spookypony
Well-Known Member
Just a quick report from a long day, because this is probably outside the experience for most of this forum's members, but is something well worth knowing about! Many will be aware of the storm shaking the Endurance world, often couched in terms of concerns about horse attrition in desert-style, basically-a-100-mile-flat-race racing. Quite a bit of this appears to be about differences in equestrian culture and the role of the horse-rider partnership, as far as I can tell...anyway, coming down squarely on the side of the "traditional" Endurance side is an initiative begun last year with the running of the first "Cairngorm 100 [miles]" in Scotland, which in my perception is set up deliberately to provide another ride in the model of the Tevis Cup and its ilk, to provide a serious test of horse and rider over at times very difficult terrain, while placing the emphasis squarely on the value of completion in the best shape possible.
The ride this year offered 30-mile and 50-mile classes alongside the eponymous 100-mile class. Entries were well up from last year, with 15 100-milers. Most entries were Scottish and English, with one Dutch, one German, and one Irish. Hopefully as the even gathers momentum, international participation will continue to increase! The 100-mile course had 7 vettings along the way, with 15-minute "trot-throughs" alternating with 1-hour vet gates. The vets were extremely rigorous all along: it's a very challenging route, and no-one wants any horses to be at risk.
13 riders of the 15 were permitted to start: at about 4am! The ride began with an extremely tough hill, and that set the tone for the first half: by the end of the fourth vet gate, only 5 were left in the game! However, all 5 of those completed successfully. The first 3 trotted in all side-by-side, so that you couldn't tell who was first past the post, at about 11pm, and the last two came in at 2:45am. The riders were absolutely knackered; the horses looked remarkably well!
The whole thing was extremely tightly organised. Two vets leap-frogged past each other at the vet gates, and a third (attached to one of the others) available to float as needed. I was initially stationed as some sort of supernumerary helper at vet gates 2 and 4, which were at the same venue (Invercauld). I mainly ate tasty venison burger and carried saddles, and watched vettings. Later, I made and distributed cheese sarnies.
There was one horse that came in looking extremely chirpy (having just done about 100km), which once in her corral for cooling off, just lay down and started eating grass while lying down. It's like she decided she was simply done with standing up at that point! Her people thought this was rather weird, and she was looked at immediately by one of the vets and treated for a minor colic. A short while later, she was looking much much better and eating happily (though finished for the day, obviously). Just goes to show, it's a very tough sport, and how important it is that there's lots of support and for the riders and crew to be keeping a very close eye on and listening to their horses. Was gutted for the rider, as that horse is being retired from competition soon, but very glad that she was well and happy!
After VG4, we moved on, skipping past VG5 (with a different team) to vet gate 6, at Tomintoul. There, there was lentil stew with mini sausages for everyone, including the arriving riders. And cheese sarnies. There was a long delay between the leaders and the last pair, so we kept asking, "Has the Warning Pony gone off yet?"
There were lots of ponies in adjoining fields, and one in particular went on high alert if there were approaching riders. That must have been about the most excitement it had had all year!
After the last pair had gone into VG6, I followed another car on to the finish, where I was just in time to see the first 3 riders arrive, just as dark was falling. In solidarity, they came in at a strong trot side by side, as all the helpers and spectators clapped them in. Although they vetted quickly, it was then dark, and cars had formed a corridor of headlights to form a spookily-illuminated runway for the final trot-ups. It was a very peculiar effect! We were all silent, hoping that we were interpreting the hugs given one rider by his family correctly, until the vet shook the hand of the third rider whose horse was vetted. And then there was much clapping and cheering!
At this point, it was about midnight, so knowing I had a 2-hour drive home, I left at this point. I did manage to check on Facebook that the final riders had arrived, just as I was falling asleep! Much of the Scottish Endurance community had been following the entire event the whole day, helped by the electronic trackers carried by the riders, which allowed us to trace them on a map...except when the tracker signal was dodgy, and they appeared to stay put for a while, before suddenly teleporting!
Altogether, despite the fairly low finish rate, a hugely successful ride. I really, really want to try the 50-miler with the SP next year, if we can! I think it would really suit him, as the pace is slower than for a normal competitive ride, but the difficulties of terrain (which is why it's slower) play to his strengths.
The ride this year offered 30-mile and 50-mile classes alongside the eponymous 100-mile class. Entries were well up from last year, with 15 100-milers. Most entries were Scottish and English, with one Dutch, one German, and one Irish. Hopefully as the even gathers momentum, international participation will continue to increase! The 100-mile course had 7 vettings along the way, with 15-minute "trot-throughs" alternating with 1-hour vet gates. The vets were extremely rigorous all along: it's a very challenging route, and no-one wants any horses to be at risk.
13 riders of the 15 were permitted to start: at about 4am! The ride began with an extremely tough hill, and that set the tone for the first half: by the end of the fourth vet gate, only 5 were left in the game! However, all 5 of those completed successfully. The first 3 trotted in all side-by-side, so that you couldn't tell who was first past the post, at about 11pm, and the last two came in at 2:45am. The riders were absolutely knackered; the horses looked remarkably well!
The whole thing was extremely tightly organised. Two vets leap-frogged past each other at the vet gates, and a third (attached to one of the others) available to float as needed. I was initially stationed as some sort of supernumerary helper at vet gates 2 and 4, which were at the same venue (Invercauld). I mainly ate tasty venison burger and carried saddles, and watched vettings. Later, I made and distributed cheese sarnies.
There was one horse that came in looking extremely chirpy (having just done about 100km), which once in her corral for cooling off, just lay down and started eating grass while lying down. It's like she decided she was simply done with standing up at that point! Her people thought this was rather weird, and she was looked at immediately by one of the vets and treated for a minor colic. A short while later, she was looking much much better and eating happily (though finished for the day, obviously). Just goes to show, it's a very tough sport, and how important it is that there's lots of support and for the riders and crew to be keeping a very close eye on and listening to their horses. Was gutted for the rider, as that horse is being retired from competition soon, but very glad that she was well and happy!
After VG4, we moved on, skipping past VG5 (with a different team) to vet gate 6, at Tomintoul. There, there was lentil stew with mini sausages for everyone, including the arriving riders. And cheese sarnies. There was a long delay between the leaders and the last pair, so we kept asking, "Has the Warning Pony gone off yet?"
There were lots of ponies in adjoining fields, and one in particular went on high alert if there were approaching riders. That must have been about the most excitement it had had all year! After the last pair had gone into VG6, I followed another car on to the finish, where I was just in time to see the first 3 riders arrive, just as dark was falling. In solidarity, they came in at a strong trot side by side, as all the helpers and spectators clapped them in. Although they vetted quickly, it was then dark, and cars had formed a corridor of headlights to form a spookily-illuminated runway for the final trot-ups. It was a very peculiar effect! We were all silent, hoping that we were interpreting the hugs given one rider by his family correctly, until the vet shook the hand of the third rider whose horse was vetted. And then there was much clapping and cheering!
At this point, it was about midnight, so knowing I had a 2-hour drive home, I left at this point. I did manage to check on Facebook that the final riders had arrived, just as I was falling asleep! Much of the Scottish Endurance community had been following the entire event the whole day, helped by the electronic trackers carried by the riders, which allowed us to trace them on a map...except when the tracker signal was dodgy, and they appeared to stay put for a while, before suddenly teleporting!
Altogether, despite the fairly low finish rate, a hugely successful ride. I really, really want to try the 50-miler with the SP next year, if we can! I think it would really suit him, as the pace is slower than for a normal competitive ride, but the difficulties of terrain (which is why it's slower) play to his strengths.
