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Re: [RC] Frances and Rule 13 - heidiThis is serious. We do care. But YOU need to take action, not post about it on Ridecamp. Kathy, this is one of the biggest problems. Not picking on Frances, but how do we go about empowering people to SPEAK UP when they see rule infractions? Many times they are minor and due to ignorance--can't begin to count the number of times I've seen riders use liniments, etc. that are in violation of the rules, and I'd speak to the rider when I was vetting--I was utterly amazed at the number of times that these riders said that another vet had actually RECOMMENDED such a practice, etc. (Not talking about doing the horse up after the ride here--that's your biz. I'm talking about stuff being done at vet checks, or horses coming to vet in with evidence of same still on their legs.) One of the FIRST places we need to educate regarding is among the ride vets!! They understand that injecting the horse with bute at the halfway vet check would not be acceptable, certainly, but many have never really grasped Rule 13, even if they have "read" the rule book. Too many glance over Rule 13 and say yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the no-drug rule, and don't actually READ it. If you know of someone breaking the AERC rules then you need to 1) at least try to clear up the incident with the rider if possible and / or 2) let the RM know about the incident at the ride at the time, and /or, if you feel it was a big enough infraction and no one is going to do anything about it without action (cease and desist) 3) File a protest within 30 days of the printing of the ride results in EN. Bingo. (Although you need to file the protest within 30 days of witnessing the infraction, not 30 days after the results are printed--the latter is for problems with the results themselves, and the wording of that is such that you can't just say "oh, I left it up on my shelf for 6 months and just now read it" and file a protest months and months after the ride.) Clearing up questions on Ridecamp is fine. Complaining about people breaking the rules isn't going to do much good here (unless you are looking for someone else who has seen the same things). Yep. Ridecamp is a wonderful forum, and a good place to ask HOW to handle such things (such as your advice above)--but it is NOT the difinitive forum for how AERC makes rules or enforces them. Joint supplements (GAGS, CS, oral HA compounds) are fine. There is no trouble with joint supplements. They do not mask pain, or bring down inflammation. They help our endurance horses live better lives longer. Well, no, not exactly. They are substances found in normal feeds, and as such, are banned if being fed in amounts over what one would find there. Sounds like you are confusing "joint supplements" with MSM, Yucca, etc, which are anit-inflamitories and / or pain killers and are banned during rides for obvious reason. "Aspirin" is natural too, but of course it is an NSAID and is thus banned. Again, MSM in very minute quantities can be a sulfur supplement--but in quantities that one would feed as a joint supplement is way over the "dietary" level. Yucca is a good example of why "natural" is not an excuse--a great many drugs come in "natural" forms, or at least the root member of their drug family does. That is an issue for those who manage, ride and are at "really big rides". Rarely, something can be done remotely, but usually you should be there. Definitely anything at a ride needs to be first brought to the attention of the ride manager. <snip> WRONG! The rules *are* clear to All competitors. There is a published rule book. There will be those who don't care to follow the rules. This is an unfortunate thing for our sport. Reread my first post to you. If everyone was honest, we wouldn't need Rule 13 at all. There are those who don't care to follow the rules even though they are *very* clear on what those rules are. We are the AERC. Us. We are a self policing sport. If you have concerns, it's time for you to take action, not ask someone else to try to fix something that is not broken. Back to the "empowerment to act" issue... Yep, the AERC is US and how well its rules are enforced often depends on how willing we are to speak up instead of turning a blind eye. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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