Ridecamp: RE: [RC] $$MONEY Fer NUTHIN'!$$

Does this scenario sound familiar to anyone?
Before a couple of years ago, the only equestrian sport in Egypt was
show jumping. Most of the jumpers were brought in from Europe and were
moderately trained, some even well-trained. Then they were turned over
to riders who were less trained than the horses. Result? Junked horses
who then went to private riders for a pittance or to rehab stables to
end up as school horses, whatever....sometimes even ending up as poor
miserable hack horses at the pyramids.  Logically, there is no reason in
the world for Egyptian riders to import "made" horses when we have the
natural makings of great endurance horses. But rumour has it that the
local federation plans to do precisely that and to "give" the horses to
the "best" riders chosen for the national team. But how do people get on
the team? By placing at a certain level in races....no problem that it's
a different horse every time....ie, the riders with more money than
sense. You see it in every equestrian sport and it's ugly no matter
where you find it.

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






He's riding a hellulva lot better now, ten years down the line, but the
point is that, if you have the money, in this sport, you can buy your
way in.  That's the way the game is structured.

Is yours any different?  If so, kudos to you.  But lemme tell you it's
the only equestrian sport of its' kind.  It's one of the reasons why I
am so against the system of grading horses, and am calling for a grading
of riders.  I don't give a rat's ass what the top riders earn when
they're riding at top level, but by God, let them earn it, not buy it!


In short, if there's money to be made in a sport, I'm all for it.  It's
an expensive game, and we deserve to recoup.  BUT what I have a problem
with, with your example, is your "sliding scale" of winnings, because it
makes the incentive to "buy into" the big classes that much greater.  So
either you make it impossible to "buy into" those classes (by grading
the rider, as I've indicated), or you make the prize money equal in the
smaller classes to the bigger classes.  That's the only way you're going
to stop the "win at all costs" folks from exacting great costs from the
one thing we have to protect : the horse.

The problem with grading riders, not horses, though, is that it's going
to have a direct impact on the breeder's pocket, and on the trainer's,
who aren't going to have the market which they seem to rely on :

people who have loads of money, and no talent, but will buy an expensive
horse a year in order to achieve the pot in the big classes.

Tracey



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