> Mike Sofen wrote: > > There are many riders in the US who are not interested in riding > competitively either AERC or FEI style; the FEI rules will never > affect them, so I'm wondering why they're complaining so loudly. It > feels like there's this knee-jerk reaction of "don't touch my candy", > and certainly, "don't change my sport", event though the AERC has been > continuously remodeling itself since its founding days. >
Granted....however the FEI sanction/rule issues are not evolution...they are revolution. They change the whole texture of the sport...not over time, but immediately. This is cause for concern. IMHO, if we continue down this path of appeasing FEI, no matter what the cost, we are writing the epitaph of "Endurance As We Know It". Evolution in our sport is good. We have added better protection for the horses, better defined vet criteria, etc. just to mention a few things. Endurance by FEI's definition is a step backward. It doesn't benefit anyone except those who profit from it. I don't think anyone, including me, is opposed to the AERC supporting and encouraging our members to ride internationally. However, changing, or even compromising AERC rules to comply with FEI rules (including dual sanctioning)in order to further their agenda is unacceptable IMHO. Regarding Steph's earlier statement: >"I've attended meetings and watched and listened, and the concerns that some of >you >have recently expressed are not new, and >ARE being addressed. By all means, express your opinions, but at least try to find >>out what is being done before you assume that >the US international representatives, are sitting idle and clueless. It's gettin' >>kinda grim out there... and some real battles are >raging. But these folks are the good guys! Find out what they're up to before you >>start firing..." I'm sure there are many of us who would like to be MORE educated regarding what AERC International is doing, but I have seen no one on the International Committee standing up and stating for example: ------------------------------------------------------- "I am on the International Endurance Committee. Let me give you our periodic update on where we are with FEI. We oppose ????? We support ????? Here is the status of negotiation and our recommendations to the board. The impact on our rules if this were implemented would be to: If you have concerns or questions regarding these issues, please .... " -------------------------------------------------------- I think if those who are involved in international would be a little less secretive, give us some detail as to what you're doing, frankly discuss the issues online, and solicit the opinions of the membership, those of us who are "firing" might hold our fire until we see the outcome. I realize I'm getting old, (unlike Bob Morris) my attention span is shorter, and my memory is not what it used to be, but I haven't seen it. Right now, I think there is great difficulty telling the good guys from the bad guys. Will all the new rules proposed by FEI be rammed down our throat like dual sanctioning? I would like to see a vote on the membership on this issue. It's true that I don't have to attend those rides; however, in my opinion, that's discrimination, since you are excluding me from those rides because I don't want to participate in international competition...and in spite of what anyone says, it DOES affect the riders not riding FEI, one way or another. Jim, Sun of Dimanche (closing in on 1000 miles) and Mahada Magic =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
