Re: RC: Response to Biltmore Bruise by L.Salas

[Howard4567@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/7/01 10:37:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
guest@endurance.net writes:

> -completely in ignorance, and has evidently passed that habit on to others. 
 
> If you educate yourself, then you've got a right to say something.  Those 
of 
> you who do otherwise are merely spouting off the rhetoric of other 
uninformed 
> !>  minds. 
>  
>  Brenda Baird, Ph.D.

Dear Doctor Baird:

What exactly does it take to be well informed on the subject of FEI?  Do we 
all need a PHD to understand the rules; how it works?  I sure hope not; I 
just want to go out and ride a horse.  And if the system is that complex, 
maybe, that's part of the problem.

Most of the response about FEI started with Jim's assessment of what happened 
at  Biltmore.  I do think he went there with an open mind, and left with the 
thought that the two (AERC & FEI) just don't work well together, after 
experiencing what FEI had to offer.  His point that the FEI rules affected 
his ride (a non FEI participant) were clear and unbiased.  Maybe, if he would 
have entered it as an FEI participant he would have seen it differently.  I 
don't know.

One of the many things that bothers me about FEI is the costs.  You have to 
show up a day early (Thursday), pay almost twice the fee you would if it 
wasn't FEI (please correct me if I'm wrong about this), put your horse in a 
specific location with certain sized measurements for his corral, segregate 
yourself from the non FEI riders, wear some sort of uniform, get a passport 
for your horse, etc.  The list seems endless to me, and not very rider 
friendly.  And how necessary is it all?  I'm really not trying to be flip 
here.  Why does International competition have to be this way?  

Doc, if you don't see why this might be upsetting to some of us, you might 
want to take a closer look at an AERC sanctioned ride, one without all this 
hullabaloo.  It's not that anyone is uneducated about FEI; we seem to 
understand the differences quite well.  It's the differences some of us don't 
like.  And the fact that their rules seem to be paramount; they take over the 
ride, even when AERC rules are the ones most of the riders are riding under.  

I just want to ride a horse in competition, meet some of the riders, and have 
some fun.  I have enjoyed every AERC sanctioned ride I have ever attended.  
I'm not so sure I would have enjoyed the one Jim just returned from, even if 
it was at the Biltmore, because of the FEI sanctioning.

cya,
Howard (I'm ready to post Part 4 of Pirate Run if anyone's interested; no 
mention of FEI or Sultans or anything like that)