FEI

[Howard4567@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/13/00 12:43:53 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
BMcCrary27@aol.com writes:

<<  FEI won't let USA 
 riders compete any more unless they qualify in FEI events. >>

I say screw them.  Really!  To me FEI (Foreign Endurance Idiots) equals UAE 
(Sultans of Swing).  We really need to think about their silly rules and why 
they have to be as they are.  And why we even want to follow those rules.  
Quite frankly, I don't think we seem to have our fair share of input into how 
FEI endurance rides are run (someone, please, correct me if I'm wrong).  Way 
too much money (entry fees), special judges, special vets. And it's pretty 
obvious we (Americans) don't have the "team" concept down.  Who needs this 
stuff?

There's a good reason why we, as Americans, perform so poorly overseas.
Put a human being on a plane, fly him 6 to 9 time zones away, put him on the 
ground and it will take an incredible amount of time to acclimate to where 
you are.  This is one of the reasons a football team from the East coast 
playing a West coast team will most likely lose or be at an extreme 
disadvantage (at least this is my excuse when the Gators travel west to 
Tallahassee).  Jet lag is for real; can you imagine what it does to a horse?

Look, I'll never ever be a hundred miler (sometimes I think 50 is too far on 
a horse) so I should just shut the heck up.  The only reason I'm even 
interested is my kid wants to do a hundred so I guess I'd better pay 
attention.  But until the FEI rides happen in my neck of the woods I don't 
think I'll even consider entering my kid in one.

You front runners, go get them.  I'll cheer for you every step of the way (Go 
USA).  I just hope someday we get that team thing worked out cause it sure is 
sad how poorly we did in France.  I still say it's because American endurance 
riders are much more independent, even more than the average American (who 
are the most independent creatures on the planet) and it's why we can't do 
the team thing as well as we should.  And I'm talking of the FEI concept of 
what a team is; if it were more like football or global warfare we'd kick 
butt.

cya,
Howard (OK, I know George is in and, believe it or not, I accept it.  God 
bless the USA)