Re: New FEI standards

["superpat" <superpat@gateway.net>]

Debbie,
I appreciate your perspective on this awful turn of events for our wonderful
sport of endurance. And I respect your willingness to speak out so
eloquently while many are reveling in the possibility of developing and
selling our horses for large sums of money or rubbing their hands together
while drooling over the large sums of cash being proffered for prostituting
our sport. Hopefully the US will continue to be a holdout along with other
countries for whom the sport of endurance is a lot more than money and
headlines. It is a shame that our riders experienced such bad luck with
regard to their horses. It took much personal sacrifice for some to be able
to make it to France and to be out of the game before it even began is very
sad. Sadder still were the disparaging remarks made by Mr. Kanavy about the
makeup of the US team. (Isn't there something about not airing your dirty
linnens in public?)  I think that if the quotes were indeed true to the man,
he made a terrible mistake and set the stage for a rift between riders from
varying parts of the country, something no one needs. How very sad.
Pat Super

Subject: RC: New FEI standards


> Dear Teddy and all:
>
> When I read the article which follows these comments I was dumbstruck.
The
> changes described by M. Satyanarayan to the sport of international
endurance
> racing should make the powers that be in the US sit up and take notice.
> These changes will enhance the elitist nature of our sport internationally
> more than ever.  Horses have quite clearly become a cash crop.  Horses are
> bought, sold and borrowed worldwide now, with narrow goals in mind.  Win
now,
> win money, win now, who cares about the future?  Who cares about the
horses
> who will never be the same after today's race?
>
> My God, the results of this mentality are so obvious already.  Look at
what
> happened in today's world championship.  Out of 142 starters, only 32
> finished.  That's a 22-23 per cent completion rate.  Who among the FEI and
> the other countries' federations thinks these results will go over well
when
> lobbying for Olympic participation? This doesn't make sense to me.
>
> These kind of results in our sport might get airtime from networks
covering
> extreme sports, race car driving, and Evil Kneivel type stunt
spectaculars.
> People tune in to watch the crashes, the disasters, the blood and guts.  I
> wasn't there, but today's race sounds like it was a disaster for most
> participants.  We must start asking ourselves WHY?  Is it the drive for
> success, the drive for fame, the drive for money that is blinding too many
> participants to the welfare of the horses?  What else could it be?  I know
> bad luck can be blamed for some pulls, but not this many.  The completion
> rates in the elite, international races are becoming shocking.  I don't
> remember the exact rate of completion in last year's Pan American
> Championship, but I know it was well under 50 percent.
>
> Please, don't anyone think that I'm pointing fingers at any of our
> participants from the US in today's race.  I know many of these people
> personally.  Money and fame is not the guiding force for most.  I am
> sincerely sorry for the tough day that our US squad experienced.  But
money
> and fame is what drives far too many others in this sport, including those
at
> the very top who make the rules and now reward the money.  It's very
scary.
>
> When I competed in the World Equestrian Games in 1994, this sport was a
> softer, more innocent sport.  Money and fame--who doesn't want both--too
bad
> they corrupt everything they touch.  Perspective is lost.  Innocence is
lost.
>  I have no answers, no solutions, and the FEI ball is rolling and hard to
> stop at this point.
>
> I don't know when the phrase, "To finish is to win" became the motto for
the
> sport of endurance in this country.  I'm guessing it was late 70s to early
> 80s.  Doesn't that seem like a long time ago today?
>
> Debi Gordon
>
>  <<
>  > FEI imposes strict rules
>  >
>  > From M. Satyanarayan
>  > Compiegne, France - The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), the
>  > governing body of equestrian activities worldwide has decided to use
the
>  > carrot and stick policy for countries, including the United States, in
its
> bid
>  > to make endurance an Olympic discipline.
>  >
>  > Addressing a press conference here on the eve of the 8th World
>  > Endurance Championship, Endurance chief at the FEI Michael Stone said
>  > that one of the biggest obstacles in the path of endurance becoming an
>  > Olympic sport was the apathy towards FEI-organised rides from
>  > countries like USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
>  >
>  > "These countries organise rides under their own national federation
rules
>  > which affect the rides organised under the FEI umbrella. To start with,
>  > from the next world championship we will not accept the US riders
unless
>  > they have qualified through FEI-organised rides. So far we have been
>  > accepting their entries but this will be the last time they will be
> allowed,"
>  > Stone said.
>  >
>  > This means that the US riders, who have won all the world championships
>  > will have to toe the FEI-line or miss the world event.
>  >
>  > The carrot comes in the form of an increase in the prize money for the
FEI
>  > Emirates Worldwide Endurance Ranking announced by Faisal Seddiq Al
>  > Mutawa, FEI member and General Secretary of the UAE Equestrian and
>  > Racing Federation .
>  >
>  > The ranking which was introduced by the UAE and FEI in 1999 had
>  > offered US $25,000, $15,000, $10,000 for the top three ranked riders.
It
>  > has now been increased to $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000.
>  >
>  > 'We hope the increase in prize money will attract riders from US,
>  > Australia and Canada to organise rides under the FEI umbrella and help
>  > their riders take a shot at the world rankings," Faisal Seddiq said.
>  >
>  > Commenting on the success of the ranking system which was conceived
>  > by the UAE, Faisal Seddiq said it had created a lot of enthusiasm among
>  > riders worldwide who now felt pride in being placed in the ranking.
>  >
>  > "The ranking for horses has also helped on the economic front with
horses
>  > that were earlier fetching around $10,000 now being sold at $40,000.
>  > The owners, breeders and riders have all benefited by the ranking
system
>  > with the increase in numbers being a pointer towards its success,"
Faisal
>  > Seddiq added.
>  >
>  > Commending UAE's role in promoting endurance worldwide, Michael
>  > Stone said the FEI was working closely with the UAE in this
>  > direction."Some of the major hurdles have been removed to enable
>  > smaller national federation to organise FEI rides," he said.
>  >
>  > A reduction in the official FEI fees, change in rules to enable lesser
>  > number of officials to supervise the rides and also changes to
facilitate
>  > foreign delegates at such rides were some of the steps taken by the FEI
to
>  > promote endurance rides.
>  >
>  --
>  Teddy Lancaster
>
>
>
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