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Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] How to get the attention of the FEI - Maryanne GabbaniMike,That's my point exactly. The FEI has been around for ages having its fun with show jumpers, driving, and eventing. The only reason it's gotten its little gold-plated nose into the endurance tent is because the UAE wanted to get endurance into the Olympics (a goal that has still not been achieved, thank heaven) and they offered a lot of money to the FEI to do so. FEI gets a major part of its funding from a percentage of the cash purses offered at FEI events...so until the UAE was interested in promoting cash-based endurance, endurance as an FEI sport had all the attraction of a dirty saddle blanket. (Please note the lack specification of racing vs. riding so far) Once the UAE got the FEI to pick up cash-based endurance as a sport, they immediately started changing the rules of the game from something pretty recognisable to normal riders into something that really isn't at all what is practiced by the garden variety riders who ride for such outrageous prizes as rocks and coffee cups. What has been accomplished in the FEI/UAE collaboration is the invention of a new and rather nasty sport of endurance racing which is nothing more or less than marathon flat racing...a sport that while it shares the use of horses with endurance riding, has little else in common. Sort of like comparing local dinghy racing with the Americas Cup. They both use boats, right? So to answer your question...no one has appointed the FEI as God, but the FEI likes to tell everyone that someone did, and as long as you are willing to believe them and play in their sandbox, then you are going along with the fiction. Are there other venues for international riding...sure. No one will pay your airfare, your horse's airfare, your hotel bill, and no one will give you a bunch of money for "winning". That's what John has been setting up with the World Endurance Exchange. You interested in a holiday in Australia that might include a local ride under AERA auspices? Go check the WEE site. You interested in riding in Egypt where right now we don't have any competitive rides going ...though there are some plans for a crazy digital image scavenger hunt in the desert being worked out. No FEI here. You want to ride an FEI ride in Egypt? I'll give you some phone numbers and you are on your own, and may the lord bless and protect you. The WEE can also help you ride an FEI ride in Europe where Leonard says they are much saner than in the Gulf, so you can give them a try. Maryanne On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 2:12 AM, Mike Lewis <mikelewis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
-- Maryanne Stroud Gabbani msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx Egypt Face to Face www.alsorat.com Weblogs: Living In Egypt miloflamingo.blogspot.com Cairo/Giza Daily Photo cairogizadailyphoto.blogspot.com Turn Right At The Sarcophagus haramlik.blogspot.com Photos of Egypt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livinginegypt/
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