Below is a
quote from a gentleman at the 2002 Tevis awards where he then quotes Mr.
Spud. Apparently Mr. Spud is quite a good judge of horses......you can't
take that away from the guy. However, I did take great offense to Mr. Spud's
comments which are totally contrary to the AERC motto (and mine). I wonder how
he feels now that he is the (whatever number..) "loser" in the President's
travesty. Wish I could support the FEI and Int'l competition (I will never
get there nor do I want to) but this venue is not what I perceive this sport to
be all about. I am proud that our USA riders completed and kept their horses
safe and sound but I do question our participation at all since by participating
we give validity to these events.
Lauren
AERC#M17353
From:
Ridecamp Guest
Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 3:46
PM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] Tevis 2002 comment
Steve Powers srjmpowers@xxxxxxx At the award presentation
after this year's Tevis, ride management graciously allowed the riders the
opportunity to say a few words as they picked up their hard-earned buckles. The
first buckle was awarded to this year's winner of the Tevis Cup, Mr. Potato
Richardson. After accepting his buckle, Mr. Richardson took the opportunity to
speak to the hundreds of riders and crew members that had assembled. He began by
relating a few anecdotes from previous rides and told of one recent year when he
was passed in the darkness of the woods near the end of the ride by two riders.
His next statement was the one that I feel someone needs to take exception to.
In Mr. Richardson's words, This knocked me from third place to fifth place, or
as I call it, fourth loser. Apparently somewhere along the way to earning 17
Tevis buckles Mr. Richardson lost track of the intent of the sport. I sat there
and wondered how many of the riders who completed the Tevis in the darkness of
Saturday night and Sunday morning and the crews who worked so hard to try to
ensure a completion were offended by his comment. I certainly was.
