Re: National Championship Ride

[Lucie Hancock <lbhbhnck@ftc-i.net>]

I have just come across some of the comments about the National 
Championship Ride. I have gotten behind in reading RIdecamp due to other 
demands on my time.

As a ride manager, I could not continue to manage a ride that did not at 
least come close to breaking even. Not one of us has access to a "money 
tree." It would be nice if we could, but it is not practical, nor 
financially respponsible. I applaud those who worked so hard to make 
this year's championship a success. I know how hard it is to put on a 
ride at all, and one of this caliber takes a lot of resources.

We all need to let our Board of Directors know our thoughts on the 
matter. Surely it is not proper for AERC to expect the same group of 
people to voluntarily lose next year as much as they lost this year. 
Unless the National Championship Ride gets more support from AERC than 
it did this year, it will lose any hop of being continued, because most 
of us are not willing to work that hard to lose that much money.

ALL OF US WANT TO HELP AND SUPPORT OUR SPORT, AND WITHOUT OUR HELP THIS 
SPORT WOULD DIE, BUT WE NEED TO ALL PULL TOGETHER TO SUPPORT THTE 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RIDE.

My plan is to be there next year as a rider, and perhaps bring someone 
with me who can volunteer their time to help. I did not have 200 miles 
together with my horse in time to qualify for this year's ride, although 
I did come close. If I do not qualify to ride, I plan to be there to 
help. If I cannot get there to help, I will send some kind of donation 
to help with expenses. If we really want this ride to continue, we need 
to work hard to keep it.

This is just my two cents worth. Anything worth doing is worth doing 
well, and if it is a worthy cause it should get the proper kind of support.
Lucie Hancock from South Carolina