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[RC] educating the public - terreI wonder if we are not, to some extent, the victims of our own press.We are proud--and rightly so--of the inclusiveness of our sport; any age and gender of rider, any breed and style of equine, any type of tack (or lack of it)...all are welcome. However, I wonder if this doesn't also convey to the general public the idea that "anyone can do it" (they can); and if anyone can do it, anyone can compete at it (not necessarily!) Time and again we see someone who describes themselves as a "newbie' be given advice they don't like, and huffily reply that "altho they are new to endurance, they have been riding xxxx for years." Endurance requires AT LEAST as much sport-specific technical expertise as any other discipline--and I believe more than most. You would not see someone enter a stadium jumping contest who had never jumped a fence, but felt there was no problem because they had been cutting cattle for years. You would not see someone enter a dressage event who had never taken a lesson, but was an experienced endurance rider. Why, then, do people from other disciplines feel they can compete* in ours without prior experience or technical know-how? Could it be because we tacitly foster that impression? Apparently, there are people who, because they can go for a trail ride without falling off feel that they are ready to show up and "show us how it's done--after all, they have the fastest horse in their barn. And it never gets tired! or sweats! and is way too well taught to eat or drink under saddle!". Where do they get the idea that that is all there is to it? Yes, we should be proud of the democratic nature of our sport. But perhaps we should be a little more ready to point out that we are also a FEI discipline (gasp!), and deserve to be taken as seriously as any other. We, the rigours of our sport, and most especially our horses deserve to treated with more respect; newbies should expect to have to 'learn the ropes' before they can try to "win the race". At the moment, I am not sure the general public understands there ARE any ropes--don't we just get on and go? Perhaps we need to find a way to make our advertising reflect the depth of knowledge required to compete* at our sport, rather than (or in addition to) its "open to all" friendliness. terre (*note: I said--and meant--'compete', not 'participate') =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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