The Dawning of the Day

It's 3:20 AM, drinking cold coffee (ordered from room service last night) and trying to get my eyes to stay open. I'll meet Leo, Nathalie and Cesar downstairs in 20 minutes and head out to the stable.

Yesterday was busy and hectic, organizing gear and crew stuff and hauling it to the village, full tack ride on Arazi - making sure everything works, practicing taking tack on/off, buying last minute stuff at the souks (buckets/tubs/apples/carrots/sunglasses). The final inspection and trot-outs were from 12 to 1, everything went ok. There was a pre-ride briefing in one of the big tents, all the FEI officials were there explaining how things would work, answering questions. Foreign Vet. delegate: Dr. Pierre Romantzoff, Foreign technical delegate: Michael Stone, Chief Steward: Dilip Das, Head of Vet. commission: Dr. Carlos Ponferrada.

Afterwards there was an open forum: introduction by FEI - Michael Stone (Equest sports), Ian Williams (Endurance). The basic message was that after Jerez (two horse fatalities) FEI was focused on improving the sport. Two main criterea: Fairness and Horse Welfare. They've formed a new veterinary subcommittee to conduct research, and continue focus and improvements toward horse welfare. They are also considering ways to further educate riders and trainers on horse welfare issues, and considering methods for cabability testing, requirements, qualification.

During the Q&A period Valerie K expressed concern that there were so few FEI rides in the US - expenses prohibitive or not attractive to most ride managers. The answer was basically that FEI is fine, the problem is in the mindset of the US - and the need for more support from the Nat'l Federation (USEF). Peter Toft (Australia) added that there is a similar problem (lack of FEI rides) in Australia.

Gotta go!

Steph