I am not, nor ever was, a candidate for
any championship at all. I WAS on the AERC board for about 20 years, and
was present when we voted for the one-ride-take-all championship idea. We
had heard that lots of riders WANTED that sort of head-to-head
competition. We established this concept, and I'll have to say that I am
disappointed in the outcome. There are too many champions, too many weight
divisions, and many of us don't remember who was the champion of what 5 minutes
after we walk out of the awards program. This was all brought up when one
rider, riding slowly but covering huge numbers of miles in one year, was
proclaimed the National Champion. A lot of us didn't like that. We
thought the NC should have at least ridden a little faster. But I have
come to regret our decision to change the format. Like Kathy in her post below,
I think there are many who couldn't care less about the current NC ride, or even
who won one of the numerous categories. Whatever AERC chooses to do, now
or in the future, won't affect me at all, but I'm proud enough of our
organization to want it to be as great as it can be. While the previous NC
format, based on points, had it's flaws, I think it was less flawed than the one
we now have in place. Others may disagree, and that's their right, but
this is my opinion.
> Well, that also presumes that the "FEI
hopefuls" have riders who > even give a hang about the AERC
NC.
Focusing here at home, this is the key to the whole issue since the
AERC NC was formed. No one gives a rats a$$. This is kinda a
problem for our sport, me thinks. So, what do we need to do to
make people care? This is supposed to be our one yearly ride-off
between the best of the best.
The first thing we as the AERC
need to do is make people CARE about the AERC NC... care about
qualifying... care about making the ride... just Care.
Right
now it means nothing. That doesn't mean it's not a good idea. It
means it hasn't been done right yet. My point is the ROC did
something really really right. The AERC NC can do that too if we
figure out how. *I* think the key was the qualification.
Making the qualification stiffer makes it mean something to be
there.
Then, throw a hell of a big party and make people want to
just be there. Kinda like spending New Years at the Death Valley
ride.
:) :) :) - Kathy Myers in Santa Fe,
NM ps... oh, and protect the integrity of the whole thing... from the
small regional rides (ie, qualification) to the horses at the
NC.
