Wednesday 16 March 2016

Road to the African Endurance Championship in Walvis bay Namibia.


It as has always been an enormous dream of mine to compete in the prestigious event, the African Endurance Championship in Namibia.
Last year I started off with my new horse Kitima Samurai, bred my Kitima Stud in Burgersford. I only bought him as a trail horse for my horseback safaris.  A year after I bought him I decided to take him up as an endurance prospect. He is very well bred but certainly good genetics does not necessarily mean this horse will be good on the track. As one of the most important things are his own actual genetic make up and of course his mental strength. We started training in early 2015 and the above picture was his first 40km race. As he novice horse he needs to successfully complete 2x 40km and 2 x 80km at an average speed of 16km/ph or slower. A novice horse can only complete this phase over the course of 24 months and no shorter than 12 months.
He surely is a hand full but I enjoy every moment of it, he builds me up to be a better and more focused rider.
The AEC is a very though race it consists of a few distances, in particular 120km, and a 90km race. I would like to compete in the 90km race as this would ''hopefully'' be our first one. Training for this race should be up to 6 months prior and it consists of a lot of deep sand work which is grueling. I have done some research and have spoken to some riders that have competed in this event and one of the biggest challenges of this course is Dune 7 which would be on our last loop of the race. Dune 7 is located in the Erongo district of Namibia, approximately 7km east of Walvis Bay, it is the highest dune in the costal region, and is a popular spot for various activities. The majestic dunes of the Namib were formed as a result of sand being carried on the wind from the coast. The sand found here is 5 million years old, comprised predominantly of small grains encased in a thin layer of iron oxide. This is the coating that gives  the Namib it's characteristic red colour.
We have been into training for a month and a half now and I am very pleased. 
Hopefully our road to the African Endurance Championship would be one of many more to come.

Love you my special boy.