Pete’s Blog-in-the-garden

Natasha and I would like to wish all Muslims “Eid Mubarak”.  Here’s a photo we took this morning with all the Z’s: Zack Ali, Zaine Iskandar and Asha Zulaiqa.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Ma’af Zahir dan Batin.

Just when I thought I was on the road to recovery, the seroma in my thigh filled up again.  I had another MRI done yesterday and discovered the seroma is 30 cm long by 7.5 wide.  Pretty huge.  So today my ortho surgeon aspirated it again (my 4th aspiration in 2 months) and took out 138 ml of murky fluid.   Gigantic, really.  No wonder I couldn’t walk.

I’m back on anti-biotics as there is suspected infection, which explains the bouts of fever I’ve been getting.  And I’m flat on my back again, with strict orders to keep my leg elevated.  I guess that means if I try to ride I have to pull out my old racing saddles.

I’ve been scolded by three people already for not listening to my doctor’s orders enough.   This time I’ve promised to do my best.  If after this aspiration the seroma still doesn’t heal, I am told my option is going to be to have a drain stuck in my leg.  I’m not too keen on a monsoon in my trousers so I think I’ll do my best to stick to doctors orders.

Yesterday was World Peace Day.  We had a nice Buka Puasa dinner with all the grooms and staff of Royal Selangor Polo Club.  Members joined in to celebrate Polo 4 Peace in Malaysia.  We had hoped to play a tournament for Polo 4 Peace, but the thunderstorm in the afternoon took care of that plan.

Not that I could have played.  My right quadricep continues to fill with fluid.  i had some more drained the other day and this time the fluid was pinkish, indicating it was still bleeding in there.  The doctors ultra-sounded it and the scan showed an 8.5 cm tear in the muscle.  Now they have taught me how to strap it up to help the tear to heal.  They want me to strap it for another fortnight, hoping it will help to heal it.  They say there will be internal scarring, but hopefully that is better than all this fluid sloshing around in my leg.

I had planned a comeback to riding and stick and balling over the weekend as all the inactivity is driving me half crazy.  (The concussion takes care of the other half.)  The latest set-back puts my comeback after Raya, making the National League tournament that is scheduled to start on 10 October too close for comfort.

The good news is that I continue to shed kilos with my Herbalife diet.  Usually, when I don’t ride, I put on weight.  During Ramadan I am doing only a shake a day, usually only for sahur, but I continue to lose weight.  In all, I have lost over 10 kg since March. I’ll be ready for next season!

Thailand is without doubt the equestrian fashion leader in South East Asia. Colour coordination is the order of the day.

The range of colours is quite outstanding.  At the Thailand Dressage and Jumping championships, I saw purple, claret, gray, navy, green, black and red jackets.  Their horses are not spared either. Many are accessorized with matching saddle cloths, boots and ear bonnets.  There were even orange saddle cloths and, of course, the necessary floppy ear bonnets.   The floppier the better.

There was one showjumper who walked the course with two stilleto-ed models in yellow hotpants or miniskirt. I am told, at the last show, these models rushed in with umbrellas to provide shade when their boss fell off!

Most outstandingly dressed was the sub-junior rider in a sky blue jacket with her horse in a crocheted floppy bonnet in matching sky blue with black hoops.  The horse had a matching saddle pad and jumping boots.

This type of fashion sense is happily embraced by the kids in the lower classes.  More power to Thailand.

I am in Bangkok course designing showjumping tracks for the Thailand Championships.  I have course designed quite a bit in Thailand over the years: I think this is the fifth time I have the honour of course designing the Thailand Championships.  It is nice to be back.

It feels like it hasn’t stopped raining since I arrived.  We built the “Friendlies” this morning for this afternoon’s jumping.  My boots got completely soaked.  The crew were cutting drains in the arena as much as putting up fences.  It will be an interesting job adjusting the tracks as the arena isn’t particularly flat, and this morning there were some large water complexes that weren’t meant to be there!

The doping scandal that emerged at the HK Equestrian Olympics has serious repercussions for the sport. Equestrian sports, already distanced to Hong Kong at the Beijing Olympics, faces exclusion from future games.

In an article in the Irish Times, Olympic Council of Ireland’s President, Pat Hickey, who is also president of the European Olympic Committees, a powerful voting block including all of the European nations, said there were fundamental issues the sport had yet to iron out.

“There are a lot of problems occurring. I’m in no doubt,” said Hickey.

“I’m appalled that this is happening in this sport. But there seems to be something wrong in the equestrian movement and they just have to get their act together. This sport could be in very serious difficulties for next year’s vote, whether they remain on the programme or not.”

In 12 months’ time the 114 IOC members will meet to decide which sports will be part of games and which will fall out to create the vacancies.

Already he and other voting members are being vigorously lobbied by the sports that want to be included.

“Make no mistake, the lobbying for this is as big a lobby as the one for the venue for the 2016 Games. The old sports are lobbying to stay in and the new ones are lobbying to be included. Rugby Sevens has been extremely active, and so has golf. This is a big deal for the sports.”

Between now and the voting, every IOC member will receive an outline of how each sport has performed. The assessment will look at everything from spectators to drugs issues to the quality of the venue.

When asked by the Irish Examiner if the future of show jumping at Olympic level was in question, he responded, “I’d say it’s in question. “(My senior IOC colleagues) are shocked and appalled that this is happening in this sport. There seems to be something wrong in the equestrian movement. They just have to get their act together.”

The cost of holding equestrian sports at the Olympics has always been a contentious issue as it is a sport that requires a lot of land for the cross-country, special stabling and veterinary facilities for the horses. multiple arenas to work in and one of the highest number of technical officials as compared to other Olympic sports.

If Showjumping goes from the Olympic programme, it is hard to see Dressage or Eventing surviving. Olympic exclusion would have repercussions for the sport that even we in South East Asia would feel.

As a horseman, course designer, coach and former world cup and Asian Games showjumper, I am fascinated with the showjumping at the Olympics as it unfolds.   The courses and fences made for the Olympics are superb, and I dare say we haven’t seen them all yet.  I’m sure there will be some amazing fences fences saved for the competitions to come.

I am frequently asked what the format is for the jumpers, which rounds count for what, and frankly even I have to make some guesses.  The Olympic format is so complicated.  What was the qualifier for?  Read Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes blog on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/olympics/2008/08/imagine_a_sport_crying_out.html.  I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks it needs to be simplified.

As a sportsman I have always been fascinated with the Olympics.  Naturally I am attracted to the sports I competed in. There are quite a few.  I made it to national level as a middle distance and cross-country runner, played a lot of football, and even boxed.  So I watch quite a bit of those sports.  I also enjoy a lot of the skill sports, like archery, shooting and the diving that has been going on.  Equestrian sports has been my forte, so I am especially enthralled to watch the eventing, dressage and showjumping at the Olympic Games.

I could even have been watching and working the games, up close and personal, as an official.  I was offered a chance to work as an International Technical Official, something that Natasha did at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.  Being an ITO would have meant being away about 6 weeks.  I chose not to take it as the RMPA Polo Leagues conclude in August, and I really wanted to play the Malaysian Open.  Then I landed on my head and was Out Cold.  That’s just the way sports is sometimes.

Thankfully, we have fantastic coverage on Astro.  I am also surfing the Olympic websites and blogs.  Here is one that you may be interested in:  Jennifer Chang, who jumps the South East Asian World Cup League circuit, is writing an Olympic Blog.  You can find it here http://www.rthk.org.hk/special/beijingolympics/blog_20080730.htm

Enjoy the Olympics.

I went to see my orthopaedic surgeon again yesterday.  Even he was surprised how much fluid had again collected in my thigh and knee.  He drained about 90 ml of fluid and stuck me full of meds. I came away from the hospital with my leg back to its normal size and feeling a lot better about my chances of playing in the Malaysian Open Polo Tournament.  For me, that was the key, to play some part in the MOP, as I had also been invited to play in a beach polo exhibition tournament in Karachi, Pakistan at the end of the month.  If I could do something in the MOP, I would be okay to go to Pakistan.

I then went on to a long meeting to help organise the Royal Malaysian Polo Associations Polo Ball to be held on Saturday 23rd August at the JW Marriott.  What an event that is shaping up to be!  While chit chatting, I told them about my plans to make my comeback at the Malaysian Open. One of my oldest friends, Dato’ Mohamed Moiz not only forbade me but said he would also speak to the patron of the Premier Pitch team to ensure I didn’t play.  As League Chairman to my League Coordinator position, it is debatable whether Mohamed could have banned me, but I understand his motivation is in my best interests and I appreciate that much.

In the evening I spoke to Dato’ Brian Miller, who is as old a friend as Mohamed.  I wanted Brian to know that I thought I could do it, having had a lot of encouragement from my doctors.  Laughingly, Brian told me that, without speaking to Mohamed, he had already canceled the team’s pros from coming a few days ago.  Premier Pitch was out of the Malaysian Open Polo.  He said he didn’t want to play without me, and he wouldn’t risk me having another fall.

For the first time in my life I can’t get a game!

The level of concern by all my friends and from eyewitnesses tells me it was quite a fall.  This one was 10 upon 10.  My surgeon says that the ceroma injury I have is akin to injuries he sees in cyclists who have skidded along the road at top speed, or people who have been run over by a car.  In my case it was a horse who sat on me a few times and may have got in a few good kicks while I was out.  Quite fortunately, I was out cold the moment I hit the deck. One friend says he had trouble sleeping and had nightmares.  Others simply won’t let me risk a comeback just yet.

For once, I have deferred to their judgement.   I told my friends in Pakistan that it shall just have to be another time. Damn. I’ve never played beach polo in Pakistan.

Natasha drove with me to Pahang to watch the last three group games in the Royal Pahang Classic.  It was “pai kah” reunion as HRH Tengku Mahkota Pahang, Camilla Sugden and myself were all using either crutches or walking sticks.  It was a fun day of polo as there were, for the first time in the RMPA International League, five teams with a chance of making the final, depending on the result of their last group match.  It made for an exciting day of polo in Pekan.

For the record, Ranhill Polo and Royal Pahang made it to the final to be held tomorrow.  All results and group tables can be viewed on the RMPA’s website article here http://www.rmpa.org.my/news/news_body.php?id=61.

It was also good to catch up with my polo buddies, many of whom had heard about my fall and wanted to know when I would be coming back to play with them.  Having had my knee drained this week of about 30 ml of fluid, I’m hoping I can make a comeback at the Malaysian Open Polo Tournament in a couple of week’s time.   It’s going to be a bit of race as some ligaments were stretched and muscles torn.