RC: RE: Barney/Valerie

["Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <maryanne@ratbusters.net>]

>I've heard a few reasons why endurance *may* have a chance.  For one
>thing, the cross country jumping is very popular, and a big draw in
>broadcasting dollars, but they have an image problem. It's considered
>elitest.  The (riders) names don't change very often, and they tend to be
>from wealthy backgrounds.  Not many Cinderella stories.  Compare that to
>endurance. Other than the big money people in the Middle East,
>practically any competitor could be the subject of a rags to ummm, rags
>at the Olympics bio. >g<

Yeah, but remember Barcelona, too. Major bad press when the horses had
problems with heat and humidity. That could scare people off.

>>Our horses generally don't fall under the, "I imported him for 2 zillion
>>dollars after my trainer chose him for me" catagory.  The public loves
>>stories like "I bought him out of the local shopper after he cured entire
>>stables of wanting to ride".  That's the sort of story that inspires the
>>grassroots riders.  They think, "Hey if she could do that so could I" and
>>the reporters know that and love to do something with a story like that.

THAT's what I liked about endurance. We had show jumping and a little
dressage here. Neither of which actually suited Dory and me.....I can still
get the world's nastiest mare face with the phrase "twenty metre circle"!

>>Nobody is going to cover an endurance ride start to finish... but they
>>can do a 1 hr. coverage that would be exciting.  More so than watching
>>emaciated men run their marathon.

Marathons are right up there in the paint category. And, yes, some aerial
shots or riders coming around a hill or down a canyon, maybe 10 minutes
every hour or so could keep the interest level up. And our tights could be
right up there with the Winter Olympics!

>>Finally, equine sports are the ONLY sport where women and men compete
>>against each other.  They'll emphasize that.
>>There's always an alternative you know.  We could ask to be a part of the
>>"Extreme Games".  From what I've seen the athletes there look like they'd
>>be fun to hang out with. :-)

I'll go for that gang!

Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
maryanne@ratbusters.net
www.ratbusters.net