Dual sanctions - FEI/AERC

[Michael Maul <mmaul@flash.net>]

In response to:

What should be the objective here?  To come up with ONE set of rules we
can all live with? Generate an AERC rule to override FEI rules? 

*********
One thing to think about is the following:  One reason for having a FEI ride
in the US is so that our potential international competitors can get used to riding
using the rules they will compete under when they go outside the US.

No matter what rules we use to select the US team - they will still have to compete
under FEI rules once they represent the US in international competition.  It would
be a poor situation for us to have an excellent team and find that in the pressure
of top ten competition at the next WEC - they didn't follow a FEI rule and were DQ.

So "one" of the objectives mentioned above should be to make sure our team representing
the US is very familiar with the rules they will be competing under in the 
next WEC - or anywhere else internationally.

I don't see a good way to do this w/o spending time competing using those rules
until they get to be automatic - and you don't have to think about them when 
when you are under stress riding for good placings - whether individual or team.

Let's find a way to make all of us successful - both our potential international
competitors and our regular endurance riders.

We should also work to change the FEI rules so we are happier with them - but I would 
think that we should look at the good in both and find something inbetween rather
than saying the AERC rules are the only ones to use.  There are good people all
over the world doing endurance now.

Mike