WEC Update - On the Eve of the Event

Text by Mal Caldwell. Photos by Sue Crockett

1 day to go (Wed 26th January 2005)

Trot up this morning , I'm not even bothering to cross my fingers , as I have watched through the fence at quite few early morning trot ups fresh out of the stable , and they have all looked fine ,maybe I will just cross 'em anyway.

Early yesterday morning as the dawn broke over the desert we had an Australia day brekkie at the camp. "Dog's eyes with dead horse" , skewered prawns cooked on a little griddle filched from somewhere, and lots of fresh fruit. We seem to be scattered a bit now with everyone off and about doing their jobs, so this was an opportunity to have everyone together. Team pics were also taken.

The media were invited to "meet the Sheik" yesterday afternoon. We were all bussed out to a sand track leading to his stables , and he rode out to meet us with his sons and his wife. He was very patient with some of the inane questions asked by the media crowd who pressed in and around a very quiet and patient horse .
The media and TV coverage has been quite intense, all a bit amazing by Aussie standards. There was a press conference on Monday evening at the Burg el Arab. I had my very grubby hired 4x4 parked by a valet,along with a plethora of BMW's and associated flash transport. The building is very spectacular inside as it is hollow almost all the way to the top . We were wafted to the 27th floor , ears popping as we went.
The function room was very Arabic, and to our western eyes , way over the top . Gold pillars , gold carpet, everything gold ..yuk. The conference was again heavily attended by tv , but a complete waste of time for us as the majority was in Arabic. We were rewarded with some English summaries, the most common topic being the prospect of including endurance in the Olympic Games , and the prospect of a desert Olympics. The official answers have been carefully humble and hopeful. My understanding is that there is a large invited contingent on Olympic "family" attending the event as "special" guests. ( I wonder where they are staying)

Opening ceremony was quite spectacular .The scene was, I assume , a symbolic camp , with about 50 small Bedouin style tents pitched in the main entry chute area , and large display area in the front of the huge temporary grandstand right in front of the entry gates. A large group of desert dancers started proceedings and as the finale of this first act , the roof of each tent was lighted with the competing nations flags.
The Abu Dhabi mounted police were the main event, putting on a spectacular display. They started with a series of figure routines , finishing with a very hot and accurate tent pegging display. As the horses left a huge scaffold at the rear exploded in flames, and as the flames burned the words Emirates Endurance World Championships was outlined in fire. The horses returned carrying the flags of the competing nations. I'm not sure about the symbolsm of this , but in the individual flag presentations the US was second last , followed by the UAE, this combination earned a huge round of applause.

It was most interesting to see Arabian "War Horses" in action. They were mostly well ridden but the discipline was clear. All the horses were bitted, some quite "heavily", and many were pretty fired up and feisty.
They were also very obedient and well trained , although how the riders didn't get smacked in the nose with some of the feisty head tossing that went on , I don't know.

And so the moment of truth is approaching. I'm writing this in my hotel room on Wednesday morning , I will post it as soon as I get out to ride base , and will post the official team on AE as soon as it is announced.
Team selection seems to have been a very intense and arduous task for all those involved.

Cheers Mal Caldwell