Month: March 2018

Terengganu International Endurance Park, T.I.E.P. (Day 3)

3rd day of our 3-day horse riding trip across Peninsular Malaysia! We selected Terengganu International Endurance Park (T.I.E.P.) as our final destination.

Terengganu International Endurance Park (T.I.E.P.) is my most looking-forward-to track to ride since my endurance competition last year.

Our accomodation is fairly near to T.I.E.P. It took us about 15 min drive to get there. (Look at Suki’s sleepy eyes!)

Good morning horsies!

The girls abandoned me in the car while I was parking. They ran over to welcome the horses instead!

Jaclyn got Princess, I got Jacq and Suki got Langkasari.

Wasted no time, we started off our ride in T.I.E.P. – one of the top 10 endurance tracks in the world!

The initial track that we planned for was 14KM.

Upon completing the 14KM, we didn’t get enough of umh! and requested our guide, Anuar to bring us to another round of 10KM.

In total, we completed 24KM in the track as you can see in the following video.

Upon coming back, horses rest and drink before heading back to the stables.

This is an emotional moment for me.

I took Jacq for my 40km last year. I spent fair amount of time training with him back in Batu Arang last year (average of 3-4 times in a week).

Jacq was sold to another private stable in Terengganu, which means I can’t see him and ride with him as frequent as I used to.

Because of the endurance training, my riding style has changed so much to fit to Jacq. When I was riding Jacq, we feels in-sync with each others’ movement.

Jacq has got a lot more thinner than he used to be. Frankly, I have such an unspokeable heartache to see him again.

As much as I felt reluctant to leave Jacq, but it’s time to move on after petting and feeding Jacq.

I carried a heavy heart to come back to Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

It was as if I farewell to a long time friend.

It was really good seeing you again, Jacq.

Pusat Equestrian Pahang (Day 2)

2nd day of our 3-day horse riding trip across Peninsular Malaysia! We selected Pahang Equestrian Centre (also known as Pusat Equestrian Pahang) because riding at the beach is one of Suki’s bucket list items. Jaclyn and I have never done beach riding as well so we were really looking forward to ride at the beach.

We got there in the morning about 8.00 AM.

The stables are not located right next to the beach. We had to cross a busy street in order to get to the beach. The traffic started building up at that hour so we had to wait until approximately 9.00 AM for the traffic to be clearer.

The good news is, that gives us a lot more time to play with our horses in the arena. Yay!

Jaclyn got on Pekan (right), I got on Goldie (middle) and Suki got on Putra (left).

Flatwork in the arena.

We had to trot for almost 1KM in the village road before arriving to the beach.

Around 9.30AM, the sun was high and bright. We were already sweating before even arriving to the beach.

Here we are at the beach, Tanjung Lumpur!

Suki overtook everyone and started cantering at the beach!

Jaclyn with her signature pose.

Goldie is trotting freely at the beach.

We passed a small stream while riding at the beach.

Jaclyn cantering fast from my right.

Suki cantering fast from my left.

 

The girls are having good time posing with their horses after exiting the beach.

After exiting the beach, we passed through a long strech of village road.

We stopped at an open field to take a rest before heading back to the stables.

Back to the stables. Suki posing with Putra.

Here is at track recorded by Jaclyn’s smart watch.

Cantering on the endless beach is an unique experience for us who are mostly riding in the arena or trail. It is an experience that every rider must try!

Further Details on Pahang Equestrian Centre / Pusat Equestrian Pahang

We had a chance to take photo with the crew members who went out ridng with us.

Pahang Equestrian Centre, Pusat Equestrian Pahang

This is the location to Pahang Equestrian Centre / Pusat Equestrian Pahang. The riding fee is RM200. If you would like to visit, please give Cikgu Paiza a call, +601113237416.

Up next, we are heading to T.I.E.P. (Terengganu International Endurance Park) – one of the top 10 endurance track in the world!

Bidaisari Stables, Janda Baik (Day 1)

First day of our 3-day horse riding trip across Peninsular Malaysia!

We decided to have Bidaisari Stables in Janda Baik, Bentong (Pahang) as our first stop. It is a track that Jaclyn wanted to go since last year but never had a chance.

Suki and I rode in Bidaisari Stable once in September last year.  It was a reasonably relaxing ride so we were really looking forward coming back again after 6 months.

Jackly got on Pampa, the first endurance horse she ever had; Suki got on Zaafa, an anglo Arab that has pleasantly light and smooth canter; while I got on Bella, an easy-going grey horse and she is really good looking.

Our guide, Raju came along with us on his horse and guided us to finish through the big loop in the trail.

We crossed 2 small streams and spent fair amount of time allowing the horse to rest and eat, while the riders took the time to take lots of photos!

We covered 12KM and it took us slightly more than 2 hours to complete the trail.

Next stop, we are heading over to Kuatan for Pusat Equestrian Pahang!

Falling Down in UPM Track

Felt down from horse in the trail!

I got a jumping horse, (named Russian) which is not used to going out the trail. Before going out, I flatwork Russian for about 10 minutes in the arena and Russian was a really steady boy while walking and trotting.

When we hit the trail, I gave Russian the clue to go canter. He started off with slow canter and within very short time he transition into fast canter and I couldn’t slow him down.

Russian kept fast cantering for the next couple of minutes and eventually transition into galloping while going down hill. Yeeeeehar! (Well, it was actually steadier than I thought it will be)

The only problem was, I couldn’t slow him down and I felt fairly uncomfortable riding a horse that I couldn’t control.

Eventually at a very sharp turn, Russian was fast cantering into left while my body momentum was still going forward. I felt down on my right side and knock my head. I could tell I almost lost my conscious as the world was spinning when I hit the ground. I laid on the mud for a couple of minutes before Din came to my rescue.

Din and I exchanged horses. I got back on to horse back and ride back to the arena. At this point I could feel I lost a bit of my balance because my hand and leg coordination was out of sync.

Back into arena, I flatwork Russian again for another 45 minutes. The objective for doing this is to make sure I find back my balance and confidence on horse back before calling it a day.

It’s been a while since my last fall from a horse. The good thing about falling down is we always get to stand back up on our own and remember to stay humble no matter how much one has been riding.