RideCamp@endurance.net
Re: RC: UAE/AERC
Randy, I'd say your facts are correct here, but I still fail to see how what you've said has any bearing on why AERC turned down the offer of UAE money for an FEI division at an AERC ride! CERTAINLY there is an "agenda" here--and I think you've pretty well listed the reasons the UAE would have to make such an offer. They are businessmen, and if they were simply throwing the money down a rat hole, they would earn a lot less respect from me! But let's face it--EVERYONE who sponsors or donates or advertises has an "agenda" of some sort--a product to sell, a goal to further, or whatever. I'm sure Sundowner trailers didn't just pick endurance out of a hat as something to support--heck, no, they make a product that happens to suit the needs of what we do, and it is in their best interest to see that as many people as possible participate in our sport and hence have a need for their sort of product--and to top it off, by sponsoring, they gain name recognition among our members. !
Good business, pure and simple.
And you can't tell me that the "infomercial" issue recently over RD Five Star (or his owner's donations to AERC) would have come up if his owner did not wish to try to market to endurance riders. Every company or individual who sponsors anything in our sport either has a product to sell (saddles, tack, clothes, horses, whatever) or has a goal in mind, such as keeping a particular sort of competition alive within our sport. Jerry Fruth and Larry Kanavy didn't just step into the breach here because they get a kick out of writing checks--heck, no--they want to further a particular aspect of competition because they are involved as competitors! (Gee, sounds kinda like why the UAE money was offered, doesn't it??)
The UAE, just as you said, wants to raise the profile of international endurance riding, and to do so requires participation of countries such as ours with established programs, just as you said. So what makes more sense than to help out by sponsoring FEI divisions at high-profile rides? Sounds like old-fashioned good business and free enterprise to me. As an American, those are values I believe in--but I'd be a fool to think that Americans have an exclusive on the concept...
Heidi
n a message dated Tue, 27 Mar 2001 4:04:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, renegade12@juno.com writes:
<< <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> Believe it or not, I don't think the UAE is the evil enemy of=20 endurance...but there is an agenda to everything that is being done. T= he=20 following is the reasoning behind all thathas occurred (IMHO): 1)The UAE wants to be a major player in the sport of endurance ri= ding=20 and they have a huge competitive ego (not necessarily bad nor limited to the= =20 Middle East culture). 2) Unlike the Americans, they do not have a longtradition o= f=20 endurance riding nor along standing and world respected endurance=20 organization like the AERC. 3) To facilitate their desire to be a major player in the sport,=20= they=20 needed a vehicle to further their goals..thatvehicle became the=20 FEI 4) The FEI was already established but was in a poor financial st= ate=20 thus the UAEoffered to become the unofficial sponsor of FEI....the off= er=20 was accepted. 5) The close ties with the FEI!
gave immediate legitimacy to UA
E=20 endurance 6) However, without the full participation of the Americans and=20 Australians in FEI, there still remains a great void in being able to claim=20 superiority in world endurance competition. The glory of winning is=20 lessened when you have not beaten the very best of the Americans (and=20 Australians). 7) Because of the extreme cost to manage an FEI ride, and the gen= eral=20 lack of interest of the AERC Membershipto participate in international= =20 competition, there are very few FEI rides in the US. 8) I am guessing now, but probably at the urging ofsome=20 Americans employed by the UAE endurance entities, the UAE has offered fundin= g to=20 various AERC Ride Managers to put on FEI sanctioned rides. (BTW, They=20= have=20 also funded entire national endurance organizations in smaller and strugglin= g=20 countries, which is not such a bad thing because it helps grow the sport.)</= DIV> 9) #8 above is based on what happened last year when !
we saw full=20= page=20 color
ads in the Endurance News touting the virtues of international=20 riding...those ads were placed at the urging of some Americans employed by t= he=20 Sheiks...so I think this is a long term plan that has been put in action.</D= IV> 10) In addition to all of the above, the UAE has developed a "Wor= ld=20 Endurance Ranking System" that purportedly ranks the best horses and riders=20= in=20 the World, by performance in FEI sanctioned rides. This system lacks t= rue=20 validity without the full participation of the very best of the American hor= ses=20 and riders (and Australians). There are substantial financial awards t= o=20 those who are ranked in the upper levels of this system. Because the=20 Americans were still not getting involved in large numbers, last year the UA= E=20 upped the financial rewards to very high levels. That increase in payo= ut=20 still did not attract the numbers of Americans needed to make the system=20 legitimate. 11) We are now a!
t the real reason the UAE is off
ering money to fu= nd=20 FEI rides in the United States...They must have more American participation=20= in=20 FEI to further their personal goals. It is in their best interes= t to=20 force feed the growth of FEI and international competition. If that ta= kes=20 the funding or sponsoring of FEI rides in AERC, then that is a very small pr= ice=20 for them to pay. I don't believe I have said the growth of FEI is bad, in fact it may be= a=20 good thing, but the hands on relationship of a major player in crea= ting=20 and paying for the development of FEI lends itself to a very real "conflict=20= of=20 interest" situation. FEI admittedly has some conflict of interest=20 problemsin their relationship with the UAE. Interestingly,= I=20 received a private e'mail from a middle east endurance leader who said the t= erm,=20 "conflict of interest" does not exist in the Arabic language and=20 culture...soit may very well be that the UAE does not consider anythi!
n= g=20 they do in funding, pa
yments, etc. as bordering on undue influence or=20 conflict of interest. Cultures do have differences and I am well aware= of=20 the differences. Nowhere in this long diatribe have I said there is any occurrence= of=20 intentional wrongdoing...I really don't think there is. But, we should= be=20 very careful in both our approach to these offers and to our acceptance of=20 monies. We should also remember that the UAE form of endurance=20 isbased on a very long flat track racing style format with=20 competitors accompanied by support crews in 4 wheel drive vehicles going str= ide=20 for stride with their riders throughout the event. This is contrary to= the=20 AERC style of endurance where we consider our first and foremost competition= =20 "the trail". Randy Eiland >>
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