The mentor program is a wonderful part of AERC but I certainly do not think
it should be mandatory. Encourage new riders to use mentors but
mandatory???? I am amazed that because of this one incident at Mariposa,
many feel that mentors should be mandatory for new riders. So because one
new rider abused his horse the whole system should change? Can you imagine
AERC trying to implement a mandatory program like this? I think that
mandatory mentoring would just be a nightmare trying to implement, regulate, and
oversee.
If there is real concern about "newbies" making mistakes and over riding
horses, I suggest looking at other countries and how they manage new comers to
the sport. This seems like a much more reasonable solution. Do any
other countries use "mandatory" sponsors or mentors? I haven't heard
of this anywhere else. I personally find the Mariposa incident
quite rare with new comers to this sport. How many times does this really
occur with new riders? Enough to change a system? I certainly don't
think so.
