Re: Awards Proposal

["Sandy Bolinger" <bolinger@bigsky.net>]

Would anyone be happier if the name as changed...???  Maybe National
Endurance Challenge? Nation Endurance Extravaganza ;o)..

----- Original Message -----
From: <guest@endurance.net>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 5:51 PM
Subject: RC: Awards Proposal


> K S SWIGART  katswig@earthlink.net
>
>
> I believe that Angie is correct when she speculates that what has many
> AERC members' knickers in a twist about the AERC National Championship
> Ride and its format is indeed associated with bestowing of the title "AERC
> National Champion" on the winner(s) of the ride.  And this, to my
> understanding, has been the problem (and the cause of the incessant
> bickering among members for decades) of ANY of the "National Championship"
> formats.
>
> It one listened to the Duck at the awards ceremony of this year's 2001 XP
> ride, he very eloquently expressed the dilemma that anybody would
> encounter in attempting to give an award for (what he even more modestly
> called) the "Best Performance."  That because he had a saddle to give away
> he had to pick somebody to give it to, but at the same time, it was truly
> inappropriate to distinguish among the many more than stellar performances
> of countless people who participated (John and Dolly go my vote), not the
> least of which was ride management itself (as is true of every ride) and
> the first person to get mentioned in the Best Performance Award
> presentation was Annie.  And yes, he did rather choose the recipient of
> the award in similar tradition to Thoroughbred racing's Eclipse Awards, by
> taking a vote (although nobody but him actually knows the outcome of that
> vote).
>
> We in the AERC, I think, understand that there are many definitions of
> greatness in endurance and that not all these definitions can be measured.
> We understand, I think, that more goes in to accomplishing great things in
> endurance competition than just riding a horse for 50 or 100 miles (no
> matter how many times or how often it is done).  That different people
> choose different ways to endure with their equine partners, and even many
> of those who do not complete can be considered among the great, but the
> very fact that they chose not to compete at the expense of their
> horse...and that this IS one of the things that makes endurance riding and
> the AERC membership great horsemen.
>
> So, here is my proposal...
>
> Since doing it the TB way and taking a vote could very well just turn into
> a popularity contest because many of the voters will not be sufficiently
> well informed to know what every endurance rider in the whole country is
> accomplishing with their horse.
>
> I propose that the AERC do away with the concept of bestowing the title of
> champion on anybody.
>
> That henceforth all of the prizes that the AERC gives out at the year-end
> awards banquet are call just that...
>
> Awards.
>
> So we can have the National Best Condition Award
> The National Mileage Award
> The War Mare Award
> The Pioneer Awards
> The National Hundred Mile Award
> The Regional Points Awards,
> The Jim Jones Stallion Award
> The Bill Stuckey Award
> The Bill Thornburg Family Award
> The Husband Wife Team Award
> The Regional Best Condition Awards
>
> And...in keeping with how the first AERC National ride was billed:
>
> The AERC Classic Award.
>
> I do not deny that there are some people in the AERC who are excited about
> the idea of having a nationally publicized, well thought out, well
> planned, challenging course (with some kind of qualification criteria???),
> party that they can go to, that roves around the country (although how
> exactly that differs from a ride such as the Old Dominion still escapes
> me-except for the part about roving around the country).
>
> And if some people consider this a good format because it is easily
> accessible (relatively cheap, doesn't take too much horse, doesn't take
> too much dedication of time competing, and doesn't take too much physical
> condition of the rider) for much of the general membership, while at the
> same time allowing people to participate in the quite different
> preparation and strategy of getting a horse ready to peak for a single
> ride, I do not deny that this is a challenging goal and is valuable
> because much of the pursuit can be done at home and on your own
> schedule...e.g. all the "pursuit" can be done in the middle of the night
> out the back gate, which is not true of the other mentioned awards.
>
> I just deny that this is an appropriate way to define "The AERC National
> Champion."
>
> _I_ deny that there is ANY way to appropriately define THE AERC National
> Champion.  The bickering will stop immediately if everybody just accepts
> that there is no way to earn that particular title, because no matter what
> criteria are chosen to define it, there will be some other great horse and
> rider who has equal claim to the concept of champion.
>
> This does not mean that the AERC cannot continue to bestow year end
> awards, just that none of them will have the inflammatory effect that
> comes with the title Champion.
>
> This does not mean that the AERC cannot continue to support and publicize
> information to assist members in pursuit of any such awards (including the
> roving national ride).  It does, after all, dedicate a great deal of
> magazine space to the promotion of all the other "year end" awards by
> publishing the current standings for all these awards in every issues.
> Information on location, requirements, deadlines, contact numbers, venue
> of the national ride to facilitate participation by those members who wish
> to pursue it is equally as appropriate.
>
> I, personally, am of the opinion that one of the things that is so
> ATTRACTIVE to many people about endurance is that greatness is recognized
> in so many different ways.  That it is inclusive of everybody and that at
> any give ride anybody can turn in a great performance and that the other
> participants will recognize it as such (even if the rules have not
> specifically defined this person as the "winner").  You don't have to go
> to one particular competition and you don't have to meet one particular
> set of criteria.
>
> Depending on which definition of champion that is used ("a fighter in a
> worthy cause", or "the defeater of all combatants") we are either all
> champions even those who never finish a single ride (in the first
> definition) or none of us are (in the second) because no matter who you
> pick there will be somebody else who may have achieved just as much and
> the two of them never contended with each other (for whatever reason).
>
> kat
> Orange County, Calif.
>
> p.s.  As a slightly separate issue, I am also of the opinion that NONE of
> the cost of the year end awards ought to come out of the general
> membership fund.  That the year-end awards ought to be self-funding.
>
> But if they are to come from the general membership fund, the costs should
> be born mostly by those who are pursuing them.  The fact that any of the
> contenders for the high mileage awards have, through per-rider/per-ride
> sanctioning fees, contributed more to the general fund than those who are
> not contenders, is worthy of note.
>
> So maybe it does make sense for the AERC National Classic (to use the name
> for the ride that I have chosen) to have a higher "per rider" sanctioning
> fee in order to pay for the chance of winning the award.  I do not think
> that it is appropriate for the AERC to charge for the use of its name in
> its own "national" ride.  But I don't necessarily think that it is
> inappropriate for the AERC to charge participants for the chance of
> winning a special year-end award (which can then be bought with the money
> collected).  I guess that doing so would kind of make it a "stakes race."
>
> But, as I said, exactly how the awards are funded is a slightly separate
> issue from which ones to bestow.
>
>
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