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Re: [RC] [Endurance Riding: News] UAE the team to beat - John TeeterFYI: another example of reporting from the GCC region (in the context of Diane's comment):http://www.enduranceeurope.net/channels/bulletin/2007/09/european- championship-bahrain-ready.html My thoughts: 1) Don, you seem to be reflecting a real, and negative, bias in your comments. I think the relationship of the competing horses at high levels to the neglect of horses by inattentive/naive absentee owners is very weak indeed. 4000 miles and deep cultural differences exist between the two contexts you attempt to equate. 2) Diane, your observation about the lack of attention to the equine partner in the GCC press is indeed the case. Note the article above re: Bahrain. But also note that Gulf News and The Gulf Daily News are two of the primary print publications in the Middle East. This is like the NYT or Washington Post sports sections running (almost daily) articles on the sport of endurance. It just does not happen in Europe or North America that the sport is raised to that level of visibility. We can attempt to encourage these publications to focus on the horse as well, but I think they are driven by their readership. The "stars" are not the horses, it is the riders that have year2year continuity and name recognition. (note also that FEI global standings (http://www.enduranceeurope.net/events/ FEIResults.html#ranking) have two categories (riders only and "combination") - saddly, it is the former that has the most notoriety. But look at the US view in that context as well. Heraldic is a star - so is John Crandell - depending on the story, the focus will be on one or the other (or both). Look at the above Gulf Daily News article. It basically says that it's a 4 way race for the Open Team competition: Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Araibia - no mention of the French (who are likely to take it all) or any of the other 16 countries in the competition. It's very much like reading the Idaho Daily Statesman for which Idaho basically stops at McCall (i.e. norther Idaho does not exist in the southern Idaho Press) - or LA doesn't REALLY exist if you're from San Francisco:) Finally, in the US context - do you know of ANY news articles (or even press releases from USEF) which highlight the US participation at the European Championship? When we look at promotion of the sport in the US, it is simply missing! there were no AERC press releases re: the recent AERC National Championship; there have been no USEF press releases re: the European Championship; and there is/was no general US press presence at either event. About the only time we see anything in the US is when the Auburn Journal runs its 5 stories around the Tevis. Anyway, IMO, Diane's observation was right on. Don's was a stretch to bridge it into a cause:) food for thought (also keep watching the Santa Fee ride - we're seeing Laura's report from the pack - but nothing re: the front runners) where's the press?? jt On Sep 7, 2007, at 2:15 AM, Don Huston wrote: Hello Diane, =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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