AERC Convention (long)

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Karen Sweaney sweaney@earthlink.net
I had a wonderful time at the AERC 
convention and wanted to share my 
observations.  I have never been to 
the convention before so I can't 
really compare it to year's past.  
As a first time attendee, I have to 
say that it was very educational and 
worth the time and money.
 
We live in Bakersfield, California 
which is only a 6 -7 hour drive to 
Reno.  We arrived at about midnight 
on Thursday night and checked into 
the Silver Legacy with a group of 
other latecomers.  The room was nice, 
although we were disappointed that 
there was no coffee that so many 
other hotels offer in the room.  I 
got up fairly early so that I would 
be able to pick up my registration 
promptly at 8:00 a.m.  
 
When I got to the tradeshow floor 
(where the registration booth was l
ocated), I was surprised to see so 
many people shopping already.  I 
later found out that vendors often 
offer early discounts, freebies, or 
other bargain items first thing in 
the morning.  I got my packet but 
resisted the urge to shop as my husband 
was waiting for me back in our hotel room.  
I was very tempted to forgo the first 
seminar so that I could get back to the 
tradeshow.  Since there were only 5 seminars 
during the two days, I reasoned that 
I should attend those and go to the 
tradeshow between seminars.
 
The first speaker was Dr. Dan Marks.  
His talk lasted about two hours and 
covered conformation and how it affects 
athletic horses.  Although he admitted 
to not having any endurance experience 
(he does mostly race horses), the issues 
he discussed were relevant to any 
horse participating in an athletic endeavor.  
His main point was that what may be a 
conformational defect in one horse and 
may make him unsuitable for one discipline, 
may not affect him in a different discipline.
 
After lunch, My husband and I went on over 
to the regional awards presentation.  Even 
though John Parke did an excellent job 
presenting each award, the presentation 
was difficult to sit through.  It was 
extremely warm in the meeting room and 
the presentation was rather lengthy.  
Even so, I was happy to receive my award 
and will proudly display it on my sofa.  
Several of us spoke with John afterwards 
and offered suggestions as to how to 
improve the awards presentation for next year.
 
The second seminar for the day was 
presented by Sharon Saare.  Her talk 
focused on back confirmation and saddle fit.  
Her slides did a great job of illustrating 
her points and helped the audience clearly 
see what she was talking about.
 
On Friday morning I had put my $20.00 
worth of raffle tickets in the PS region's 
bucket.  I checked throughout the day and 
was disappointed to not have won anything.  
Several of my friends won a variety of neat 
things (vitamins, supplements, a halter, 
lead rope, etc.) though and I was happy 
for them.  I continued checking throughout 
the day and still didn't see my name on the board.
  
That evening there was a reception by 
the WSTF and the AERC dance.  My husband 
and I were too tired to attend either but 
I did hear one gentleman say that the band 
was really good!
 
On Saturday morning I attended 
Susan Garlinghouse's talk on nutritional 
myths.  I have to say that this seminar 
alone was worth the $70.00 registration 
fee.  She spoke to a capacity filled room.  
Nearly every seat was taken and people 
were even sitting in the aisle way and 
standing in the back.  The focus of her 
talk was to dispel the myths that so many 
horse owners just assume are true.  One 
interesting tidbit that she shared with 
us was the capacity of the equine digestive 
track and how it relates to various feed 
additives and their ability to function 
as advertised.
 
After Susan's talk, I went back to the 
trade show floor to buy some raffle 
tickets for the filly.  I decided to miss 
Janine Esler's (of recent Endurance News fame) 
talk so that I could shop and browse a 
bit longer.  As I was leaving the building 
for lunch, I realized that there was one 
last thing that I wanted to look at before 
eating so I went back inside and saw 
Jim Mitchell.  "You won," he tells me.  
"What did I win?" I asked.  "Karen," 
he tells me "You WON!"  I am a little 
bit dense at times and still had no idea 
what he's trying to tell me.  "You won a 
Tevis entry!"  The first thing out of my 
mouth was "Crap!"  That's the last thing 
I had wanted to win.  
 
Jim and I had just had a 20 minute 
discussion on why I didn't want to go 
do Tevis this year (or any other).  Not 
only did  I not want to go, but my husband 
has told me on numerous occasions that he 
WILL NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EVER CREW FOR ME AT TEVIS!!!!!!!  Even so, I dutifully went to 
claim my "prize."  I was supposed to meet 
my husband for lunch but I had lost my 
appetite.  He was waiting for me when I 
got there and immediately noticed the look 
on my face.  I simply handed him the 
envelope and the first word out of his 
mouth was, "CRAP!"  
 
With the word Tevis still buzzing around 
in my head, I headed over to the AERC 
general membership meeting.  I was 
disappointed that so few members bothered 
to attend.  It was very interesting to 
watch the presidential "debates" and the 
voting process that followed.  Congratulations 
go out to Barney Fleming as our new president.  
I would also like to commend Mr. Fruth and 
Mr. Kanavy for their professionalism during 
the entire process.  I was very impressed 
by the actions of the three gentlemen running 
for office.
 
The vet panel discussion followed the 
general meeting and was also very 
informative.  Each vet addressed a 
possible scenario and discussed what 
should be done in each situation.  
It was interesting to hear from vets 
who are from other areas of the country 
as they see horses who deal with 
different environmental factors than 
our horses do here on the west coast.
 
The awards banquet followed that evening.  
I did not buy a ticket, but I dropped 
in and sat in the back.  It looked like 
an excellent dinner, but it was way too long.  
At 10:00 p.m. awards were still being 
handed out.  Although I appreciate AERC's 
efforts to reward so many different riders, 
I have to wonder if it is necessary to 
give so many National Championship awards.  
I thought that they received their awards 
at the NC.  It seemed that they were 
receiving a second round of awards for 
the same thing.  In any case, it looked 
like a nice dinner and awards ceremony.  
I only stayed for a little while and 
then came back a few times to see a bit 
more.  At a little after 9:45, they 
started handing out yearbooks to those 
who were waiting in the foyer.
 
We left Reno early Sunday morning to 
find that the pass was completely 
covered in snow and that chains were 
required.  Thankfully we have 4 wheel 
drive and were able to cross without 
having to install chains.  We arrived 
home tired but very glad to have attended 
this year's convention. 
 
Karen Sweaney