Obviously, we had a very early start - I think I remember getting to Czarko by 4am in order to give him his breakfast and to allow enough time for him to digest before race start. He was chilled and the atmosphere in the stabling area was very subdued. I had managed to get everything organised the night before so all I needed to do was plait Czarko's mane whilst he ate his food and make him look squeaky clean.
Race start was 06:30 (I think!), just when the sun was coming up. I decided to start at the back to save the chance of Czarko getting too excited and out of control - I learned later on that this possibly wasn't the best decision. I knew from the minute I got on that Czarko wasn't his normal self but it didn't concern me because it was only a minor change in his behaviour to begin with. He is usually a very scatty and excitable horse, however I found him much more quiet than normal with less attitude. Penny, Andrew and I walked our horses around well away from the start line and allowed some space between ourselves and the main pack of competitors. At the time, I thought this was a good idea because I thought it would keep Czarko more relaxed and reduce the possibility of him becoming strong and ignorant. This idea worked and I was surprised to find that we managed to trot over the start line in a collected manner (something that never happens!).We were no more than about 5-10 minutes into the race when Dace's horse, Lottie was kicked in the head. It was the most awful noise and sounded just like a branch being snapped. Lottie pinned her head to Dace's leg and was spinning in circles. Luckily, we were all together so were able to help Dace as much as we could. Andrew had a bandage to hand and jumped off to quickly wrap it around Lottie's wound. Once we had processed what had just happened, we continued on and Dace ran on foot for a while. Lottie seemed to be alright in herself so Dace decided to get back on and ride to the first crew point where our Team Vet and management were waiting. Once Dace and Lottie were in safe hands, the three of us carried on and caught up the Tunisian horse that we had just witnessed kick our team horse in the face. It was quite a challenge to pluck up the courage to pass the horse and we eventually passed once we had got to a road section with a big enough gap.
After this point, the rest of the race seems like a bit of a blur when thinking back. The first loop was a very challenging one with lots of steep hills. It was already beginning to get quite muggy during the first loop which was rapidly zapping our energy. I don't really remember any crew points and all I can recollect is that we were trying to catch up as much as we could. We managed to pass a lot of combinations but we didn't catch the main pack which is what I would have liked ideally. The first loop was 37km and Czarko and I completed it at 18.440km/h - the average speed for us. It took us 2:22 minutes to present at the first vet gate, we had no problems getting Czarko's pulse down and it was quite shaded at 08:30 where the vetting area was when we presented him so he cooled down quite well.
We had a 40 minute hold time where we continued to keep Czarko cool and tried to get him to eat as much as we could. The second loop was 30km long and our average speed was 14.450km/h making our overall average speed 16.410km/h. This is a lot slower than what we would usually average after this distance and it was at the second vet gate I noticed that Czarko definitely was not right. We arrived at the vet gate at 11:07 and it took us 7:48 minutes to get Czarko's pulse down. This was one of the longest times I can recall it taking to get Czarko ready for presentation - the other being vet gate three where it took us 15:33 minutes!I get very anxious in the vet gates and become worried when trying to get Czarko's pulse down. He has never had a problem before and has not given me any reason to worry but I always get concerned about the possibility of him tying up or cramping. The second hold was also 40 minutes which was again spent keeping Czarko cool and encouraging him to eat. My crew also spent this time trying to encourage me to eat - I'm one of the worst when it comes to eating on race day, my mouth always dries up and can never bring myself to eat much at all. I normally just survive on Torq energy gels until I have finished the race - I really should work on teaching myself to eat properly.
The third loop was 32km and was one where I spent a lot of time on my own feet. Some of the hills on this loop were unbelievable and I just didn't want to run the risk of Czarko slipping. I can remember two of the hills very well - one climb and one fall. The first was the climb and I remember looking up and the hill and wondering if we'd ever get up it. By this point, the sun had reached the highest point in the sky and everyone was feeling the affects. I jumped off and nearly fell over! We started the climb and as we were walking, my airways were closing up and I was finding it harder and harder to breathe. We eventually got to the top and I then faced the challenge of finding the energy to get back on. It probably only took us a minute or two to get up the hill but it felt like it was never going to end. We spent a minute to catch our breath and I found the energy to get back on and carry on.The second hill was the decline where again, I got off. This particular hill was much more dangerous in the way that there were big, sharp rocks on the path. The path was very narrow and winded all the way down. All of the riders I was with at the time got off to walk down - you would have been crazy to ride down, especially at speed. These types of hills were probably the reason so many horses came back lame. There's only so much uneven ground a horse can take and any kind of slip or stumble up or down those hills could be catastrophic. At this point in the race, I had no intension of racing to gain any places and my main goal was to finish. We arrived at the third vet gate at 13:57 in temperatures of around 35 degrees. It was a real challenge to get Czarko's pulse down to say the least. He wasn't struggling in himself and still looked very bright but we just could not cool him down. We had a lot more crew at the third vet gate as Andrew was sadly vetted out due to his horse being lame and I was in front of Penny, meaning Czarko was the only horse to focus on. Czarko is quite a worry horse as I mentioned before and he doesn't like being crowded. Everyone was frantically pouring water on him to try and cool him down and looking back on things, I think this was more of a hinderance than help.
I eventually presented Czarko after 15:03 minutes and he passed. To be honest, I was very shocked and was convinced he was going to fail. I'm not sure what I thought he would fail on, I just didn't think we would be heading back out. When it was time to tack up, all I felt was guilt. I was feeling fine in myself and had no concerns about tackling the last loop but I almost felt cruel to take Czarko out again, purely due to the heat and the fact that he wasn't feeling right. However, I made the right decision to go out on the last loop because this meant that Czarko and I would cross the finish line to become an FEI 4* combination.The last loop was probably the worst loop I have ridden in any endurance race, ever! It was 21km and took us 2 hours and 26 minutes. We travelled at an average of 8.604km/h, the slowest we have ever been. About 3km into the loop, Czarko stumbled over a slight rut on the path (the exact same place Lottie was kicked) and he went crippled lame. I thought this was the end for us and I was going to just walk back to the venue. I got off and had a look for any injuries but it turned out Czarko had cramped up in his right fore. I immediately walked him on and continued on the route as it was heading back in the direction of the venue anyway. After a minute or so, Czarko became completely sound and I was able to get on and carry on. Nonetheless, I was frightened to death of it happening again so rode like a complete nervous wreck for the rest of the loop - hence the speed of 8km/h.
We had nothing to race for and were going to finish within the time allowed so just took the last loop as steady as we needed. I can remember thinking about how dark it was becoming when we were homeward bound - it felt like the last loop had taken several hours. When we were about 20 minutes away from the finish, it started to rain which was such a blessing. I was having conversations with Czarko about all sorts of stuff. There was no sign of anyone in front or behind us so we only had each others company.
I cannot begin to explain the excitement I felt once we hit a track that I recognised would lead us to the finish line. I must have filled with energy as Czarko all of a sudden perked up and took longer strides through the trees. It's true what they say - you really do channel your feelings through the horse and they can feel everything you feel, well at least Czarko did on this occasion.
Ears pricked and head held high, Czarko crossed me over the finish line. All we had to do now was pass. After 11:06 minutes of cooling down and walking around, we presented. Team vet Georgina listened to his heart rate multiple times and we decided it was time to go in. Czarko is a very sound horse so I wasn't concerned at all about his trot up, if it was going to be anything, he would fail on his metabolic results. Team logistics manager Philip trotted Czarko up for me, a very pressured job to say the least. After a very nerve racking assessment, we got the nod and Czarko had passed! Relief! All the hard work had paid off and I cannot begin to describe how I felt. Proud to say the least - proud of my crew and all they had done for me, proud of myself and all I had achieved but most importantly proud of my horse for the effort he put in when he could have easily given up.Looking back, if I could change anything, I would have started in a different position at the beginning of the race - I feel as though Czarko would have benefitted from starting in the main pack of horses. In races at home, we are usually always near the front so being at the back was quite a change in tactics for us. We would have had more motivation being with front runners and I think our performance would have been a lot better. Overall, our race time would have been a lot shorter meaning we wouldn't have been racing for so long. I frequently find that Czarko performs much better when he is with a group of horses, it is so much harder to keep motivated when racing alone. However, these are only things that I can look back on and think about - I wouldn't have changed anything because what matters is that we completed.
Needless to say, Czarko recovered amazingly well and travelled home with no problems. I will never forget the journey we embarked on to represent our country and will be eternally grateful to those who made it possible.
Emotional me after processing what had just happened.
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