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Woman to ride in international endurance race By Don Hunt Imagine racing a horse for 100 miles. Through sometimes searing heat and oppressive humidity. Up dozens of hills, through various valleys and into thick forests. Imagine going against 270 other riders from 45 countries. It all becomes reality for Medford�s Leighsa Rosendaul on Aug. 26 when the 37-year-old health care worker enters the World Endurance Championships near Paris, France. The race begins in Compiegne and ends in Pierrefonds. "The odds are that less than 50 percent of the riders will finish, so obviously that�s one of my main goals," Rosendaul says. "I have typically finished in the top 10 in most of the races I�ve entered, but this is a world championship event, and the competition is going to be very tough." THE LONG RIDER WHAT: 100-mile horse race. WHERE: France, from Compiegne to Pierrefonds. WHEN: Aug. 26 at 6 a.m. Winning rider is expected to finish in about eight hours. COURSE: Moderate, with rolling hills and forests. Heat and humidity could take a toll. NOTABLE: Horses must stop at six separate checkpoints, where they�ll be checked by veterinarians. Rosendaul will compete for Mexico after gaining dual citizenship from that country on Aug. 10. Rosendaul, whose father is Mexican, had to go through a series of time-consuming steps with Mexican immigration officials to gain dual citizenship. Mexico didn�t have an edurance team, and its equestrian federation was interested in starting one. Rosendahl sought to be a part of the fledgling program. Because the process of gaining dual citizenship took so long, however, she�ll be on an unfamiliar horse during the big race. Horses must be sent to California for at least two weeks for quarantine and acclimation purposes before being flown to Europe. With Rosendaul in limbo, the horse she usually rides, "Farazi" � an Arabian owned by Medford�s Gordon and Sharon Westergard � failed to make the trip. "I�ve raced this horse (Farazi) on numerous occasions and was anticipating doing very well in France," Rosendaul says. "It�s too bad we can�t hook up, but under the circumstances, I�m just happy to be making the trip myself." About all Rosendaul knows about her new four-legged partner is its name (Buzz), its makeup (Arabian) and the fact that it had to qualify by completing a 100-mile preparation race. The riders must also meet certain standards that are established by judges during qualifying races. During endurance events, which generally extend for 50 or 100 miles, the horses are stopped every 15 miles or so and checked by veterinarians, who monitor such factors as heart rate, dehydration and lameness. If a horse fails any of the tests, it is disqualified. "The trick is to bring a very fit, very athletic horse to the events," says Rosendaul, whose own horse, "Tubby," is sidelined with a leg injury. The best horses are capable of averaging 12-15 mph for the entire ride, Rosendaul says. "Different terrain dictates how hard you can ride," she says, "but you�re not going to be competitive if you walk your horse for any extended time." The course in France features rolling hills with limited changes in altitude, but high temperatures and humidity could counteract an otherwise moderate course. The winning horse is expected to cross the finish line in about eight hours. "There�s a lot of strategy involved and that�s one of the reasons I enjoy this so much," says Rosendaul, who boasts of 10th- and 14th-place finishes at the Tevis Cup in California, considered to be the toughest endurance race in the world. "You obviously can�t go all-out the whole way. You have to see what the conditions are like, see what others around you are doing and keep close tabs on your horse." The United States, France and the United Arab Emirates are favored in the team standings. Each country is allowed to enter four riders; only the three fastest are counted in the standings. Americans, meanwhile, have won every individual world endurance race since the inaugural event in 1986. Endurance racing was introduced in France in 1976 as a way to race in a natural setting. The sport has steadily grown in popularity and now has more than 40,000 participants in 61 countries. Rosendaul, who was born in Van Nuys, Calif., bought her first horse at the age of 11 shortly after moving to Medford and was promptly thrown into a pile of rocks. Undeterred, she got back on and has been riding ever since, logging more than 4,000 competitive miles and perhaps three times that many miles overall. She often takes her horse to work at the Children and Adolescents Clinic in Medford and then goes out on 10- to 20-mile rides afterward. "I just change clothes and head to the mountains," she says. Rosendaul hopes all that time in the saddle will come in handy later this month. 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