We didn't get to go this year, but from what I hear, one of the issues is that one company paid big money, and that seems to shout "THIS IS ORU EVENT" - true or not,, it seems a bit like that. Secondly, many riders don't have really positive feelings about how races are run over there in terms of proper management of horse welfare etc. I would think it would be the same if they were running it in Holland, given some of the issues brought forth from the races over there. Wow, it ever ocurred to me that the issue was...'Arab countries". Glad that wasn't aimed at me, because that makes no diff in our house - behavior does.
Finally, I am pretty sure a ton of people aren't aware of the availability of advertising at Tevis with big banners, etc., since people like us first of all have limited ad dollars, and secondly are offended by that kind of thing in a sport like this regardless of who it is. Personally, I would be more than irritated seeing an overblown ad campaign for Microsoft as I would these guys. It just smacks of capitalism, not sport. There are precious few sports still functioning these days that are not bought and paid for, including the athletes. Ultimately, sport becomes more and more about the buck rather than the glory of the sport. Sorry - romantic notion, I know - but some things just should never be bought - by the Emirates or Microsoft..
