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[RC] FEI vs. AERC - Ridecamp Guest

Please Reply to: Bruce Weary, D.C. bweary@xxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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If only the horse could enter his thoughts in this discussion. Both FEI racing 
and AERC rides have evolved and been fashioned from the desires and needs of 
people. The desire to excel, or enjoy some countryside. The need to win or 
receive ever higher levels of recognition. All of us who participate find 
ourselves somewhere along the spectrum, from picking up our turtle award to 
slipping a gold medal around our neck.
  I think our sport is clearly growing, but evolving, also. This is natural, 
even to be expected. Let's not be surprised by it. The aspirations of many of 
the riders at the international level have produced money, effort, devotion and 
sweat in amounts that meet or exceed those found in professional sports around 
the world. However, this sport is, until we decide otherwise, an amateur one, 
and as  such remains encumbered by the criteria of what it means to be 
amateur--volunteer based, financially challenged, prone to more errors at all 
levels than that which we would expect at a professional level. I say this with 
overwhelming and well deserved respect to the efforts of those who are involved 
at the FEI as well as the backyard levels. We need you all.
 In fact, I think we need each other if we are to successfully navigate the 
waters of change. Ms. Foti, who vigorously maintains her opinions regarding 
training and the differences therein, still
needs the AERC contingency to race against, to be her sparring partner if you 
will, so that she can prepare a horse for international level competition. I 
think she would be hard pressed to prepare a horse adequately, training alone 
on a flat track.
I do have to disagree that going slower, which by definition means longer time 
out on the trail, defines abuse by any stretch of the imagination. The level of 
fitness and preparedness of the horse influences what is abusive. Try telling a 
6 hour finisher of the Boston Marathon after he recovers his breath and heart 
rate, and the feeling of nausea passes, that he would feel alot better if he 
had finished 2 hours sooner. Conversely, the winner may be aerobic at the 
finish, and feel he could have shaved a minute or
two if he had trained harder. As long as we keep the welfare of the horse 
paramount,and recognize that he is our partner in our efforts to enjoy our 
lives more, and we are always willing to do a "gut check" regarding what we are 
planning to do with that horse, and why, I like our chances of nurturing this 
sport and the people and horses in it to greater levels of success, locally and 
abroad.  Bruce Weary, D.C.  AERC # 4160


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