Pushing for legislation is a good idea. However, based on a the small
number of people involved and based on the history of the AHC and the
BCHA effort to get the Right to Ride legislation through Congress - I
believe if we want to ride on Wilderness we need to look for formats
where we can do that.
The Tevis organization has a lot fewer people than the AERC, and they
got their exemption through Congress. Although we can be sure that if
we don't ask for it, we won't get it.
The Old Dominion faced a similar problem in that an essential part of
their trail passed through a National Park, which also don't allow
competitive events. Some creative work with the park managers resulted
in that portion being considered simply "transiting" the park, with no
actual racing taking place there -- since the start, finish, and all
vet checks were outside the park.
There are other ways to go without abandoning the endurance format.
For
those that don't know the BCHA has been working with the AHC to
push what some call the "Right to Ride" - "Preservation of Equine
Heritage on Public Lands Act" through Congress. This would impact all
horsemen who ride on federal public land - not just endurance riders.
http://www.horsecouncil.org/pressreleases/2007_Preserving_Equine_Heritage.php
The bill has made it though committee in the House but has not yet been
above to get out of committee in the Senate. The reason is the Senate
committee views it as a "special interest" legislation and will not
consider it unless the scope is broadened to include other interest.
The AHC is still working the issue but it is unclear how successful
they will be.
Then we should join in the effort with them, to add more impetus.
...
If we want to ride in Wilderness land - best bet I see is to work
within the system and develop a format that would allow that. It may
not be an endurance ride as we define it today. However, if enough
members see it as something the AERC should support - then it should be
pursued.
Taking a defeatist attitude and saying "They'll never let us have
endurance rides there, so we must change what we do and put on
non-endurance rides" is not a good approach IMO. To me "working within
the system" includes working with our elected representatives in
Washington.
