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!