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Howard -I don't think you
quite understand Dane's message. The decisions on loops and vetgate holds were
not made by FEI (officials and veterinarians). They were made by the event
organizing committee. Dane states that all members of the FEI veterinary
commission were opposed to the format, but the OC - the individuals who
organized the event, set the format. This is not about FEI making poor
decisions, it is about a select group of individuals who made up the OC making a
poor decision, for whatever reason. The Vermont PAC had many holds (maybe 8?)
and the completion rate was high, the horses benefited from this format - but
this decision was not made by FEI officials, it was made by the PAC organizing
committee. Maybe the problem is that the FEI officials do not have enough
'power' to control the standards in an event that they (especially the
veterinarians) feel is less than adequate in terms of welfare of the horse. If
you're going to start firing shots, make sure you know who/what the target
is.
The FEI is the
international governing body for Eventing, Dressage, Vaulting, Jumping, Reining,
and Endurance. The FEI grants sanctioning to Endurance rides (and other
discipline events) based upon requests made by individuals or organizing
committees. The FEI has a presence - stewards and veterinarians - at these FEI
sanctioned rides to ensure that rules are followed. They do not define the
course, they do not promote the sport, their job is to ensure that the sport is
conducted in accordance with their rules.
At the International
(FEI) level the awards, rewards and incentives are greater, the competition is
keener, the opportunity to be swayed by power and money is greater, and the
horses are being pushed harder. This I'll agree with. But this is not because of
action on the part of FEI. This is because a lot of money is being poured into
the sport, and new nations (w/o a history of training and competing endurance
horses) are being recruited in order to make it more international, and high
performance horses are demanding incredible prices, and many individuals are
being swept up in the glory and excitement.
I actually think all of
this anti-International sentiment is not a bad thing, certainly it's a natural
reaction - the sport has become a different creature at this level. It
lacks the depth that we have nurtured here in the US. But - don't forget that we
also have our problems - seven? ride related horse deaths this year in the US?
And this really has nothing to do with International, it's not a new
thing. Endurance is a tough sport - probably the toughest horse-sport that
there is. We need to start thinking about how to better protect our horses, and
our sport - here at home - rather than worring about what the rest of the world
is doing.
Steph
This is an exceptional letter written by an exceptional man. I urge
everyone to read it again and again. The paragraph where Dane stated
that "(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, " got my attention, immediately.
I've never been a big fan of the FEI aspects of endurance and
this sort of experience isn't going to change my views except to make me
want even more to ask the question, "Is this the direction we
want our sport to travel?" I know a lot of you are saying, "Hey,
Howard, I just go to the AERC rides and this has absolutely no affect on
me, whatsoever." My answer to that statement is, "It does affect you
more than you know, especially when you find yourself with a group
of non-endurance horsemen trying to explain the deaths of horses in your
sport." I don't know about you, but I am proud to be an endurance rider
and I really don't want this group of Foreign Endurance Idiots (FEI) taking
that away. I bet you don't either.
cya,
Howard (who wishes we'd consider boycotting all FEI rides in the
states until they get their act together)
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