Liz Taylor

Liz Taylor and Falaina in Dubai for Endurance Cup

On 3rd January 2008 Falaina Bint Chatanz and I flew out to Dubai for His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endurance Cup - the worlds most valuable Endurance Ride with a prize fund of 1.5 million Dirhams (£220,600) and four 4x4 cars up for grabs!  This is also the first race of any kind ever that HH Sheikh Mohammad has ever put his name to, and therefore it generated an absolute media storm.

Falaina had been in rest when the surprise telephone call had arrived 3 weeks earlier to issue our invitiation, however having been 160km race fit we put her back in work with lots of trips to the gallops and long working canters.  We were very pleased with her efforts and felt she was more than fit and ready enough to take her place in the starting line up.

Out of a starting field of 137 horses, 26 of us had been invited from Europe (based on FEI world rankings) and were therefore out of season, the remainder were UAE based/trained horses in the height of their endurance season.

Falaina flew well and settled in perfectly, our UK horses only had 6 full days to acclimitise before the race.  When you fly horses they hit their lowest ebb on the 5th day of arrival and then recover from there, therefore our horses were at a huge disadvantage.

I flew our required Dengie food out so that she didn't have to have a change in her diet resulting in her eating and drinking well.  The organisers looked after us superbly, we were put up in a 5 star hotel for the duration of the event and had top class vet care - everything we might have wanted was sourced and delivered.  There was a vast spectacular opening ceremony with food, drink and entertainment and fireworks.  We were treated to a private box at Nad Al Sheba racecourse and even my crew were housed in a 5 star hotel in Dubai!  In the days prior to the ride, 5 of us riders were whisked off to a beach front hotel to take part in a televised press conference - I felt like a star footballer!  Whilst exercising Falaina on the exercise route one day I was filmed training and then interviewed by a TV crew and then snapped by photographers!  Very, very surreal when you think how the media take such little interest in Endurance in the UK.

The day of the race dawned overcast and cooler which was ideal for the horses.  Falaina went really well, the aim being to get her around the 160km at a speed fair to the conditions.  She was thoroughly enjoying the challenging course, but the long steep and deep sand sections really took their toll on some horses as the day wore on - Falaina as usual just got stronger and keener as the day progressed.

We passed each of the veterinary inspections during the ride within 2 minutes all day with flying colours and we were over the moon with her performance on course and in the vetgates.  She was powering across the sand and eating up the km's with ease.  The heat and the desert conditions appeared not to bother her - in fact I personally think she prefers this terrain as she can get into a nice consistent economical canter and go for miles at a good fast pace.

Falaina and I crossed the finish line in 27th position after a total riding time for the entire 160km of 9 hours 40 minutes - an average speed of 16.6kph.  Unfortunately we were unable to lower her pulse to the required parameter in the time allowed and were therefore technically eliminated.  A real shame as she had given me such a fantastic ride over a really tough course.  But we were extremely pleased with the ride she gave me and to finish 27th in such amazing company with 3 weeks notice shows what a phenominal horse she really is.

Two days after the ride I was lucky enough to receive a telephone call asking if I wanted to extend my stay for a few extra days to ride a horse in a 100km FEI** Ladies race at Al Asayel Endurance Village near Abu Dhabi for the Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad Al Maktoum stable.  Of course I accepted and was lucky enough to be given the ride on a wonderful 6 year old Australian bred arab.  The race was quite an eye opener, there were police cars lining the route as there were no "local" men allowed as the Sheikha's were riding and therefore not in national dress.  The horse gave me a wonderful ride and we finished in 11th place.  The stables were fantastic to ride for and it was great to be able to experience endurance as it is over in the UAE - a professional and popular sport - the stable I rode out for had facilities and training much like our top flat racing stables.  I was very grateful for this opportunity and would very much love to be invited to ride these horses again.

Falaina and I are now home and back to the cold British winter.  After the fantastic ride she gave me I am now planning my season as both Falaina and hopefully my younger horse Karaanza will be competing at 160km** level this year - 2008 looks like it could be busy as we also have my first foal due in May so fingers crossed for SG Enigmatika for an easy foaling!

Finally, I would like to thank Dengie for all their support over 2007 - the horses have all worked fantastically well on their products - namely, Alfa-A Original, Hi-Fi Lite, Naked Oats and Natural Vitality Performance Vits & Mins.  Needless to say I will be continuing to use them in 2008!

Liz