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Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] different sports? They are if you decide that they are. Long - Maryanne Gabbani

Steph, the realities of any organisation will include rules, leaders and sanctions. But that is not ALL an organisation is, those are simply the bones from which you build something. Just as the bones and skin of a person define the person as a human, the structure of an organisation will define it as an organisation. But the structure of an organisation does not define what KIND of organisation you have before you anymore than the bones and skin of a person will define what KIND of a person you have before you.  Forgive me for getting all metaphysical on you all, but it is the soul of the organisation just as it is the soul of the person that determines what kind of organisation  you have. And just as you can have a person with a cancer that is part of the structure, so you can have an organisation that has fatal flaws in its structure...and these fatal flaws will have a determining effect on the actual soul (please forgive me any hardline religion types but I'm using the term a bit metaphorically) of the organisation just as they will affect a person. The flaws can be overcome or they can overpower.

Don't confuse the structure of anything with its actual being and reality. I'm talking about the actual reality of a sport not the bones. Those are just technicalities and can be changed at whim. Look at what the FEI has done to the rules of endurance racing.

I'm not saying that anyone who follows the FEI is evil. Absolutely not. I know some very nice FEI people...in fact getting a chance to say hi to them is the high point of any international competition here as far as I'm concerned. The FEI as a structure is just a structure...with a couple of flaws in its design as far as I can see. And people can deal with the structure while keeping a firm eye on the flaws too. When you dance with the devil, you can have a great time, but you do have to watch where you put your feet. LOL

I'm saying stop getting so hung up on structures. That's not the reality. It's just a framework.

Maryanne


On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 10:00 AM, Steph Teeter <stephteeter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Maryanne - you speak so purely and from the heart. It's hard not to
be moved.

But your example : "Any group of riding fools can get together on a
Saturday morning for a weekly horse race followed by a pancake
breakfast seasoned with laughs and boasting. Does that make them
involved in the same sport as Thoroughbred racing, Arab racing or
Quarterhorse racing? I don't think so. "  does not address the
realities of organized Endurance riding.

AERC/AERA/etc etc are not just a group of riding fools (well maybe we
are, but that's another subject :) - AERC is a corporation with a
board of directors and published rules for the conduct of the sport.
The fact remains that AERC's rules are almost identical to FEI's
rules when it comes to the sport.

Steph

and for the sake of accuracy, there are many cultural versions of FEI
Endurance - Leonard's comment that FEI in Europe is different from
FEI in UAE is true, just as FEI in United States is different from
FEI in UAE. I think this should be factored into the discussion. In
most of the rest of the world people ride their own horses in FEI
rides, and in most of the rest of the world there are no large cash
purses in FEI rides, and in most of the rest of the world people in
FEI rides DO care where the horse is tomorrow.


On Feb 14, 2008, at 10:53 AM, Maryanne Gabbani wrote:

> I find this really funny. If you all decide that endurance riding
> with its emphasis on the team participation of a horse and rider,
> the rewarding of lifetime achievements of distance and time, the
> cooperative nature of participation by riders...including the
> aspect of the ridecamp itself... is the same as FEI endurance
> racing where the riders are jockeys who usually don't own their
> horses and may only have ridden them a few times before the race,
> where participants are staying in hotels rather than near their
> horses, where the contestants are fighting over large cash purses,
> where the only thing that matters is your win that day and no one
> cares where the horse is tomorrow....are the same thing, well, I
> suppose that you can.


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Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx

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Replies
Re: [RC] [RC] different sports? They are if you decide that they are. Long, Maryanne Gabbani
Re: [RC] [RC] different sports? They are if you decide that they are. Long, Steph Teeter