Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Steph,
I would love to hear that there is some money earmarked for going back to some of the national federations here where ignorance is still bliss to provide information and training where it is so desperately needed...or even some enforcement to see that the equine welfare is not just a dead issue. This was one of the factors that so put me off the FEI at the beginning in Egypt. Endurance was tossed into the hands of people whose only expertise (such as it was, and it was rather shoddy at best) was in show jumping. There was absolutely no real effort made to bring any information to the riders and in the absence of information, there were an appalling number of injuries and deaths at first.

While it's great that they discuss the problems of the WEC, what about providing something to riders who are trying even to come up to compete on a national level? I'm sure that there are other national federations than the Egyptian where the managing body really doesn't know beans about endurance other than the fact that there is a budget for it. Or is FEI only concerned with FEI riders that are already competing internationally?

It's a sort of chicken and egg problem. No one  here knew anything about endurance before the FEI (international as represented by the UAE) came in and said "Let There Be Endurance!" and basically they have struggled along for the past seven years in the same fix. A few vets and some individuals studied for stewards' exams but there was nothing for the riders. Trying to bring education to riders at a grass roots level doesn't seem to be a priority...only the running of the big races. Or maybe I expect too much of FEI?

Maryanne

On 4/2/07, Steph Teeter <stephteeter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There were 10 horse fatalities related to AERC endurance events in 2006. (or perhaps 7 - I'm not postitive on the number). Even at 7 this is more in ONE year than the last TEN years of WEC's. Are we perhaps living in a glass house?

In Paris, at the FEI Endurance Forum, I sat in on a 5 hour session where veterinarians from around the world discussed the 'good' the 'bad' and the 'ugly' in our sport. Every man and woman there has seen the best and the worst that this sport can offer regarding horsemanship and horse welfare - at local rides and at International rides. And everone  was very focused on protecting the horses from ignorant or underqualified or overly competitive riders. FEI is addressing horse welfare much more vigorously than AERC ever has. Is it any different to see a horse die because the rider was ignorant than because the rider was over zealous? It's still a horse lost. Or is it more acceptable to see a horse suffer from a rider caught up in 'finishing' even if the horse is showing fatigue, than a rider caught up in 'winning' with a fatigued horse? Yes speed kills, so does ignorance.

This is where an organization is actually spending money and manpower on trying to understand the problems and improve the sport and insure the future of the sport by addressing the foremost issue - horse welfare.

I will later break down some of the points that were brought up during the forum up as those needing attention but I really want you guys to know that the problems are the same, the issues are the same, and the desire to protect the horse and protect the sport is very srong. FEI is a big boat, it takes a while to turn it around. The sport has exploded in the past 5 years, and FEI is trying to get a handle on it. And I think we'll all benefit in the long run.

Steph