride base was also fantastic. It would be awesome to have something like that at the Quilty!!

 The vet ring after the first leg was a bit of a shambles. So many of the riders came in at the same time and some were waiting 10 minutes before being able to vet through. Once the riders spread out on course the vet ring ran smoothly for the rest of the day.

 Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohd al Maktoum riding Australian bred Yamamah aka Kurrajong Concord won the race averaging an impressive 19.68km/h pace and succeeds his father as champion.

Daniel and I watched this mare very closely from start to finished and were astounded by how much of a complete PRO she was. She just knows her job and does it so well!! In the hold times she stood and ate her feed and drank her water not moving a muscle as her strappers threw more water on her and poured ice cold water on her legs. She behaved perfectly when they syringed about 10 huge tubes of what looked like electrolytes, honey and yoghurt down her throat. She urinated on command and as soon as the bridle went on she dove quickly back into her feed and started scoffing as she knew she was about to go back out and race. It really was incredible to watch and she is the best endurance horse I have ever seen.

 Young Dutch rider Marijke Visser came 2nd riding French bred mare Laiza de Jalima. They were also presented the Best Conditioned award. Like many Arabian horses Laiza was mainly rested between the ages 4-6 and in 2010 in her 6th year joined a stable in Dubai. Mid this year she came back to Europe and was prepared in Belgium for the World Equestrian Games. "She's a little horse, tiny in fact", explains Marijke. "But she's wonderful, a hard worker and capable of incredible results."

 The Aussie horses had a 50% success rate, which is great considering only 22% completed the ride. Unfortunately for Jenny Annetts her horse Castlebar Contraband went slightly lame and was withdrawn at the 11th hour.

Sarah McLaughlin riding Tonki Dee Boo Shania, Sasha Laws King riding a French horse Qacima Du Sauveterre, Alexandra Toft riding Charlotte TE and Penny Toft riding Dream Dancer TE all started the race. Unfortunately Penny got held up at a few accidents out on course, and then her stirrup leather broke so by the time she managed to get a new stirrup leather she was quite far behind the other riders. Penny made the hard call to withdraw after the 1st leg. Playing catch-ups on a slippery, boggy course like that would have been too dangerous. Sarah McLaughlin’s horse was sadly vetted out after the 2nd leg due to metabolic's.

However Ali Toft and her horse Charlotte TE completed the tough course and placed 19th in a time of 10:11:23.

Sasha also finished on grey mare Qacima Du Sauveterre in a time of 10:48:53.

 There was unfortunately a fatal accident out on course which Costa Rican rider Claudia Romero Chacon's horse, Dorado, ran out of control into a tree and was killed. The rider was taken to hospital and operated on for fractures and internal injuries. Absolutely devastating for everyone involved.

 The Endurance was a fantastic event and Daniel and I absolutely loved watching the best horses and riders in the world ride and strap their horses. We came away with a lot of new knowledge.

After the ride was won Daniel and I headed back to our hotel room on Mont St Michel and crashed! I think we probably walked 160kms that day!

On Saturday we headed to Le Pin National Stud for the cross-country phase of the Eventing. We arrived at Argentan train station at 9.45 and jumped on a shuttle bus to go to the venue. The traffic was unbelievably bad. They only had 1 lane all the way to the venue and it was banked back at least 15kms and wasn't moving!! After over an hour stuck on the bus Daniel and I looked up on Google maps that we were 11kms to the venue... We made the call, like many others, to jump off the bus and run/ walk there!! It was hell but the run made easier by fellow Aussies stuck in cars cheering us on! Once we finally got there it was great but we were not in the mood to walk around the whole course! We wanted to get something to eat....but then we saw the lines for the food vendors.....then the lines to the toilets.... It was packed! To be honest Melbourne 3 day was a better event than the WEG cross country, as a spectator.

The Show Jumping on Sunday however was fantastic. We walked from the Games Village to the stadium and once again couldn't believe the size of the line to get in! Luckily the line we were in moved quickly so we were able to make the start of the competition.  We were disappointed for William Fox Pit knocking a rail and going from gold medal position to bronze, everyone was on the edge of their seats! 

 The show jumping wrapped up our WEG adventure. We had the best honey/horsey-moon! Bring on Quebec, Montreal 2018….Now its time to go home and get my fat Arab’s out of the field… holiday is over for them and us! Time to ride and get fit!

  Follow my adventures on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/becbramich