Liz Taylor

February 2006 - Liz Taylor Abu Dhabi Ride

Three days before Christmas, I received the e-mail I had been waiting for since September when we had been told we had been nominated for The Presidents Cup, an 160kmFEI*** Endurance Race in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Mohammad had invited Falaina, my Arab mare, and I to compete in the most prestigious endurance race in the UAE calendar, The Presidents Cup, in which some of the worlds top horses and riders from 7 countries from as far a field as Australia and America were invited to race against the "local" Middle Eastern horses.

As the race was in February and therefore out of season for British horses, preparing a horse to race 160km in desert conditions was quite a challenge when faced with minus temperatures in Britain. Fitness was achieved, in addition to the normal training routine I follow by weekly trips to Wolverhampton racecourse to canter 20 miles around the all weather track - with thick exercise sheets on and without Falaina being clipped!

Feeding is a big issue with Falaina, as she has tied up in the past; however we were recommended to try Dengie a few years ago and haven't looked back since. On a fairly low key diet of Alfa-A Original, Hi-Fi Lite and vitamin and mineral supplements, Falaina has absolutely thrived, and over the last 4 years has been the fastest horse over 160km in Britian for two of them - no mean feat!

With baggage allowance for Falaina of only 150kg it was a priority to pack one of the trunks with all the Alfa-A Original and Hi-Fi Lite for Falaina for the two weeks we were out there, as well as making sure we would be left with sufficient for her return journey.

At 10pm on February 6th, Falaina was collected by the French horse transporters who were transporting her to Paris where she stayed for a day before being flown, along with the other European horses to Abu Dhabi, arriving just after midnight in the worst sand storm ever. She quickly settled however, whilst the crew and I returned to our wonderful hotel, about half an hour from the stables.

In the days leading up to the event our routine went something like this;

7am Breakfast for me and then to the stables
8am Arrive at stables, feed and muck out
9.30am Ride (with a quarantine steward following in a car).? Once back Falaina was turned out in a sand coral with hay - and sun block to protect her from the sun.
12-2pm Stables closed so back to hotel for some lunch
3pm Back to stables
3.30pm Walk Falaina briskly in hand for one hour.
5.30pm Falaina fed and finished for the night
6pm Stables closed
6.30pm Back at hotel for dinner and some sightseeing


Falaina settled really quickly, we were in quarantine with the French, but we each had a barn of 8 stables, and we only had two horses in them so it was lovely and spacious and very relaxing for Falaina.

On the morning of the ride, 101 starters massed in the dark for the 5am start, each with at least 1 crew car (normally 2) charging down a 2km racetrack out onto the dessert route, all you could see was an endless queue of brakelights, no need for a headtorch - the headlights made it like daylight! I was amazed by the sheer speed of the race, the leaders set a relentless gallop which they managed to maintain throughout the day. The ride itself was phenomenal. I can't describe it, just endless sand tracks, especially prepared for the ride. It was not as flat as I expected with the notorious Tora Bora loop - nasty and endless steep inclines and declines over the most amazing sand dunes. But all very, very beautiful.

Falaina loved the heat and the flat sand tracks. She just cantered along all day at a good fast speed, and due to her recovery rates in vet-gates and her fast cruising speed we were consistently moving up the field and gaining places. My crew of three were fantastic, working hard to get Falaina and I through each vet-gate in 3 minutes or less, which in heat of up to 30 degrees centigrade, in the alien desert conditions was a huge help towards our final placing.

After a deceptively tough 160km across the vast expanse of desert Falaina and I reached the finish, at a speed of 17.8kph, achieving 18th position - we were over the moon. We were especially pleased as the only people that beat us were on local horses, and the two Australians who had had 4 weeks to acclimatise - as opposed to our horses 8 days. The winning horse completed the course in a new World Record speed for a 160km race.

Falaina gave me a cracking ride, and I think did really well. I am certainly very, very proud of her. This is the 7th 160km she has ever entered - in 4 different countries - and she has now passed 6 of them (1st, 2nd, 2nd, 5th, 9th and 18th places) and on 5 of them she has had to carry at least 8kg of lead due to the 75kg minimum weight limits imposed on FEI*** rides. She is a true little superstar, and if you were to see her in the field when we returned home you would never believe that she'd flown half way around world, raced 160km and flown back, all in the space of 14 days!

I must thank Dengie for supporting us on our trip. Falaina (and my other horses) have been fed solely Dengie products for the last few years and the results are there for all to see. They are all in superb condition, have ample controllable energy and all eat up their food well.

Next stop - Falaina is off to Ermelo, Holland for her next 160km***, and we are very busy with Karaanza who will be making her debut at 120km***'s this year... so it looks set to be another busy one!