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 located), 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 words out of his mouth were, "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