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Re: [RC] UAE Involvement in AERC Functions - heidiThis is not about "playing ball", This is not about "picking up our marbles", This is not about "a member of the (UAE) royal family", This is not about "the FEI" This is not about "rhetoric"... It is simply about children. Frank, certainly it is about children. But our one lever as endurance riders is FEI. And what I have seen so far, except from Jerry Fruth, is simply rhetoric. This transcends riding horses, World Championships, the USA hosting WEC races. This transcends our organization. Yes, it does. And it should be addressed at other levels as well. But since this is an endurance riding list, we should be looking HERE for ways to address it through our sport. Since the only lever in endurance riding is FEI, we need to be MORE involved with FEI, not less, in order to exert what pressure we can. But, it is certainly "in the ballpark" for a nation who cares more about human rights than they care about "sports". Are we that nation? If we ARE that nation, then we will use what levers we have, which includes our sport. I certainly hope that other levers will be used as well--but this isn't a list about politics, it is a list about endurance. So I have confined my remarks to how we can use endurance as a lever. We have no lever in our sport at all if we don't keep the UAE involved in the sport at the FEI level, and then exert pressure through FEI by how WECs are located, etc. And we have no lever if WE are not involved in FEI, giving FEI choices as to where to locate WECs, other than the UAE. AS A SPORT, that is one small difference we CAN make, in the greater scheme of things. And it is many small efforts that translate into larger success. I'd add that it is through the sport that the UAE sees us as "we the people." While this does need to be addressed through other channels as well, too often countries like the UAE think that they can go around governments and still get their way with people. The only way that we as a sport can make a statement is to continue to play the game--but to insist on our own standards. It will be our ACTIVE involvement in the selections that FEI makes for host countries and our willingness to pick up the tab to host events in other countries that makes a statement, not our staying home from the game. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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