Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Having had the privilege to meet Steph a few weeks ago and feeling so honored 
by the
wonderful website she and John put together on the Saldanha ride, I am now 
feeling very
deflated.  Once again something beautiful has been destroyed by politics.

Everyone across the world is privileged to be involved in the sport of 
endurance.  We love
our horses and our sport.  In South Africa we have a large number of 
participants that is
not the "Afrikaner", a large number of participants who was previously stable 
hands or
farm workers who has been offered the chance of a lifetime to participate in 
endurance,
completely at the expense of his employer.  I'd love to have and employer who 
picks up the
tab for my sport!  These riders were introduced to the sport completely as a 
good dead. 
There were no rewards handed out by government and at this stage still no 
financial
support either.  The WEG is a good example.  The national lottery gave R1.2m to 
the
national equestrian sports for participation in Aachen.  Our team consisted of 
one white
male, one colored male and two white females.  All 4 riders were there due to 
merit; they
had given it their all throughout the past few years proving that they had what 
it takes. 
How much of the R1.2m did the endurance riders receive, not a cent!  Why, 
because frankly
the endurance riders are not hung up about color or race in the sport.  We did 
not even
think to get our ducks in a row, counting the number of "previously 
disadvantaged
individuals" participating, we simply enjoyed what we did and got on with it.  
Every cent
that it took to get the riders to Aachen and to hire horses for them (due to 
AHS it is
impossible to ride our own) at a crippling cost was raised by them.  I was at a 
wine
auction for two of the riders, a white female and the colored male, the room 
was filled
with white Afrikaner farmers who were emptying their pockets to support them.

The horrible wrongdoings of the past cannot be erased within years, it will 
take decades,
but we are trying.  Michelle, 1995 is a lifetime ago.  There has been a lot of 
change in
South Africa, for the good and bad, but change has happened.  The reference 
that Steph
made to people brought into the shanty towns were maybe misinterpreted.  It is 
an
unfortunate known fact and admitted to by the ANC that in the first general 
election after
Apartheid, to ensure the majority in the major cities (such as Cape Town, 
Johannesburg
etc) a large number of rurals were brought to the centers to vote by the ANC 
not the
previous government.  Subsequently they stayed on in these cities, now staying 
in shanty
towns.

We love the sport of endurance in South Africa.  South Africa is in the midst 
of major
change.  Apartheid is part of our history, but the key word here is history.  
We are
striving to not make it part of our future.

Andrea



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=