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AERC INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS
by: Chuck Gray
The 1996 convention is now over and once again we are starting a new year. Last
year certainly was one to remember with the USA bringing home the Team Gold,
Individual Gold and Silver Medals. Congratulations to all the RIDERS and SUPPORT
STAFF.
The same holds true of this years convention. In the following article I will
address some of the " HOT " issues. These do not represent all we accomplished
but are some of the most important that demonstrate the " TEAM " work that took
place.
One of the most exciting accomplishments is that the International committee
has 3 new "non-voting" members who are: the Chair of the USET - discipline
Endurance Committee - Maggie Price, The President of the AHSA Endurance
committee- Dr. Jerry Gillespie and the Chair of the USET - Active Riders
Committee - Nancy Elliot, ( Who is a voting committee member now by election ).
What makes this so important is that now the information that will come forth
will all be validated and for the first time all the committee's will be working
together exchanging information and ideas to further International Endurance
racing. One voice all under the guidance of AERC. Truly a moment to remember.
Also during this convention I had a chance to talk with Jeff Wall and others, I
think now we all have a better idea of the problems that lead up to the message
Jeff was trying to get across, that is " not having the most current information
easily available". When reviewing the information and their sources this last
weekend I found places that need updating. I will have these issues addressed in
the future and corrections made. Also I want to thank Jeff and his wife Chris
for helping with the minutes from the International & Active riders meetings.
GREAT JOB.
The International committee will be developing a new member packet that will
include: current AERC-I procedures, order forms for information from AHSA &
USET, AERC-I decal, an article from Tony Benedetti titled " So You Want To Go
For The GOLD" and a Table of Organization chart from AHSA. All of this
information will be available from the AERC office. It was also decided that
each zone committee member will take a more pro-active position with new members
and either call or send a card to welcome them to International.
Regarding the rule change from FEI pertaining to " the new finishing criteria",
all the committee's addressed the issue and a formal letter was drafted,
approved and signed by all committee chairs along with the president of AERC.
This letter is being sent to the FEI thru our National Federation, AHSA.
Marathoning was discussed at great lengths and the "welfare" of the horse was
one of the most important parts of the topic. A number of people presented first
hand accounts of " marathons " they have attended, reporting that a number of
countries have come along way with their rules but still have a ways to go. It
has been recommended to the AERC board and officers to take a positive stance on
the subject and be prepared to engage in the managing of the New Equine sport in
the United States.
In the letter addressing the rule change, the USA has voiced its position on
races of shorter distance, those being refereed to as Marathon's ( CEM). It has
been recommended to the FEI that they drop the word marathon and revise their
list of races and use the Star system now in place for Three Day Eventing. (
Example - Four Star Endurance Competition shall be 160 km in distance, Three
Star Endurance shall be 80 to 159 km and Two Star Endurance shall be 20 to 79 km
in distance.) In addition it has been requested that no Two or Three Star
competitions be recognized by the FEI until rules have been established by the
Bureau for said rides. A majority of rider have agreed to only consider FEI
sanctioned rides that are run under the old rule system.
The International committee would like to also announce that the AERC office has
taken over most of our committee service's. They are: Advertising of Products,
Purchasing, Distribution and Warehousing of same, Maintaining our Data Base,
mailings and Financial information. If you paid your dues and did not receive a
mailing before the convention, please contact Miki at the office.
The committee also meet and interviewed the candidates for National Chef d'
Equipe and Selection Chair. The recommendations going forth to the USET are: Dr.
Rick Stewart for Chef d' Equipe and Mr Tony Benedetti for Selection Chair.
Congratulations and Thank-you to both for volunteering for these positions.
Finally, I would like to thank the Board of Directors, Officers and the
International Committee for the time spent working on making our organization
the very best it can be. The support of all of you is very crucial to the growth
of this sport.
FEI Pan American Championship
Convention Highlights
by: Mike Foss DVM
Wow !! What a convention! It has taken me a few days to recover from that much
fun. It was very good for the NAC. First, we are now OFFICIALLY known as the
Pan AmericanChampionships. Our invitations should go out soon from AHSA. A
major goal from the AERC Convention was to raise money and that went very well.
We raised $4258 from the horse raffle, auction and merchandise sales! In
addition $3800 was pledged and "in the mail". On top of that, AERC International
will make a donation when they balance the books after the convention. It was a
very good convention. It was very gratifying to see the support people have for
the ride. Make sure you are there to enjoy it!
There are a lot of "Thank yous" that are needed. First, Thank you Suzie
Morrill. She master minded and put together the Auction, Friday night. Thank
you to all the vendors who donated to our auction (98% of the vendors donated
something!). Thank you to the ride managers who donated ride entries and Thank
you to Dennis and Sue Summers for donating a pack trip. What a great auction!
Thank you to Don and Sandy Skinner who donated the horse for the raffle. The
fund raising would not be possible without their generosity. Thank you to all
the people who helped out by spending their money.
We need to add to our list of sponsors, THANK YOU! Gold Supporters: Larry and
Valerie Kanavy, $2500 and Lew Hollander, $1000. Bronze Supporters: Debbie
Lyons, $200 and Dennis O'Brian DC, $100.
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS BITS
Sooner Trailer has come on board as sponsor of the USET Championship Endurance
Ride, Sunday, June 22nd.
1996 World Champion Horse, Cash, has been named "Cronicle of the Horse" Horse of
the Year. Congratulations to Cash and family.
Seattle University, Seattle Washington, Non Profit Leadership Graduate Studies,
Wende Rude has completed and published a comprehensive study titled, "What is
our Team USA Endurance Plan to Medal in Ireland, Australia and Beyond?" To
receive a copy write: Wende Rude, 9009 366th St. E Eatonville, WA 98328. Ph.
360-832-6386. Thank you Wende for your initiative that is sure to benefit
future USA Team efforts.
FEI PRESS NEWS 4/97. Published February 27, 1997. Endurance: Final Vet
Inspection procedure
An extraordinary meeting of the Endurance Committee was held in Arles, France on
21 February. Among other things, the committee decided that the recently
introduced optional final veterinary inspection procedures would be restricted
to the categories CMEI and CMEIO (Marathon rides). The OCs of endurance rides
of these categories have the alternative between two final inspection
procedures.
AERC INTERNATIONAL
NOTICES
* If you paid your AERC International dues and have not received in the mail the
1997 AERC International Calendar of Events and Committees, PLEASE contact the
AERC office so they can make the correction and send the mailing pronto.
*Correction and addition to the calendar and committee directory: October,
nominations for the AERC International Committee close on the 31st NOT the 1st.
The committee directory under the Mountain Zone. The Selection Chair is Linda
Voigt, 251 Chief Looking Glass Rd., Florence, Montana 59833. Ph. 406-273-6384.
Please contact Linda for Mountain Zone nomination forms.
*Please support your Zone Team fund raising efforts. Your donations are
important but are not tax deductible.
*USET sponsors for endurance. Please contact Mary Lutz at the USET (Ph.
908-234-1251 with your ideas about potential corporate sponsors of the United
States Endurance Team.
*1998 WEG, Ireland preride. If you plan to ride the 1998 WEG Endurance preride
August 14, 1997, please notify the AHSA, Andrea Moore, Ph. 212-972-2472. As
leasing possibilities in Ireland will be very limited, riders wishing to lease
horses should begin now to locate horses in England, Scotland, France, etc.
*The AHSA 1997 committee nominations are in and awaiting approval by the AHSA
board. A complete listing of this and other affiliated committees in USET will
be published in the May EN.
E-mail from: R. K. and L.D. Stewart, 22-Mar-1997
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