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[RC] Here is to hoping it is not - k s swigart

Sandy said:


In the end, most rider, while glad that FEI riders get
?to do their thing too, are not interested in losing riding
?opportunities to provide this. If, as Kat promotes, it would
?be good if more rides went this way, a huge number of us
?are priced right out of the sport. 


But...but...but, this ride is a NEW ride that is specifically designed NOT to 
impact the existing rides in the same area at around the same time.

And f there are MORE new rides like this one that will cater to the needs of 
the few people who need them, then existing ride managers of the rides that 
non-FEI riders do attend won't be pressured to dual sanction their rides.? And 
they may actually get MORE entries because this ride exists.

Let me use this ride as an example:

Let's say that local Southern California FEI rider Joe needs to take his FEI 
aspirant horse Mickey?to a CEI* in order to start the horse up the 
qualification levels that are now required by the FEI.? 

If the AERC refused to sanction it and the GRD Special didn't exist, then Joe 
would have to spend thousands of dollars in gas money and two weeks of his time 
taking his horse to, say,?Florida to do a CEI* there.? After he gets back, he 
is totally hammered from the exhausting trip, virtually broke from paying the 
gas money, and Mickey has to recover not only from doing a 50 mile ride, but 
also a 3000+ trailer ride.? 

In this scenario, there is no way in hell that Joe is going to take Mickey to, 
say, 20 Mule Team the following month.? Or if Joe has any other horses, he 
won't be taking any of them to the non-FEI rides at Warner Springs or Fire 
Mountain or Bar H because he will be on the road to or from Florida at that 
time.? And he won't be taking any of those other horses to 20 Mule Team either, 
because he is exhasted and broke from his trip to Florida.

In this scenario, other non-FEI local endurance rides will miss out on any 
entries that Joe might have made if he hadn't had to spend the time and money 
to go to Florida to do a 50 mile ride.? And he may not ever be taking any of 
his horses to any local, non-FEI rides because his resources are limited, and 
the resources required to do the FEI rides, what with all the travel required, 
is so HUGE he can't afford to do both.

Whereas, with the option, instead, of taking Mickey to the GRD Special to do 
the 50 mile ride, he can stay in Southern California, attend other local 
non-FEI rides, and support the local AERC rides as well.

Therefore, if there were MORE local FEI rides, even if they are "specials" that 
cost $500 to enter, as long as they don't take non-FEI riders away from the 
existing local rides (which at $500 to enter they won't), then EVERYBODY is 
better off.? Joe, because he both gets his qualifications AND he can afford to 
ride non-FEI rides as well; existing local ride managers because the "special" 
rides aren't going to take away any of their non-FEI riders and they might get 
Joe to show up as well; and existing local riders because the existing rides 
still exist and there is no need for the existing ride managers to 
dual-sanction them.

Sandy's mistake is in thinking that if the AERC lets new ride managers put on 
FEI rides with $500 entry fees to appeal to the market segment that thinks this 
is a good deal (compared with driving to Florida), that somehow all the 
existing ride managers (who are better off by not having a segment of their 
potential entries on the road to an from Florida) will start dual-sanctioning 
their rides and charging $500 entry fees as well???

But, in acutality, this "special" ride is specifically designed to keep 
existing ride managers from having to do this.? Existing ride managers can 
continue to cater to the non-FEI rider only.

The GRD Special isn't converting an existing ride into an unaffordable one, it 
is creating a new ride.? And I contend that if more such NEW rides were created 
to serve the FEI aspirant riders locally, that all the other existing local 
rides and riders would be better off.

kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)

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