RE: [RC] [RC] New Riders - proposals - Steph Teeter
This is all very good discussion - and I
hope it continues. I brought this topic up to encourage thought and discussion.
It is important for the Board to understand what the membership wants (this is
your organization) . There will be an article published in Endurance News
(January or February) explaining all of the proposals in detail, from the
horse's mouth, and I suggest that after the article appears, that if you have
serious opinions (pro or con) regarding the various recommendations, that you
contact a director and make sure your voice is heard. (Ridecamp is great for
discussion - but don't count on what you say here being taken
seriously by AERC).
The difficulty in finding 'A solution'
to the problem of protecting the health of the horse in our sport, is that there
are so many factors - so many different causes. Sometimes inexperience can lead
to problems - bad judgement or simply not understanding what is happening.
Sometimes experienced riders can make mistakes - again - through bad judgement
or ignorance.
Some folks are trying to come up with ideas
to help - e.g. Mackey-Smith's proposal, the Horse Welfare committee's
proposals, let's very carefully consider them all - some may work, some won't,
some may just need a little tweaking to get them right. There are some that say
we don't need new or different rules, just more aggressive education. This may
be true too, though it is an awfully optomistic view of a competitive sport!
I think we should definitely be proud of
ourselves - and proud of our sport - for the controls already in place, and the
attitude that most have regarding concern for the horse.
Steph
(and when in doubt, go back and read Frank's
posts :)
