Ridecamp: [RC] 2002 WEC, position of the Toulouse Group

This message was forwarded to me for publication by Pierre Arnould, Belgian
Chef d'equipe for the 2002 WEC:

------
In this letter you?ll find
	Message from Pierre Cazes, France
	... and some statistical evaluations


From:	Pierre Cazes: WEG JEREZ
original French text below

1)	Completing this event was perfectly feasible; several of the bigger teams
did so in excellent conditions. For example, of the 7 French horses, 5 were
amongst the top 12, 2 were retired unhurt, none required treatment, and the
next day, none was lame and none showed any discernible signs of having
undertaken such an effort the previous day.

2)	Even if a veterinary control were imposed every 5 kms, incompetence and
madness would still take their toll.
The only measure that is truly preventive is the qualification standard
required. It?s up to the FEI to raise the existing standard and impose it.
For example, I have been saying for years that the acceptance of hired or
borrowed horses in the last weeks before an event is contrary to the equine
code of rights ( ? ? ? ?) ; I warned in 1998 : « Beware ! This is
crimimal ». We all know the outcome?

3)	We love our horses, we work hard and we?re very demanding; we shouldn?t
have to put up with more controls because of the actions of incompetent or
self-seeking participants. It is they who must improve and be taught to love
and respect their horses and their sport.
By fixing appropriate qualifying standards, the FEI has the means not to
encourage mediocrity and its ravages at this high level of competition.

4)	Our refusal of greater veterinary control and shorter events and loops is
based on 25 years of experience and on the fact that shorter loops, and
shorter events, are known to make it easier for mediocre riders to
participate, to increase the overall speed and to oblige the best riders to
go at a much faster pace in order to impose themselves. The FLORAC Endurance
championship  had 4 vet gates and the best accident-free results in 20
years?

 We cannot agree with the idea that there would have been no problem had
there  been more vet gates:

Ø	It?s wrong: a careful analysis of the 2 mortality cases will prove this.

Ø	It?s tendential: it?s a self-serving argument by those in favour of more
vet gates and shorter distances. Who are they? What have they achieved?



Let me conclude with 3 questions :

-	Is it not time to listen to experience and prevailing knowledge and
consult the exisiting statistics?

-	Is it not time to introduce a proper grounding in training and technique,
instead of  persisting in believing that Endurance is purely a question of
medecine?

-	When will it be finally understood that a World Championship is sport at
its highest level - and therefore perforce an elitist event  bringing
together only the very best in the world - and not a training ground or a
garden party ?

Fond greetings; I hope we will be able all together to have truly technical
discussions ? I don?t doubt the good faith of the FEI Commission nor its
commitment to further our sport at the highest level.

 Pierre CAZES
 Chef d?Equipe de France d? Endurance
 (3 gold medals at World hampionships/by Team)

P.S. : If Endurance becomes an Olympic sport, it will be thanks to the
professionalism and quality of participants, not because of a greater
number of veterinary controls.
Let us once and for all accept the idea that only the best in the world
should compete at this level (a limit of 80 or 100 entries would also
increase the event?s media impact and make life a lot easier for the
organizers).
CONGRATULATIONS to the organizers of JEREZ 2002, it was a grand and
memorable event.


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