Re: Arabians and distance riding

[SandyDSA@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-08-10 14:56:44 EDT, you write:

<< 
 I had a sweepstakes nominated arab I had picked for endurance because he
 was a sweepstakes horse.  Then I came to find out there just aren't that
 many endurance rides, actually barely any in SW region, that are IAHA
 sanctioned.  I sold him and never even considered looking for a sweepstakes
 horse again.  Why pay the higher price when I can't utilize the nomination
 in endurance riding anyway?  There just aren't enough IAHA sanctioned
 Endurance rides to justify the hassle of buying or finding a good
 sweepstakes prospect.  Unless your a national level rider there aren't any
 rides for us to do.  Seems to me like IAHA only sanctions the national
 level rides and the majority of we riders are average riders and will never
 make it to national level.   IAHA isn't catering to the majority, but the
 minority.  If you want riders to join then give them a reason to join.
 Start sanctioning all rides, not just National level ones!
  >>
VEry well spoken - and we have felt this way for YEARS. Being belittled
because we choose NOT to throw away a few Thousand $$ on Sweepstakes
nominations is NOT the way to engender enthusiasm about a program, especially
since it DOES cater to only a few. How many people do yo know that have
actually recouped their Sweeps fee investment, let alone made it worth their
while? Out side of selling Sweepstakes foals to each other for inflated
prices, it hasn't done anything that I can see to improve or grow the Arabian
activity level. 

Being nominated it not worth an inflated price to us since the vast majority
of the dollars do not go to programs promoting ATHLETE/ARABIANS. The emphasis
on halter and EP really has gotten sickening to us. It really ends up
belittling the Arabian horse.
san