I see that a few of you are saying that a boycott
won't work, and that we should just set a good example....
As you may know, I have already said that my
husband and I will not go to WEC in the UAE, even though we are scheduled
to crew. This will obviously not matter one bit to anyone in the UAE- not
a sheik, not a camel jockey- it WILL matter to the person we were
there to crew, and for that I am sorry. But the whole point is, this is
merely a two person stand against what we believe. We could not be there
KNOWING what is alledged, and by whom. End of Story.
BUT, if the people who 'count' (riders, coaches)
refused to go, it would say to the sheik, that we don't want to play with you as
long as you condon this practice. What these guys want is to play our
game, and endurance and TB racing really are *our* games. He wants to
compete with our endurance riders badly enough to pay for our riders, horses,
crews, farriers etc, to go there and participate, as they do for the
President's Cup and the Gold Cup each year.
By not accepting sponsorship by Sheik Maktoum,
we would be saying that we will not stop you from riding
here, but we will not allow you to subsidize OUR sport.
In asking the UAE to follow the laws (15 years
old and 100 pounds), and prove it, then we, as an endurance community will accept that country and life will
go on. I don't think it is unreasonable. Now where are the people
who 'count'???????
