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!