At the American Endurance Ride Conference National Awards Banquet last
night, Remington and I were awarded the one of the AERC's Pard'ners Award.
This
together with the AERC's Hall of Fame awards are the AERC's major lifetime
awards and are always awarded at the end of the banquet. The award is given
on
an annual basis to one horse and rider team. The award recognizes:
"Pard'ners Award: Rider and horse perform together as a mutually bonded
team. Rider and horse engender a spirit of friendship, enthusiasm and
championship that makes those around them glad to have attended the ride.
However
competitive they may be, good sportsmanship remains their first priority.
Horse and
rider take care of each other. Together horse and rider personify the
prevailing and abiding goal of AERC "To Finish is to Win."
We received a lovely silver plate and our names were inscribed on the
Pard'ners Award perpetual trophy kept by the AERC. The award followed our
receipt
of a separate award honoring Remington for achieving 10,000 miles of lifetime
competition. He is the only Pard'ners Award horse in the history of the
award to have reached that mileage mark as far as I know.
I cannot imagine a greater honor from my fellow endurance riders nor can I
imagine a greater showing of respect for my horse. Don't tell the endurance
community what Icelandics can't do.
After emceeing the regional awards presentation (in a wizard's costume, the
national awards banquet, conducting two early morning workships on the new
AERC drug rule I wrote with assistance from its Veterinary Committee and
participating in three days of board meetings, I am sitting here in the Reno
airport more than a little exhausted and way more than a little happy with the
recognition of my horse.
John Parke
<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free
email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at
http://www.aol.com.
