Friday 15 February 2013

Pakistan - Final Day

Well we started today with a plan, Tina and I had decided to swap horses as her "Shergar" was taller than my "Sham-e", so we thought we might stand a better chance if we swapped

Michael posing with a dead centre date palm 2" peg
However on getting to the ground we found that Michael and Gerald were again on new horses and they were trying to mount Jacky on some really nutty stallions, including one that immediately bolted. Jacky being sensible decided one that the South Africans rejected was probably not a good idea, and eventually Michael's chestnut turned up and Jacky rode this one instead. Clocking up her 11th horse and winning the prize for most stallions ridden! 

Team sword was first up, so we were all running new horses, Sham-e was pulling Tina's arms out and I am now convinced Tina must have thighs of steel, as I couldn't get Shergar running straight until my third attempt. Needless to say the Brits did not feature highly in the team sword.

Rare occasion of me hitting a peg!
Jacky on the other hand was at ease picking up pegs on a horse new to her, and contributed quite a few pegs to help the United Nations Team to a bronze medal place. 

We actually thought that was it for the morning session, so nearly lost all out horses, but they announced that we would be running through the next competitions to finish in one session, so a horse scrabbled ensued. Tina swapped back to Shergar and me to Sham-e. Two classes of Indian file were up next, so you really need control as you are running one after another in a line, so need to not run into the horse in front and absolutely never to let go of your weapon. This is perhaps the most dangerous event. 

I was up to lead the pack and sword was first, leading Tina to wonder if she could reach from the 16.1hh Shergar. Our runs were good, and Tina is indeed incredibly flexible and picked up lots of pegs! 

I on the other hand was pretty annoyed with my performance and felt I had let the team down, sadly the more you stress the more you miss and I need to capture Gerald's "zen" like state!

However despite this we did rather well and won a team silver for the Indian file sword.

Indian file lance didn't go quite as well, maybe tiredness was creeping in, but all the South Africans got to know their horses and the Pakistan teams upped their game. 

Cameras everywhere!
However it was still a good end to the competition with everyone winning another medal! 

We were treated to a rest, but actually needed to pack and this was ahead of the final gala dinner. 
Jacky was then thrown into turmoil around 30 minutes before the dinner as Prince Malik asked her to speak on behalf of the UN team (the Brits having previously volunteered Michael for us!) 

The gala dinner was impressive with a huge amount of dignitaries attending and a rather scary amount of press. 
Uncle John (GB Manager!), Jacky & Tina
The speeches were wonderful, and Jacky probably delivered the best, despite the short notice! 

The team also received a most impressive trophy as a memento, and this was actually a sculpture of Prince Malik! 

The press were dragging me out for interviews (the others cheekily volunteered me!), and I was a little disappointed as there was some good looking ice cream being served.

Trophy with Michael & Gerald
However the party ended rather abruptly due to the South Africans leaving, and also I think the management wanting to leave the press hungry for more.

We returned back to our residence and saw the South Africans onto their bus, as they had to catch a 2am flight from Lahore. 

The team settled down to coffees and chatting to Pat, the SA manager who was staying on and got to see ourselves on tv!

The following morning was a 5am start, with the bus supposed to be collecting us at 6am. However 6am came and went and we finally got one at 7am. This wasn't so bad as I'd factored in more time. Unfortunately as we neared Lahore, the traffic was slow and the team were quite unnerved by our driver pulling over around 5 times to ask for directions... 

With around 50 minutes to go before our flight was due to take off panic well and truly set in, admittedly the boys kept their cool, but all the girls were in full on panic mode. Various people telling us "no problem" was not helping the stress levels. 

However we were being looked after - the flight was an hour late, so we regained our composure and even had time to get some good shopping done. 

Actually wearing medals proved to be a shrewd move instigated by Michael, as all the staff wanted to know about Neza Bazi and we definitely got extra special treatment on the plane! 

The team are now all safely back in England, but most of us seem to have head-colds! 






I will try and catch up on my blogs today, but in the meantime here is a good news feature on the competition!

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Delay in service

Apologies, I haven't had chance to catch up on the blog.

The team are safely home to a cold wet England!

I will do my last day blog once I've caught up on some sleep

A big thanks to the whole team, as everyone contributed and the trip would not have been possible without these people all pulling together and putting a huge amount of effort in

The house seems ever so quiet without my teamies, I feel a bit lost!!!

Monday 11 February 2013

Day 6 - Pakistan

Tina on board and Michael waiting
Well today is a rather successful one for the British!!

Post breakfast we set off for the ground. This time once again Tina's Shergar and my horse Sham-e were ready and waiting, but the other horses had disappeared. Micheal had to jump on a new one, Jacky got on the first chestnut she rode yesterday and Gerald on another dapple grey

Micheal was promised his chestnut, but had to settle for a new bay horse (see below)



Crazy horse Tina rode yesterday
rejected by SA!!! 
Jacky's mad chestnut from yesterday, that hated gallows,
but picked up 2" pegs no problem!
The first team run was rather interesting as we hadn't had the chance to run these horses together before, so we weren't entirely sure what they would do. So the result was Gerald's wouldn't run straight and on the first run Michael's horse also ran over the peg

We were a bit more prepared on the following run, but Gerald was still not able to run the grey straight, we spotted that Michael's preferred Chestnut had turned up, so we immediately (mid competition) swapped horses)

This meant we picked up more points in the following rounds, but still not enough to feature

Pairs were next with lance, and we split into our pairs, I was running with Tina, Gerald with Michael and Jacky with Wamiq from the Pakistan Team

Silver Lance Pair
Tina and I ran well and picking up all pegs, were just beaten by one of the South African pairs on time and ended up in silver position. The boys were just behind us in bronze position, having drawn one peg.

So we broke for lunch on a bit of a high, and celebrated with more ice cream!
Boys collecting bronze











Heading back to the ground we had the usual problem, Tina and my horses were there, and the horse Michael rode in the morning. Gerald's chestnut had gone, so we quickly grabbed another chestnut that Jacky had ridden the previous day, but was a bit big for her to sword peg. Meanwhile they put Jacky on an roan that immediately bolted with her and was promptly rejected. However the missing chestnut turned up, so we popped her on that, her 11th horse of the competition (she is currently winning on number of horses ridden)

Wamiq and Jacky
Obviously our choice was a bit too good, as Jacky and Wamiq proceeded to beat the British pairs and ended with a bronze medal! The two South African pairs took Silver and Gold.


Team with flag and a fraction of the crowd!

Whole Team with medals!
Whole team with Prince Malik 


Sunday 10 February 2013

Day 5 - Pakistan


Today started with Individual Sword, so my first opportunity to get my sword bag out, which was immediately admired by one of the South Africans! This is a prototype by Swags and Bags and really helps when you are trying to carry a saddle, lance and sword.

We arrived at the ground and my trusty "sham e qalandar" was waiting for me, and Jacky had the same dark bay stallion, however all the other horses had not turned up!

The problem is there is a local event running parallel, so some of the horses had been run too hard and couldn't compete again so quickly.

Gerald was on a lovely roan owned by our friend Awais, Tina was put on a young dapple grey and Mike was on the chestnut that he rode the previous day.

Sham-e
However we were on sword pegging and those with new horses had to literally get straight on and sword peg, which is extremely difficult as any pegger would know, as if you haven't had a run, you are not quite sure what the horse will do.

Unfortunately things were not going to plan, Tina's horse would not run straight at all, and her only opportunity to even hit a peg was around 4 out from where she should have been.

Awais' lovely horse 
Jacky's horse had obviously got out of bed the wrong side and he was rearing at the start and running blind, unfortunately not necessary in the direction of the peg, and at one point the crowd looked a bit worried and scattered!!

Prince Malik decided that Jacky's horse was dangerous and Gerald's horse was too slow, so promptly changed them. We then took the opportunity to swap out the dapple grey Tina was on, as it was way too green and couldn't run straight at all, however Geralds horse was perfect for Tina and umm without the excess baggage could run faster!!

Michael had a good run and finished fourth overall, so despite the difficulties the brits were holding their own

Jacky's 3rd horse of the day - rejected!
Lunch was followed, and we still got treated to ice cream, so my resolve to cut down on the food isn't exactly holding up.

Post lunch we came back to the ground for the afternoon session of 2 rings and a peg and lemon cutting. However once again were a bit stunned as the horses weren't all there. So Michael was put up on another grey and Jacky on a different chestnut, with Tina, Gerald and Me all having the same horses.

Michael's horse #7 and Jacky's #7 or #8
Now the problem is that the Pakistan horses don't often see gallows, so once again the others were on strange horses that had never done rings before. We had issues, and Michael was struggling to get his near the gallows, which didn't help our points total.

Michael stuck with his horse, but we swapped Jacky onto something that looked safer

Tina performed the best, but unfortunately only two full houses were going to secure medals, so the South Africans who hadn't had the same horse issues took these.

Lemon cutting came next, and the horses were slowly getting used to the gallows, however once again double full houses were required to get into the medals, and although we had a fair few points, just not enough to be in the top 3.

Tonight was dinner at the Chenab Club with the High Commissioner, which was good and chance to do a post mortem on the day, hopefully we should have the horse issues resolved tomorrow!







Saturday 9 February 2013

Day 4 - Pakistan

Well another eventful day

The competition has begun in earnest, although slightly later than advertised due to dew appearing this morning.
Uncle John & Jacky

One special mention must go to "Uncle John" from South Africa, who we have now adopted as British and he is currently our team manager and coach for this trip!

My trusty little black stallion
Around 9.30am we went to the ground, challenge one was to identify your horse, which meant you had to remember what it looked like, or in Michael's case locate one the Prince Malik was arranging.


I located my trusty black stallion, who again I asked his name, but "sami" is the closest I can get, as it was a lot longer..

I must point out Michael is currently on horse number 5 of this competition - problems have included eating the ears on one, having another than ran into the fence to stop and even then bumped its nose, having another that napped and finally another one Prince Malik decided was too slow and swapped him again! It was a bit of a stress as they were calling him to run before he had actually got a horse (SA having the same problem), but we did manage to overcome the obstacles!

The morning session was 3 runs of individual lance. Which tested our riders as this is so different to what we are used to in the UK, however everyone coped very well.

Tina on her white stallion
Gerald on Prince Malik's Stallion 
Jacky on her dark bay stallion
Gerald on his bay pegging horse
We started with the parade, which was a little interesting as Gerald has been transferred to Prince Malik's palomino stallion, who has great paces. Unfortunately he had to lead the British rather than ride in section, as my stallion squealed and tried to fight every time her came near

In fact my stallion is like a little terrier and tries to pick fights with all the other stallions no matter how big there are. Still at least with his neighing and squealing everyone knows where I am!!



Gerald was the star in the morning, picking up all his pegs. The first two runs were on cardboard pegs, and the final run was on 2" date palm pegs.
As you can see the Brits managed to pick up a few of these date palm pegs

Lunch was superb as usual and we had fish, for the first time, which was a welcome change as I've been living off chicken and we also treated to an ice cream, which was good in the heat.

Being a complete weirdo, I am in fact still wearing a thermal top underneath my polo shirt, but then I do tend to get cold no matter what the climate. It is increasing in temperature every day, but its currently around 22oC during the day.

One of the guys from the high commission who was kindly taking photographs! 
When we came back from lunch we found the staff from the British High Commission had driven from Islamabad, which is 4 hours away, to support the British riders. They were extremely impressed and supportive of our efforts to encourage good sporting relationships between our countries. They also agreed the media is incredibly overstated about the safety issues and were emphatic that both Islamabad and Lahore were perfectly safe.

The team will be featured in the High Commission newsletter!

Also we have all been giving interviews to various local news channels including express news and Such TV.

Today Tina and I got talked into doing a photoshoot which included walking along and putting a traditional pink turban on

Gerald is incredibly popular with the crowd and the tv shows and very nearly missed a run, as had to break from the interview to go and hit another peg.

So the team did well with everyone contributing points, unfortunately we didn't managed to beat the South Afrians who ran off for individual 1-5th in the main competition and also took the top 2 slots in the masters, but Pakistan still won bronze.

Out the 6 teams we are ranked 4th, but hopefully the sword competition tomorrow might improved out chances

Once again we have been taken to another horse farm for dinner, where again we were treated like royalty and have been well fed and watered (I had some more pink tea... once again I asked another local who couldn't tell me what was in it...!)

I am actually a bit worried about this, as I am pretty sure I am heavier than when I arrived in Pakistan. I think I might have to stick to the rice tomorrow to work off too much good food!






Friday 8 February 2013

Day 3 in Pakistan

Wew what a day!

So today started with the normal breakfast, this time we had the new delicacy of buffalo buttermilk, which was akin in taste to the probiotics that we pay a fortune for at home

We have also posed with our diligent guards that follow us wherever we go with their assault rifle (doesn't smile much)!

As you can see Ginger Dragon decided pink was the order of dress for the warm up, now in England pink has mixed reception, but actually here is still regarded as a man's colour and there are quite a few local teams competing in pink and fushias

After breakfast we were taken for a tour of the horse camps, so this is where all the horses stay (and their grooms).

The first thing we saw was some of the horse transports, shown left, now we are not sure how exactly they get the horses in and out, but they are open top and very decorated!


The camps are amazing, and stretch for a long way, but are also what we would consider a health and safety hazard due to the guy lines being all over the place.

All the horses are generally double tied and hobbled behind, but the logic behind this is now clear - all the horses are in fact stallions, with mares actually banned from competition. There may be the odd gelding, but this is usually only done if the stallion is extremely bad tempered.

The hobbling behind obviously stops the stallions swinging round and kicking each other. I certainly don't think there would be an event in the UK where so many stallions would be kept together.

Tina shown here sporting the Pounsley School of Excellence Tentpegging shirt!

The final tent we saw had musicians and appeared to be the VIP tent, it was actually very cool and as you can see all the horses were in a fantastic condition and had very elaborate tack, which appears to be available in pretty much any colour you can think of including gold.

The date palm pegs
From the horses we went to the grounds to watch the local teams compete. They start on slightly smaller pegs that we usually would with around a 3" peg made of date palm. I thought this is what we would be using, but in fact they have made cardboard pegs especially for the international competition.
The stands



The Junior Pakistan Team Parading on the far stand
Believe it or not, but its relatively cold here and sat in the stands I really needed a thicker jumper to keep warm, as we were not in the sun
Local competitor




After watching the tenetpegging for a while, we headed back to base for lunch. I have a nasty feeling I may  be putting on weight as everything is really tasty, although I have had to break my habit of not eating chicken unless I know it is free range. On the other side, I am not sure intensive farming has really kicked in over here

So next up was our turn and I finally got my hands on some horses.
I was decided in the interest of safety that the ladies and SA masters team would have their horses selected by Prince Malik and the others would draw for theirs.

I got mine fairly early, a pretty black stallion, which is of typical Desi stamp with curved ears and an arab head. I had brought my stock saddle with me, so did swap into my own gear, which made him feel quite similar to one of my polo ponies

I would put his name on here, but they told me 3 times and I've forgotten it already, so will need to ask again tomorrow and write myself a note on it!

Tina is on a grey stallion, and Jacky on a bay. Michael was eating the ears of his first one, so swapped for something with a lower headcarriage. Unfortunately when we were riding a bit close in section format, his and Gerald's Stallion decided they didn't like each other and had a huge kicking match, which ended up with Gerald hitting the deck, but fortunately wasn't kicked. So we are keeping the boys apart for the time being, and never let your stallion talk to the one next door!

We did a warm up but noticed that Jacky was having issues, on our first lance practice run, unfortunately hers veered off and was extremely nappy, so Prince Malik demanded that she should swap.

The team changed to swords, and we did a run in a section of 4 whilst Jacky was still locating a new horse. Unfortunately we had a little confusion in the instruction (I blame Michael), which meant Tina and I went for the same peg, so I had to bug out to avoid collision and didn't get to practice the sword.

Ring prat ice came next and Jacky rejoined us with another bay stallion, that didn't seem that quiet as was intent on trying to boot any other stallion near him!

Unfortunately the sun was going down, so visibility was faltering, and you couldn't see the rings until a bit too late, so the team didn't fare so well. I also had a sharp reminder to put my ring guard on as the first ring really hurt my finger! A lot of the horses were moving away from the gallows, as this isn't normally part of a typical Pakistan competition.

We finished after this, but were mobbed by big crowds wanting pictures, and it was a little difficult to know what to do, but we decided to stay on horseback until rescued by the guards. The crowds circled in and were very friendly, but just a bit overwhelming in number. Also they started to stray on the track, which caused the still practicing Pakistan team some issues.

We were bundled back on the buses and returned to camp, but unfortunately it had got a bit late to go to the planned dinner at a horse farm, so instead we ate here (again delicious!)

So tomorrow sees the start of the competition with lance round A and B, followed in the afternoon by 2 rings and a peg. I am hoping my little black stallion will be well behaved!












Thursday 7 February 2013

Day 2 in Pakistan

Well I didn't want to wake up this morning, and morning came very quickly

For breakfast we were treated to special friend pancake-like-naan with sweet sauce, as a Pakistan specialty  it was very good!

Due to the rain they have had here, everything has been postponed by a day, so today was our rest day and tomorrow will be the practice.
Gerald was wearing his special pounsley pink uniform!

So we set off for the University stud farm to have a look at Prince Malik's horses and watch the South African managers try them out as they are going to lead the parade on them.

The second horse we saw was a lovely Palomino stallion, and Prince Malik's team are all smartly turned out




We went on to look at the ground where we will be pegging, this is currently harrowed to help the ground dry out and will be rolled tonight to make it suitable for pegging
They were in the process of erecting some pretty huge marquees for the expected large crowds!

This event should be pretty colourful and noisy as its a large festival for them.




The South African boys then got very excited as they saw a tractor in the nearby field, it doesn't matter if its just an old Massey, it still seems to evoke the same "small boy" reaction

The guys in the field were hand cutting an oat/ barley type plant and collecting this into bundles to load on to either tractor trailer or the donkey - talking of which here is the South African guys having a go at driving


Lunch was next on the agenda, and again served in the University garden and was fantastic food

Back on the bus - you remember me saying yesterday the roads were better than India? I take that back, after quite a few near misses, even the danger seeking South Africans retreated to the back the bus as the ones at the front worked out they would be the first to die!

2 long hours later and a crafty kip for me, we arrived at a horse farm to drums and musicians in a small village. All the villagers turned out to see us, not sure whether we were the entertainment, but I don't think that area would see many foreigners.

So dancing horses were next, and we had 3 perform to us in time to music

Tea was next with the most amazing food, including fluorescent orange donutty type things and pink tea (known as kashmiri-chi, which after asking many people, no one knows the secret ingredients)

However we were going straight to dinner, so we had to eat enough to keep our wonderful hosts happy, but not too much that you wouldn't want anything else

Following tea was a tour of the horses, they kept predominantly "white" horses, but technically greys as they had dark eyes. These are always hobbled for part of the day, as part of their normal routine

The grounds were extremely well kept










Dinner was next, at another horse farm, and once again there were more horses to inspect. Including a very nice looking stallion, who was reputed to be the best bloodline in Pakistan

They had a pretty impressive tackroom which we inspected with Prince Malik (tack is out of sight to the left)

The food for dinner was prepared outside including the bread, cooked in a massive bbq area. We were outside, but had a fire to keep us warm, as the temperature is around 9oC at night and dropping!

We did have beer - so all the boys seemed very happy with meat and beer!


Right back to the room - so there has been a parting of ways! I'm afraid to report that Jacky and I have broken up and are now sleeping in separate beds!

This was partly due to John from the SA team asking me why on earth I hadn't requested this earlier... well you live and learn. Fortunately I was the duvet hogger, so Jacky was cold whilst I was toasty.

Despite being in a dry country we are being well looked after and have a fridge full of beer in the room!

Here is the obligatory toilet picture, we did have toilet roll ready and waiting, which was a nice surprise. However there is still the ominous hose and buckets lurking in there. Looking at the track, I don't think there are any "facilities" at all around there!
















Wednesday 6 February 2013

The Brits have landed

The team caught the 8pm Pakistan International Airlines flight from Heathrow and landed in Lahore at 8.30am local time

The Lahore airport was crazy with a long queue to get through security and then another queue to get through further security. All bags and lances arrived safely, but we then joined another queue which xrayed the luggage again. Fortunately we were met at the airport and looked after very well

Lahore airport:-

From Lahore we travelled to Faisalabad, which took around 2 hours on relatively clear motorways. My first impression of Pakistan is that its is a more organised India and certainly in Lahore drivers stuck in between the white lines

However Faisalabad has some rather busier roads around the university, so the beeping when overtaking and multiple lanes of traffic kicked in due to the amount of horse and donkey drawn carts.

Once we arrived we were given 10 minutes to freshen up before a splendid lunch in the sun, where we meet the South African teams.

After lunch we visited the Vice Chancellor of the university and meet his staff and the Pakistan junior team.

Left you can see our esteemed host HRH Prince Malik Ata Muhammad Khan

It was great to formally meet our hosts in Faisalabad.

After the vice chancellor we went to the University stud farm, where we had all their key stallions paraded for us, and a few of their broodmares

The local breed in Pakistan is known as "Desi" and is a mixture of all the lines that have come to Pakistan including Marwari, thoroughbred, arab and a few other mixes. The university are breeding especially for tentpegging, so they are looking for speed, quality flashy paces and temperamental.

Michael with Tina and Gerald in the background - Tina was promptly told off by Prince Malik for wearing a headscarf!


We are now back in the hotel room, and tonight I am sharing a bed with Jacky from the team, fortunately it is massive, but still the concept of a twin room doesn't really exist!! Also my only other option is sharing with Gerald, and he definitely has a worse reputation for snoring
I've had a warm shower and feeling a bit better, but still rather like a zombie from being awake for 32 hours!