Zu’s Ambling Along

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir & Batin

Eid greetings to all Muslims

The month of Ramadhan has gone by so fast - a sure sign that we (me, at least) are getting older. As usual, my family and I will be spending the first day (Wednesday) with my mum at her house, where close family members will congregate. In the evening, we will fly off to KB to spend the second day of Raya (Thursday) with hubby’s sisters and brothers. We fly back to KL in the evening of the second day.

And guess what, come Friday and for some days after, Cecilia and I will be at the Hillyard early mornings to help groom Armani and Noriah’s horses, handwalk them and even muck out. Cecilia has already been helping out since last Sunday.

Some of the grooms have gone off on Raya leave for several days. Armani’s groom, who was supposed to be around, got news that his father is ill and has gone off (I’m trying very hard not to suspect anything here but after having managed HR for several years when I was working full-time, I tend to wonder when staff or their parents or grandparents get ill so close to a public holiday). And I understand that one or two others, who didn’t get leave, upped and left.

Those who remain, and the Hillyard supervisor Fuad, are really straining under the extra workload. And of course, Cecilia and I worry about how much time they can really devote to each horse. So we will be rolling up our sleeves and trying to remember all that stuff we learned in our horse management course.

Kiara is really very much a village, where everyone knows your name and your horse’s, where rumours abound and stories go around. And like any village, people move about in groups. They form or join groups based on various factors, and the most obvious one is the kind of riding they do.

There are the ’gung-ho’ polo riders galloping forward at breakneck speed with a mean-looking mallet, stopping suddenly, swinging around, and galloping in the opposite direction. Shaffik has been trying to get me to learn to ride polo-style for ages, telling me that riding a polo pony will help me get rid of my speed hangup. I did try hacking on a polo pony with Eda once but found it all much too different - the tack, the way you hold the reins, how your legs go forward instead of hang down. This was when I wasn’t sure whether to take on Armani or not. Raja Mahmud, who must have been watching it all with amusement, had advised then, “Maybe you’d better just go with Armani.”

There are the ’showy’ jumpers, pun intended , sailing over the bars at the jumping paddock. Someone once said to me that, if you’re into competitions, show-jumping is preferred because the judging is not subjective - either you clear the fence or you don’t. It’s like mathematics - you know the answer or you don’t, no two-ways about it.

We then have the ‘ballet dancers’ - those who do dressage, the equestrian sport that I enjoy watching most, with its pirouettes and passages, half-passes and shoulder-ins. My continual lament - why is there so much jumping on Astro and so little dressage? Maybe because there’s so little sensational heart-stopping tumbling and falling in the latter, only discipline and subtlety.

The endurance group is getting much attention these days, thanks to our King and the FEI world endurance championship 2008 in Terengganu. I do admire the … well, endurance … of the riders in this group. To ride and ride and ride, kilometre after kilometre after kilometre, over hills, through valleys, around rubber or coconut trees, into streams, and maybe even with shadowy companions (need Nik Isahak to verify this), is not for the faint-hearted or the unfit.

And then, of course, there are those who come out on their horses to breathe the fresh (not always) air, meander about from track to hill to paddock. In other words, those who amble along, like me.

It’s Ramadhan and to Muslims out there - may Allah bring peace and blessings into your life and home.

I was able to ride only on one day, 2 September. My persistent coughing made me go to my family doctor again and it turns out that I have bronchitis. So I’m now armed with a number of antibiotics and pills (to be taken between dusk and dawn) and have not been riding since.

Thankfully I have my friend Cecilia. I have decided to half-lease Armani to her as of this month. She had been half-leasing an unschooled TB for several months and wasn’t improving her riding technique much. So she was on the lookout to half-lease a schoolmaster. Not many around. Well, Armani is a schoolmaster and a European Warmblood at that - been there, done that!

Coincidentally, I wanted to reduce the days I spend riding so I could enjoy my home more. The thing about being at Kiara is that once you’re there, you tend to be there for hours. Besides, I have a couple of big writing projects coming up. So it’s a win-win situation - Cecilia will get to work on her technique with Armani, I’ll have more time for other things, and Armani will have another mama to fuss over him. And with my bronchitis, Cecilia has been helpful in doing my riding for me.

First Eda broke her leg while jumping at 3Q. Now Datin Noriah has fractured her right arm while trying to break a fall. It really was a freak accident. She was about to mount her horse, Cempaka Sari, from a plastic chair at our stables. The chair somehow gave way, she was dangling with one foot in the stirrup, and before she could hoist herself up, Cempaka spooked and she fell. Afraid that her head might hit the ground, she used her elbow to stop herself falling flat and that led to the fracture.

It happened on Sunday, 24 August, the day when I don’t ride. In fact, she had just finished riding Armani for me and was moving on to her second horse for the day. Now, her arm will be in a cast for at least six weeks. Of course, she’s worrying about her horses as she exercises them daily.

I had a bit of an accident the day before but, Alhamdullillah, it’s nothing compared to what has happened to Eda and Noriah. I was trotting Armani on the track and when we got to a big puddle of water near the polo pavilion, he swerved to the left to avoid it. My leg hit the opened gate that was swinging into the track. There was a bit of a clatter and he spooked slightly but not so bad as to make him run off. There’s still a sizeable blue-black patch on my lower leg.

August so far has been one busy month! My niece got married, with the nikah on the 8th and reception on the 10th. My youngest sister came over from Berlin with her husband and daughter. Then on the 15th-17th, we were in Kuantan for the reception by the groom’s family.

And of course, there’s the Olympic Games to watch! Given that the equestrian events (dressage and jumping) start at about 7.15pm and go on until or past midnight, I’m glad that I’m lying nicely relaxed on the couch, with the air-con on and the tidbits within easy reach.

Over at Kiara, a new groom has been assigned to take care of Armani. His name is Hanif and he’s from Kelantan. I hope Armani likes him. So far (which has been about a week), he comes across as diligent. Armani is all ready when I arrive at the Hill Yard at 7am. And when I come back after my ride, I see that Armani’s stable has been mucked out and the front part cleaned. If I don’t have time to take Armani for grass after the ride (mainly because I have to then go for our RDA sessions at the Indoor Arena), Hanif is set to take Armani instead. If this keeps up, and I’ve no reason to think otherwise, I’m going to be one happy mama!

Other than riding, I love reading. I have bookshelves all over the house (almost) but they’re nothing like the ones featured in this blog, which is all about…, well, …bookshelves - http://theblogonthebookshelf.blogspot.com/

Sheridan and Jazz of the Bukit Kiara riding school have been put to rest. I was with Eda Wong (yes - the girl just can’t keep away; she comes to Kiara with her crutches and wheelchair and we’re glad to have her around) and some others when this news came up.

We were sad that they had to go but glad in a way that they could at last have some peace. They had really given so much, being ridden day in and day out by people who were just learning to ride. Many of the young adult riders at Kiara, who are now in their early twenties, could remember having lessons on Sheridan and Jazz when they were kids.

These two old faithfuls had also helped us in our RDA sessions and were very patient with our physically challenged riders and over-enthusiastic autistic riders.

Thank you, old friends, and goodbye.

Imagine riding through Britain from its tip to its toe, from John O’ Groats (the furthest north and east of the British Isles) to Land’s End (the furthest south and west). Well, that’s what Vyv Wood-Gee and her 13-year-old daughter Elsa did in 2006. It took them eight weeks to cover 1,335 miles. In the process, they raised some money for cancer research. Read about their adventure at http://www.thelongridersguild.com/wood-gee.htm

I wonder whether it’s doable for someone to do a long ride in Malaysia from Perlis to Johor.

Datin Noriah and I were at the hospital this afternoon - to visit Eda Wong who fell off when her horse stumbled at a fence at 3Q on Saturday. The femur in her left leg broke in a number of places, necessitating a three-hour operation to screw the parts together.

She was in good spirits, giving us her trademark grin as we walked into her room. Not long after, Lailee and her son popped in and we all had a good discussion going on various equestrian-related issues. The surgeon dropped by and we squinted knowingly at the rods and screws clearly shown in the x-rays he held up to the window.

The good news is that, being young and strong, Eda should be able to sit up and use a walker in a day or two, and could be out of hospital by the end of the week. The not-so-good news is that she will need several months to recuperate properly. So getting up on a horse is very much out of the question for a while. Still, don’t be surprised if you see her back at Kiara - I don’t think she can keep away, even if she has to be in a wheelchair!

Eda’s pretty much done it all in competitive riding - eventing, dressage, showjumping. So when she starts riding again, she thinks it’s time to slow down a bit and get into endurance riding.

I’ve been coughing incessantly for months now, despite visits to the doctor and two rounds of antibiotics. Recently, I went into hospital for a more thorough check-up and, Alhamdullillah, all the tests indicate that my heart, lungs, etc, are all ok. So the specialist there has asked me not to ride or go to the club for at least a week. He thinks that my coughing could be due to the dust there.

My first thought - who will ride Armani? He needs his morning exercise. Well, my good friend Noriah has come to the rescue; she will ride him on my non-lesson days while Peter and Jean will ride him on their respective lesson days.

The specialist may be right about the dust. Rodzi, one of the Kiara instructors, had been on medical leave for quite a while. Apparently, he had a serious viral infection due to dust exposure. But if that is the reason for my coughing (which is really deep and goes on and on), would the specialist later suggest that I stop riding for longer than a week? Oh dear …