Ridecamp: RE: [RC] IntNewsGroup: Jerez WEG Endurance Postride Report

Dear Dane,

 

I want to thank you for this report, which I have forwarded on to my small endurance list in Egypt.  We have been watching these trends in our rides here and have been absolutely powerless to do anything to change the situation.  As far as I can tell, we have been eliminated from the list of "desirable" countries in which to compete, and for this I can only thank heaven.  The best thing that came to Egypt with the FEI were the vets, all of whom were wonderful without exception.  They gave our young vet students a new view of horse sports and equine medicine that the students would never have otherwise gotten.  For this loss alone, I'm sorry to see the UAE/FEI crews not coming.  For the sake of our horses, however, I'm not sorry at all.  Someday I hope to get a chance to do the real thing. Meanwhile, you and your fellow vets have my respect and appreciation from afar.

 

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

I have never been an official at any endurance ride (I served as the Foreign Veterinary Delegate for the WEG) in which there was so much conflict and disagreement between the organizing committee and the FEI officials appointed for the event. For one example among many, the organizing committee and the Toulouse Group placed pressure on the Technical Delegate (Dr. Hallvard Sommerseth) through senior FEI officials to accept 4 vetgates with a trot-by (within the FEI rules) instead of the 5 vetgates that was preferred. (Not a single member of the veterinary commission was in favor of 4 vetgates and all felt that the trot by examination was next to worthless for metabolic assessment). It was the members of the Toulouse Group that pressured the imposition of this control without input from the rest of the world out side of Europe. The USA, the Australians, the Malaysians, etc. were not asked their opinion. We should strenuously object to these kinds of decisions, which affect the sport being made for us all, when "us " are not even aware that the topic is under deliberation. 

 

 The Veterinary Commission took a lot of criticism from Chef dEquipes and team veterinarians for its decision to eliminate high profile riders on marginal horses. I will not elaborate further on this matter.

One of the competitors summed it all up for the dead horses by saying, "We rode them too hard on too difficult a terrain with too little rest. We found them too sick too late and had too little to offer to keep them alive."

The FEI has a Code of Conduct containing 10 points that is required in the schedule of all FEI endurance rides.

1. In all equestrian events, the horse must be considered paramount.
2. The well being of the horse shall be above the demands of breeders, trainers, riders, owners, dealers, organizers, sponsors, or officials.

If the two dead horses could speak, how would they rate our concern for the standards that this code requires? Who speaks for the horse?

I am most proud of the USA team. I think they upheld the highest ideals for endurance riding under extremely difficult and trying circumstances. They not only talk the talk ? they walk the walk. Only a few can make this claim from the 2002 Jerez Endurance WEG.

If any of you have any comments or questions, I would be glad to provide any information that I have.

Carpe Diem

Dane