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The only thing that I could add to this is that people need to realise 
that the folks who introduced the flast rides (I love that new word, 
Steph! It's a keeper) are coming at the sport from a totally different 
angle from the average American rider. The stables in the Gulf have 
hundreds of "made" horses and a horse is chosen for a particular race, 
much as is the case in regular Thoroughbred racing.  Most of the riders 
in the US, or anywhere else for that matter, do not have the luxury of 
choosing their horse even if they have 4 or 5 of them. The stakes in 
this case are totally different.

I kept warning our local riders not to compete too intensely with the 
visitors because it was rather hopeless. Their horses didn't have the 
base and competition wasn't likely to give it. Experience has, sadly, 
proved me right. No one has had a horse last long enough to attain base 
work to even complete soundly. This is not the fault of the sport, but 
the fault of the riders who got caught up in the glamour, glory and 
cash involved.

I believe that the flast races offer a wonderful chance for riders to 
travel and learn but they need to remember that the racing culture that 
they are visiting is not the same as their own just as the society and 
part of the world are different. There is a tradition to the flast 
races, but it is a racing tradition.  Lots of room for traditions as 
long as you know what they are.

Maryanne
(self-appointed endurance philosopher in residence in Egypt)




On Monday, Nov 29, 2004, at 08:19 Africa/Cairo, StephTeeter wrote:
> My point in piping up is that I do feel that there are some that would 
> like
> to see FEI separated from AERC, and it worries me. We are a small 
> sport, a
> small community of riders with more similarities than differences. And 
> at
> the 100 mile level, the differences are even fewer. I honestly haven't 
> seen
> any data or stats to back up the claims that the faster rides are 
> harder on
> horses. Foolish riders are hard on horses, and one can be just as 
> foolish on
> a tough mountain course as on a flat desert course. And regardless of 
> the
> course, or the venue, every rider can choose their speed. We had 
> almost as
> many riders do the AN 100 in the 12-16 hour range, as in the 8-10 hour
> range. And a high completion rate with no metabolic pulls. And the 
> scenery
> isn't all that bad either. (do I sound defensive :)
>
> Just please don't try to drive away, or separate, the riders that are
> following International trends, or just trying to be the best in their 
> sport
> by one standard - some of you might have been doing the same thing 10 
> or 20
> years ago. We change - but the sport really isn't changing that much. 
> It's
> always been a 'finish sport' for some, and a 'race' for others. Even
> traditionally. It's a bit of an odd sport we have, where even though 
> it is a
> timed event, and we are rewarded with top tens, first to finish prizes,
> extra points for going faster than others - it is a stigma to call it a
> race, and stating 'to win is to win' would be near heresy... It's as 
> if the
> collective conscience of the sport is afraid that if we call it a race
> people will get stupid and feel that they 'have to' race.
>
> Just ride, do what you like, protect our horses, and be tolerant of 
> others
> with different goals.
>
> Steph
>
> (I'll ride any horse, at any speed, on any trail, and enjoy it just as 
> much
> either way. But those few times where the horse, the trail, the day, 
> the
> luck, all converged with a 'first to finish' have been very very 
> special.)
>
>
>
>
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Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
www.alsorat.com
miloflamingo.blogspot.com

"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and 
you miss all you are traveling for"  Louis L'Amour


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