I sent this note.
Thank you!
Your question has been sent to the appropriate person.
I have been following the accounts of the recent youth races in the
Emirates as part of the President's Cup with little short astonishment
that such conduct of sporting events for young people could be condoned
by a group who is first of all supposed to be on hand for the safety of
the horses being used in such events. Runaway horses, riders who have
been given no chance to know their assigned mounts, and excessive
speeds do not bode well for the future of endurance racing for youth in
the Gulf. For that matter they do not bode well for the future of the
youth that partakes in such events, since the risk factors are way
above acceptable by any parents' standards.
While
I know that many of the FEI personnel on hand for these events are also
employees of the stables entering horses in them, I would still like to
believe that the points 1.4 and 1.5 of your purposes and principles are
actually being followed even if it occasionally means telling one's
employer that something cannot and should not be done.
I truly
hope that the FEI will change from being a rubber stamp organisation
for a small but influential group of riders to being the regulatory
body it claims to be.
Sincerely,
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Egypt