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[RC] convention report - Chris Kaznowski

I go to the conventions to learn new stuff. And to shop. I've been to 5 now, and this one had one of the best organized speaker sessions that I've attended because of the breadth of issues addressed and the talent of the speakers. I'm a scientist and so when I go to meetings, I'm used to going to the symposia and absorbing information. I'm afraid that I have been extremely lax in going to the sessions that pertain to the actual nuts and bolts of AERC. So I can only report on the symposia, with the proviso that I did not take notes.

The sessions which made the biggest impression on me were Denny Emerson's 2 lunchtime presentations. He is a world renowned horseman but a plain speaker and extremely entertaining. Some of his points to us included the reminder that a house divided cannot stand. The bickering that we do re: FEI vs AERC, LD vs endurance blah blah blah is not helping us grow the organization and our influence over the direction of the sport. He reminded us that organized outreach in the form of clinics, workshops, etc is the way to increase interest in the sport. (I realize other regions do this as a matter of course, but I am from the benighted West) He emphasized, as Jerry Fruth does, the threat of trail loss due to population presssures. He regaled us with many anecdotes from his riding life which illustrated the point that none of us is too old or too perfect to learn something new. A line I will take to heart is from one of his teachers, Jack LeGoff, who pointed out there was nothing wrong with the horse Denny was riding but for the abcess on his back! Anyway he was very entertaining, blunt and inspiring. He got 2 standing ovations which were well deserved.

I will continue in another post.

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