ridecamp@endurance.net: July International Newsletter

July International Newsletter

Richard K. Stewart (76147.1145@compuserve.com)
07 Jun 95 13:12:00 EDT

AERC International News
July 1995
Submitted by: Lori Stewart

A level playing field (figuratively speaking) with a fair
administration of the rules and regulations governing FEI
Competitions is in my experience (beginning in 1986) one of the
most appealing attributes of an FEI Championship event. Everyone
regardless of their team's zone or nation of origin is treated
professionally and equitably. The FEI Officials at a championship
event are responsible for the equitable administration of the FEI
rules and regulations. Only after attending and passing FEI
courses for the various positions is a person certified and
qualified to work an FEI Event. Even so, the vast majority of an
official's duties are performed on a voluntary basis.

THANK YOU on behalf of all international riding enthusiasts to
the OFFICIALS for the 1995 North American Championship in
Flagstaff. Without their commitment of time and effort, the
Championships would not be possible. Who are they and what are
their duties?
GROUND JURY

President: Prof. Vittorio M. de Sanctis- Italy
Members: Bo Kjellgren- Sweden
Lindsay Taliaferro- USA

They are responsible for the technical judging of competitions
and settling all problems that may arise during their
jurisdiction.
Foreign Technical Delegate

Dr. James Bryant- Canada

He inspects the course to satisfy himself that the technical
details are in accordance with the Regulations and Rules. He
must satisfy himself that the course is fair, particularly to
foreign competitors, and that knowledge of local conditions does
not give an unfair advantage. He has authority to instruct the
OC to make any necessary alterations. He helps the Ground Jury
to supervise the technical conduct of the competition.

APPEALS COMMISSION:

President: Louise Riedel- USA
Members: Chuck Gray-USA
Sandra McCartie- Canada

In general, they deal with appeals against decisions of the
Ground Jury and all cases of violations of the Statutes,
Regulations and Rules which do not come under the jurisdiction of
the Ground Jury. They may impose penalties of varying severity.

Steward
Dr. Kerry Ridgway-USA

He intervenes when necessary in order to prevent any
contravention of the common principles of behavior, fairness and
accepted standards of sportsmanship. He reports any
irregularities immediately to the President of the Ground Jury.

Foreign Veterinary Delegate:

Dr. Hallvard Sommerseth - Norway

He acts in a supervisory role to ensure that the Veterinary and
General Regulations are applied equally and impartially to
competitors from all participating countries.

VETERINARY COMMISSION:

President: Dr. Jerry Gillespie - USA
Members: Dr. Julia Famino - Brazil, Dr. Earl Gaughan - USA, Dr.
Mitch Benson - USA, Dr. Jodie A. Petersen - USA, Dr. Warren
Cutright - USA, Dr. Ray Randall - USA, Dr. Nancy Loving - USA

They are directly responsible to the OC for the health and
welfare of all horses at an event. For example they decide all
matters of a purely technical veterinary nature and take all
necessary measures for the prevention and control of infectious
and contagious diseases. They make a series of inspections and
examinations required by FEI rules that were established in the
interest of the health, safety and welfare of the horse in the
competition. A Veterinary Delegate at an event cannot act as an
individual competitor's private veterinarian.

The aforementioned job descriptions are summaries of much more
detailed explanations outlined in the Regulations of the
Federation Equestre Internationale. Don't worry. It is good for
all to have a general understanding of an official's function but
only imperative that your chef d'equipe and team veterinarian
have a detailed knowledge of every official's job.

For example if you as a crew member or a competitor witness a
probable violation, you immediately notify your team's chef
d'equipe. As a crew member or competitor you DO NOT approach an
FEI official directly with the problem. Instead your chef
d'equipe or his designated representative notifies the
appropriate official and stays directly involved in the
resolution of the problem on your behalf. This system has proven
to be very fair and best of all as a competitor or crew person,
you never have to break your focus and can put all your energy
towards getting your horse across the finish line as fast and
safely as is humanly possible.

NEWS FROM THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

The formal invitation to the 1995 FEI North American
Championships in Flagstaff was sent to the Canadian Chef
d'Equipes and the USA Zone Chef d'Equipes the end of May.

Foreign Nationals residing in the US who plan to ride for their
home countries, please contact Howard Shenk,(address: 4101 N.
Bear Canyon Rd., Tucson, AZ. 85749) to receive a formal
invitation.

To date there are no off continent countries fielding teams, but
there will be a few individuals from other countries
participating. Georg Riedler of Switzerland, long time officer
for the European Long Distance Rides Conference, has been
instrumental in the development of endurance riding on an
international level. Most often at these events, Mr. Riedler can
be seen wearing suit and tie and working tirelessly in an
official capacity to help the event run smoothly. Well this year,
I am pleased to report, he will be RIDING! A richly deserved
change of pace.

The course modifications were still pending the approval of the
Foreign Technical Delegate as of mid May. The hold up?
Weather!! Yes, Flagstaff was hit with four to six inches of snow
the beginning of May. However, no problems are anticipated with
the proposed course changes.

NEWS FROM CHUCK GRAY, CHAIRMAN AERC INTERNATIONAL

Nominations for the positions of National Chef d'Equipe and
National Selection Chairman closed May 15. Thank you to all
those who have nominated for these very difficult yet important
jobs. A formal meeting of the International Committee members
and a vote on these positions will take place at the North
American Championship in Flagstaff on September 16.

Chef d'Equipe Nominee's are:

Pete Fields
Debby Lyon
Donna Snyder-Smith
Mike Tomlinson

National Selection Chairman:

Pete Fields (if not chosen to serve as Chef d'Equipe)
Tony Benedetti

ZONE NEWS

CENTRAL

The Selection Committee for the Central Zone is as follows:
Louise Riedel, Iowa (Chair); Marsh Achenbach, Wisconsin; Genie
Stewart-Spears, Kentucky; Carol Patterson, Michigan; and Karen
Schrader, Texas.

As of June 1, the announcement of the long list was delayed from
June 15 to June 17 to allow riders the chance to attend a
demonstration ride over that weekend.

EAST

Keith Byergo thanks every one of the very strong horse & rider
teams who nominated to represent USA East in Arizona. After
their selection April 30, the squad members and alternates were
to participate in designated 100 mile demonstration rides which
were as follows: Biltmore 100 (NC)- May 13, Great East Branch 100
(PA)- May 28, Old Dominion 100 (VA)- June 10, Vermont 100 (VT)-
July 22, Race of Champions 100 (UT)- July 8.

Message from Chef d'Equipe Heather Hoynes...."Keep your horses
sound!" Squad members and alternates should refer all questions
about themselves and their horses which pertain to the upcoming
championship ride to either Heather or Don Kiefer, DVM our team's
veterinarian. They are the horse/rider advocates. The goal is to
keep the squad intact to build toward a North American Team Gold
Medal in Flagstaff!!

Fund raising News: Thanks go to the Kanavy's for hosting a party
weekend fund raiser at their home in April. Thank you Mary Ann
Wates and Chrissie Unser for organizing a pleasure ride fund
raiser in Virginia in May to benefit the squad. Thanks to the
Rojeks for their $1000 donation for squad expenses.

"DANIELLE'S Raffle" to benefit the squad. First alternate,
Danielle Kanavy, is organizing a raffle and will be sending
tickets out to everyone she can find on any mailing list- or
contact her for tickets at (703) 933-6131. Tickets are $1 each
or 24/$20. The drawing will be held in August. Donated prizes
are still coming in. Already she has an "Endurance Package"
planned for the grand prize which will include (so far!) a Ft.
Valley entry, gift certificate from Running Bear Farm, a bridle
from Marilyn Horstmeyer, equine stretching video & chart from
Nancy Spencer, Enduralytes, ice boots from Roger Rittenhouse,
Lexington helmet...and more. Second prize is a free breeding to
Bold Soldier. Third prize is beautiful black & white prints from
Jill Claire.

Lifeline Training and Conditioning Program founder, Gary Ross,
has become the fitness trainer for the ETZ riders and support
crew. More about this in August.

MOUNTAIN

Two additional nominations were received before the May 30
deadline.They are Don Jacobs on Brio and Pat Murray on Mojave.
Suzanne Hayes on Zyere and Moon Willett on Callys Toljaso have
withdrawn their nominations.

The selection committee for the Mountain Zone is: Linda Voigt,
(Chair), Dave Clinton, and Mary Ann Sevrin.

Assistant Chef d'Equipe, Mary Ann Severin has volunteered to head
up Fund Raising. If you have a contact or idea for sponsorship,
please write or call Mary Ann with the phone number of who to
contact. She will take it from there. We do not want a lack of
finances to keep any rider from attending this event. Her address
and phone number are, 1302 21 Road, Grand Junction, CO 81505,
(970) 858-4376.

Message from Chef d'Equipe Naomi Tyler..."When planning your ride
strategies this year--remember--your goal should be to peak for
the North American Championship. This means riding SMART at all
of your competitions this season, so that your horse is at his
optimum physical condition for September's race."

PACIFIC NORTH

The Pacific North nominees are well on their way to the NAC in
Flagstaff. The Selection Committee will rank the top 12 horse
and rider combinations on July 26. On August 15, the Selection
Committee will chose the Pacific North Squad of six horse and
rider combinations and rank six alternates.

If you are planning on attending the NAC in Flagstaff, Arizona,
the Pacific North Squad welcomes your support and invites you to
help them go for the gold. Please contact Tony Benedetti, the
chef d'equipe for the Pacific North. His number is 707-538-8865.

PACIFIC SOUTH

The Selection Committee for the 1995 North American Championship
Pacific South Team is: Jackie Bumgardner, Kathy Campbell, Connie
Creech, Nancy Elliot (Chair) and Diane Trefethen.

Two additional nominations were received before nominations
closed but after the June international news deadline. They are
Kim Grant on Coup Detat ("Lucky") and Jack Enderle on Fad Silver.
Nominations totaled 18, which is equal to an FEI Long List.

News update as of May 30, Heather Bergantz on H.B.C. Tyler Too
have withdrawn due to injury. Heather said she would help out
the team in Arizona as crew. I hope all our young riders can
have this sort of attitude. Heather will be 18 in August.

The postponement of one of our zone's major rides due to rain
(Big Creek 70) threw a curve into most nominees' ride plans.
Fortunately a new 100 miler was in the schedule this year (the
Mendocino 100 on June 10). Almost all of the nominees are using
this ride as a demonstration ride or for a pre-ROC warm up,
giving this ride a big inauguration. All are looking forward to
finally getting into a real ride season and out of the rain!!

As a reminder, the squad and alternates will be announced August
15.