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Re: [RC] More rules and structure - Truman PrevattLook back some time when AERC Hall Fame Member and the first person to win the OD and Tevis in the same year on the same horse, Mathew Mackay-Smith, proposed a new set of rules to protect our horses. It was called "the way we win." Check the archives - it looked a lot like some of these rules and while they were well thought out they would have had the effect of changing the sport to a version of CTR just like these proposed rules.I think while most of this is well meaning - the problem on a nationwide basis does not rise to the level of a rule change on a nationwide bases. If new riders riding the dog snot out of their horses the first time they show up happens in a given region - well by golly fix it in that region. Don't impact other regions, like the SE (and probably the MW, CT and NW) that doesn't have the problem. The bottom line the issue of horse abuse really comes down to a few bad apples and the AERC seems very reluctant to deal with these bad apples. We all know who they are - but somehow the AERC won't deal with them. The favorite ploy is "oh the AERC is self policing the members have to protest." Poppycock if the AERC as an organization doesn't care any more than that about potential equine abuse than hide behind the "skirts of the members" one has to wonder about the commitment of the AERC to deal with it. I can just see it now - a member protest in good faith and the AERC runs for cover because they don't have the balls to deal with it leaving the member sitting there twisting in the wind. No thank you. I contend the real problem is the P&G process in the AERC is inadequate to deal with the problem and the AERC is scared of its shadow of being sued. It is an issue that won't go away - until the bad apples are dealt with. In the long run it will be the AERC Achilles Heel. Former ride manager Lisa Salas didn't rejoin because of her repulsion of the AERC stance on this issue. I don't believe Jim Holland or Joan rejoined. Kathy and I are giving them another year. BTW this is exactly one of the reasons I stopped running rides. Needless to say I have been very disappointed with the AERC after instituting the HWC which was what we all thought at the time a mechanism to effectively deal with these issues and solve the problem. The problem is no closer to being solved today than it was 5 years ago. Something happened between the hype of what happened at the AERC convention in Tennessee and what hit the ground. I am patient person - maybe to a fault and I am willing to give it a little more time before I pull the plug on my support. However, my patients is wearing very thin and I am seeing little progress. New rules are not the answer. Hell the AERC doesn't even enforce the ones it has and it has sufficient rules to deal with the bad apples - new or old. They just seem to choose not to. I suspect that either Bruce or Laura will launch a persoanl tirade toward me - fine, that cool. However, that will not save one horse nor will it solve the problem. The problem has a solution. What the AERC lacks is the will to implement a solution. Truman Beth Walker wrote: Fastest time for the Biltmore 50 was 4:32. Fastest time for the Draw I 25 was 2:48. Malibu 55 was 7:04 and Malibu 25 was 4:06. Those are first place times. A minimum time cap for new riders means that they are on notice that they should **not** be trying for a "win" on their first few rides. It has no effect on anybody else. -- “It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong” Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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