National Championship

["Carlos F. Crespo" <ccrespo@nigma.com>]

Heidi ,  has made some very good points regarding my proposal for a Natl.
Championship. I know that many
others feel the same way, however I do not see this difference in opinion
as a conflict at all. Lets look at each point:

1) Regarding the One day 50 miles, one day 100 mile and Multi-day Natl.
Champinship Heidi  states;

     <<This concept totally defeats the true beauty of this sport, which is
that if
         you are running for the top, you always have to run again at
another ride,
         hence you have a major incentive to keep your horse sound and
healthy.>>

	The "True Beauty of the Sport" in my opinion is a very relative thing. The
one thing I
	always liked about endurance is the fact that there are so many facets to
the sport and you can
	make of it whatever suits you or your personality best.  Certainly, the
idea of performing on a consistent
	basis is a good and noble objective that suits many people well. The good
thing about this sport is
	that , unlike many others, it does not has to be exclusively one thing for
all. The present concept
	of a National Champion Addresses the issue of a  consistent performance
throughout the year. The ROC,
	in a small way attempted to address some of the other issues and interest.
However,  this is
	not a mutually exclusive situation and nobody would be hurt by offering
more than what is currently
	available.  
	

2) <<There is already a major contest that pits the very top riders in an
all-the-eggs-
        in-one-basket competition--it is called international endurance
riding, and is
        run by the FEI. >>

        The last thing I would like to see is the Sport of Endurance
divided along the lines
         of AERC and FEI Competition. If we decide to travel down this road
we will succeed 
         in dividing our membership, our resources and deluding our
efforts.  In the end, Endurance
         may be completely transformed into something totally against all
our principles like a
         25 mile "Marathon Race". This is something that Nobody wants. 	

         Rather than a divisive approach I would favor an integrative
approach to the Sport
         that would integrate the different interests under the same AERC
Institution. This is not
         a  battle of good against evil. it is merely a matter of accepting
that ENDURANCE means
         different things to different people and offering each a way of
participating and enjoying the
         sport in any of its facets. 		 		 				

         Another thing to consider is that FEI International Competition is
limited to 
         only a few participants (only 6 members accepted for the World
Endurance Game) and the
         selection process is extremely subjective and based on the racing
results through out the 
         previous 2 years. The problem with this selection is that you have
no objective way
         of determining who makes the best candidate because there is no
way of standardizing the
         quality of competition that each horse rider team has faced. 

         In my opinion, if there is a strong argument to be made in favor
of a one day 100 mile National Championship 	 
         is precisely the possibility of considering such results in the
selection of a National Team to Represent
         the U.S. in International Competition. 		

         Endurance is still in an evolutionary stage as a sport. If we want
to save those values that are so dear to us
         and which the AERC has developed during so many years of
experience,  this is the time to take the lead
          and define the total scope of the sport. It is crucial that AERC
integrates the membership in accepting the 
          different interests  encompassed within the discipline. Lets not
look for ways to find difference between us 
         and focus on all that we do have in common. There is no question
that we agree on more things than we differ in. 
        Our differences are truly minor .   In my mind there is no doubt
that all these interests, not only  can survive together 
        but will even prosper and complement each other. In the end, the
Whole will be Bigger than the Sum of its Parts.


Regards,

Carlos
Florida