Re: [RC] managment and completion awards - Heidi Smith
>On completion awards, I don't remember if I
gave out shirts before or after but I did give them to everyone.
<snip> The reason I gave everyone a
shirt was because it takes a lot to get to a ride.
I don't disagree that it takes a lot to get to a
ride. And "participation" awards are nice--particularly for novices, to
encourage them to try again. But look at your statement above. The
very word "completion" in the phrase "completion award" implies that it is
something that you EARN for COMPLETING--not something that you get for just
showing up. Yes, it takes a lot to get to a ride. BUT IT TAKES EVEN
MORE TO COMPLETE IT! And to give the non-completers the same "award"
really cheapens the whole experience for those who DO complete. In fact,
it is kind of insulting. (Gee, I could have let my horse run off at the
start, and I could have had him under that tree over there with jugs on him by
noon, instead of slogging along out there in the 100-degree heat, sponging,
scraping, toting, and passing out from heat exhaustion myself to toil my way
through and then took care of him at the end to make sure he passed vet
criteria, and I STILL could have gotten a completion award... Well,
you get my drift...) Also, AERC rule 6.3 states quite clearly that
"completion awards" will be given to riders that "complete"--and previous areas
of rule 6 are quite explicit about defining what "completion" is.
I applaud the concept of consolation prizes,
participation T-shirts, whatever--but is it going to take protests from riders
who DID conquer the course with healthy horses and EARN
completions to get RMs to quit giving so-called "completion" awards to folks who
didn't?
