Eventing Nation booted from covering Event in Unionville, PA

[Gardenhorse]

@Virginia Horse Mom

And… as of yesterday… The Horse of Delaware Valley has published another exchange of letters involving Leslie Wiley :eek:

After the letter exchange with Wiley, Cynthia McGinnis reached out to Rob Burk… because it is a bit of a noteworthy exchange, and one does wonder why he entertained ENs activism to the extent he and USEA did.

Letter from Cynthia McGinnis to Rob Burk, USEA President

September 25, 2020BY SARA CAVANAGH

Mr. Burk,

I am so disappointed that USEA allowed EventingNation to proceed with their unwarranted activism to cause the loss of Plantation Field for the Eventing community.

I have been involved with all horse sports from Eventing, show hunters, foxhunting, international show jumping, thoroughbred racing and breeding, for 57 years, and have never seen race or ethnicity be an issue.

The board of USEA made a terrible decision when they caved to Leslie Wylie’s demand. You can never appease blackmailers.

I am enclosing some correspondence between myself and Ms.Wylie that May hold some interest for you.

Cynthia McGinnes

There followed the letters to and from Ms. McGinnes and Eventing Nation that have already appeared in The Horse.

Exchange of letters between Cynthia McGinnes and Leslie Wylie of Eventing Nation

September 25, 2020BY SARA CAVANAGH
Following is a series of letter from Leslie Wylie to Cynthia McGinnes and her replies.

HI CYNTHIA,

Thanks for taking the time to write us. This is an unfortunate situation for all, and with a great deal of misinformation and assumptions circulating. We hope that the eventing community can work together to find a healthy path forward.

Sincerely,
Leslie

LESLIE,

I am afraid that ship has sailed. If you had done more research before making your request for Plantation Field to change the name, you would have realized that your request had no more validity than asking realtors to drop the use of master bedroom.

You are going to have to live with your activism causing damage that cannot be repaired. You can no longer just assume that you are still included in the Eventing community.

Cynthia McGinnes

HI CYNTHIA,

We never make assumptions. But we do believe in a more inclusive eventing community in the future.

Sincerely & Go Eventing,
Leslie

LESLIE.

You have just listed your first assumption. The Eventing community has always been inclusive.

It is entirely results based, and I have been involved with Eventing…rode in my first event in Virginia in 1963…for 57 years, and I have never seen a person’s color be a concern at any level.

I also rode champion hunters (Peter Gunn, Matinee Idol) , trained with Frank Chapot, my uncle owned Good Twist, who campaigned with the USET for many years, sired Gem Twist,… I have never, in any of these disciplines, seen race be a concern.

My husband and I have bred thoroughbred racehorses for 47 years, many Maryland champions, Breeders Cup competitors,…never seen race be a concern at the track.

All of these horse activities are results based, color or ethnicity not a factor.
One of the best jumper riders of the 60’s, Sonny Brooks, was black. He was always included, whenever I was there.

You cannot cover up the damage that the uninformed intrusiveness of your unwarranted activism has done to the sport of Eventing through the loss of Plantation Field.

You speak of a more inclusive Eventing community…it was inclusive before your activism, as are all of the competitive horse sports.

Black Lives Matter, Inc. is a Marxist organization. You need to question their motives before you go after the horse sports.

Cynthia McGinnes

CYNTHIA,

Thank you for this perspective. I started competing in the early '90s so I don’t have that context.

I did have a poster of Greg Best and Gem Twist on my bedroom wall when I was a kid, and I hope your family knows what sort of dreams that horse inspired – it’s really incredible, to look back. So incredible.

I want the magic of horses to be accessible to all. What can we do to help foster that?

Leslie

LESLIE,

What you might have done is allow programs like Work to Ride, that brought riding to the inner city youth in Philadelphia…sponsored by money raised through Plantation Field events…to continue and expand. Unfortunately, due to your misguided efforts, this program no longer exists, and these youth will no longer have the chance to experience riding.

Horse sports are expensive… it is not race or ethnicity, but the amount of money available that is the biggest obstacle to young people getting involved.

Horse sports are very inclusive…look at the amount of LGBTQ involvement… Do you remember Sidney Poitiers daughter who was very successful in juniors, and Sylvia Johnson’s daughter( BLackEntertainment Television) who also competed on the FL circuit? They had the money to be able to afford the costs, their race did not stop them.

What you can do is stay out of the way!

I cannot emphasize how much damage losing Plantation Field will do to the small eventers…those who compete in Elementary, beginner novice, novice…they are done now, no other places within hours of driving distance offer these events done so well, so often. Every time these lower level events were run at Plantation Field, they would draw 500 entries or more. These people were young and old, on horses that they could afford.

Do you really appreciate how much irreparable damage you have done to the sport, the very people you say you are trying to help? I don’t think you do.

Sending the information to the New York Times was the last straw.
Sometimes you just have to live with the mistakes you make, and you have really made a big one. I don’t think you can fix it.

That land is gone as far as Eventing is concerned and you have tarnished the reputation of the sport and the people that have been running it.

I think you should take up another line of work as an activist as that seems to be your passion. The horse sports have no place for that, it is not needed.

Cynthia McGinnes

Seriously? This series of emails convinces you that Leslie Wylie is the problem? I have got to stop reading this thread.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@Gardenhorse

Seriously? This series of emails convinces you that Leslie Wylie is the problem? I have got to stop reading this thread.

Well, this plus the other email exchange with Jennifer Yoder, plus the editorial that Leslie herself wrote, plus the facts that name changes AREN’T a simple small or inexpensive thing to try and accomplish within a matter of two months or less until the FEI event was scheduled to run AFTER sponsorships were already secured, plus the fact that John and Leslie consciously decided to ignore Boyd Martin’s late August warning that if EN continued to push the name change agenda in a highly assertive manner, they risked offending the property owner to such a degree that the lease might be canceled and the whole venue might be lost as a result…

plus, Leslie Wiley’s decision to contribute to the NYT article that was written and ran in that paper AFTER this whole controversy had already exploded on social media. The article smeared the entire eventing community and the headline clearly implied the name of the venue was racist, and ties it to the property owner… thus essentially smearing him in a NYT article.

So no… it wasn’t just that series of emails. There were a few other pieces of evidence that I considers.

What about you? What do you think of my assertion that she and others maybe should have just taken Boyd Martin’s late August warning to stop pushing this agenda so hard, gone quiet for a bit, and then regrouped after the FEI event ran, and tried privately approaching the PFEE board at that time about their thoughts and opinions with the respect to the name, and engaged respectfully and patiently?

Sorry the thread is bugging you. I am trying to do better at laying out my point of view with respect to opportunities missed to achieve a constructive outcome.

I do think USEA is a huge part of the mess as well, however, and was derelict with respect to their role in terms of managing a tricky conflict between multiple parties in such a way so that the sporting community wasn’t damaged as a result of the conflict.

What do you think I am missing?

[Gardenhorse]

@Virginia Horse Mom

Well, this plus the other email exchange with Jennifer Yoder, plus the editorial that Leslie herself wrote, plus the facts that name changes AREN’T a simple small or inexpensive thing to try and accomplish within a matter of two months or less until the FEI event was scheduled to run AFTER sponsorships were already secured, plus the fact that John and Leslie consciously decided to ignore Boyd Martin’s late August warning that if EN continued to push the name change agenda in a highly assertive manner, they risked offending the property owner to such a degree that the lease might be canceled and the whole venue might be lost as a result…

plus, Leslie Wiley’s decision to contribute to the NYT article that was written and ran in that paper AFTER this whole controversy had already exploded on social media. The article smeared the entire eventing community and the headline clearly implied the name of the venue was racist, and ties it to the property owner… thus essentially smearing him in a NYT article.

So no… it wasn’t just that series of emails. There were a few other pieces of evidence that I considers.

What about you? What do you think of my assertion that she and others maybe should have just taken Boyd Martin’s late August warning to stop pushing this agenda so hard, gone quiet for a bit, and then regrouped after the FEI event ran, and tried privately approaching the PFEE board at that time about their thoughts and opinions with the respect to the name, and engaged respectfully and patiently?

Sorry the thread is bugging you. I am trying to do better at laying out my point of view with respect to opportunities missed to achieve a constructive outcome.

I do think USEA is a huge part of the mess as well, however, and was derelict with respect to their role in terms of managing a tricky conflict between multiple parties in such a way so that the sporting community wasn’t damaged as a result of the conflict.

What do you think I am missing?

I deleted my post, because this thread is upsetting me and I decided I should just stay out of it. But since you replied before I deleted it and because I do appreciate the effort you are putting into the discussion, I will reply to explain my last post, but then I really am going to try to stay away going forward.

I read the emails and thought that Leslie stayed polite and professional while the other woman was the one being rude, unreasonable, and ratcheting up the political rhetoric. Yet you and others seemed to see this email exchange as more proof against EN and their evil ways. To me, only one person in this exchange looks like a jerk and it’s not Leslie. So it makes me wonder if this is the way all the email exchanges went - with people being absolutely insulted by the idea that there’s any issue with inclusion in the sport because they knew a successful Black equestrian once, and then ranting against BLM.

I have wondered about the inconsistency between Leslie saying she just wanted to start a discussion about diversity and inclusion and John Thier saying he knew ending PF might be an outcome and didn’t care. And it occurred to me that starting a discussion may have been the original goal, but then along the way they got so angry or frustrated about the responses they received that they decided they didn’t care if they burned it down. I’m not saying I agree with that choice, just that I can imagine it.

I think it’s tragic that the landowner pulled his support of the event, but I think it’s also sad that so many people are supporting him for doing that and are putting all the blame for PF ending on one side. The landowner had a lot of options - taking his toys and going home wasn’t the only one.

I recently read the book White Fragility, which I highly recommend. It is really eye opening.

(Edited to add: I didn’t read the email exchange with Jennifer Yoder you mentioned, because I was mostly not reading the thread for a while)

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@Gardenhorse - thanks for your thoughtful response. I can respect where you are coming from, and follow your train of thought when you lay it out like that.

I certainly will admit that I support the landowner and PFEE board, as is abundantly clear to anyone who has read the thread. But I do see what you are saying. And I’m sorry the thread and other’s points of view are upsetting you.

It’s a shame that everyone involved didn’t cool it, and take a time out from the discussion, until it was possible to discuss the issue in a mutually respectful, and constructive way. I think we can agree on that. Finding common ground and stuff folks on opposite sides of an issue can agree on? I think it’s really important. I sense that you do care about that as well. And that’s a good thing. Yet more common ground.

Cheers to you - and hope you have a good weekend.

[ladyj79]

I don’t see where the land owner didn’t remain polite. They were beyond polite. They are not obligated to engage in any meeting of the minds or “constructive debate” over the naming of their own property which they have generously donated–along with many other contributions to the sport–for decades.

Seriously, you are not obligated to engage with these people.

There is nothing upsetting about someone not agreeing to engage in hostage negotiations with some randos about what to do with their own property.

This is not a healthy thing to be upset about.

[ladyj79]

How this is all starting to feel

https://youtu.be/zFWn1tO-1RE

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@ladyj79 - OMG :lol::lol::lol::lol: Jan Brady!

I agree for sure - neither PFEE nor the land owner need to negotiate or talk or compromise. Definitely not. I wouldn’t.

I’m just trying to make the point in my own persistent way, that there were certainly options available for the activists to pursue… such as just putting a cork into it all until AFTER the FEI event was done a little under a week ago.

As to why they didn’t just settle down? Who knows. But it’s a legitimate question. And, “We didn’t know that everyone was so upset by this and that they might shut down the venue altogether as a result.” Well… that’s dishonest.

I personally thought the email exchange with Cynthia McGinnis was kinda priceless.

[I]”I did have a poster of Greg Best and Gem Twist on my bedroom wall when I was a kid, and I hope your family knows what sort of dreams that horse inspired – it’s really incredible, to look back. So incredible.

I want the magic of horses to be accessible to all. What can we do to help foster that?”

:rolleyes:[/I]

You just can’t make something like that up. Seriously.

[ladyj79]

@Virginia Horse Mom

@ladyj79 -

I personally thought the email exchange with Cynthia McGinnis was kinda priceless.

[I]”I did have a poster of Greg Best and Gem Twist on my bedroom wall when I was a kid, and I hope your family knows what sort of dreams that horse inspired – it’s really incredible, to look back. So incredible.

I want the magic of horses to be accessible to all. What can we do to help foster that?”

:rolleyes:[/I]

You just can’t make something like that up. Seriously.

No, I was astonished. That was insane. It was hilarious because there is just a huge disconnect between these people and the actual world of the sport.

It reminded me of the talk a couple weeks back about jumpers needing snazzier outfits in order to attract an audience.

Just wackos who are not really a part of the sport desperately trying to not just be a part of this world, but dictate how “it’s gonna be”.

crazy town.

And then being desperately offended and sad that everyone doesnt just fall to their knees thanking them for noticing that the sport exists.

This becomes more absurd by the day.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@ladyj79

No, I was astonished. That was insane. It was hilarious because there is just a huge disconnect between these people and the actual world of the sport.

It reminded me of the talk a couple weeks back about jumpers needing snazzier outfits in order to attract an audience.

Just wackos who are not really a part of the sport desperately trying to not just be a part of this world, but dictate how “it’s gonna be”.

crazy town.

And then being desperately offended and sad that everyone doesnt just fall to their knees thanking them for noticing that the sport exists.

This becomes more absurd by the day.

There’s a lot more I’ve been made aware of, privately. I’m not going to go there on this thread. But it’s astonishing.

I seriously am baffled at USEF and USEA engaging in any of this. They should have run interference for everyone involved in running PFEE, and kept the folks at EN from engaging directly with them with respect to this issue.

[OverandOnward]

Just this evening, Ole Miss football team took a knee before the game. As did their opponent the Florida football team.

Think on that. Ole Miss took a knee, publicly, pre-game. Ole Miss.

And yet Walker-Glaccum can’t even have a conversation about the issues that knee represented in their own sport. I’m not referencing any particular decision, just a conversation. Can’t do it.

Alrighty then. That’s where they are. End of discussion, indeed.

[Djones]

@OverandOnward

Just this evening, Ole Miss football team took a knee before the game. As did their opponent the Florida football team.

Think on that. Ole Miss took a knee, publicly, pre-game. Ole Miss.

And yet Walker-Glaccum can’t even have a conversation about the issues that knee represented in their own sport. I’m not referencing any particular decision, just a conversation. Can’t do it.

Alrighty then. That’s where they are. End of discussion, indeed.

The changes at ole miss generated from within the players.

From within.

Honey, if I don’t know you from Adam’s house cat and you bang on my door and demand that I stop offending the unknown someone with my granddaddy’s innocent name for a planting, I will run you off so fast it’ll make your head spin

[OverandOnward]

Did not bang on your door. So you can cool off on that.

Everyone picks their flag. Your Right. Your Choice. You be You.

Tonight I’ll just go sit with Ole Miss. Y’all carry on. :yes:

[ladyj79]

@OverandOnward

Just this evening, Ole Miss football team took a knee before the game. As did their opponent the Florida football team.

Think on that. Ole Miss took a knee, publicly, pre-game. Ole Miss.

And yet Walker-Glaccum can’t even have a conversation about the issues that knee represented in their own sport. I’m not referencing any particular decision, just a conversation. Can’t do it.

Alrighty then. That’s where they are. End of discussion, indeed.

you like to conflate and oversimplify things and draw connections that exist exclusively in the mind of those who are ignorant and thus who tend to conflate and oversimplify.

[OverandOnward]

@ladyj79

you like to conflate and oversimplify things and draw connections that exist exclusively in the mind of those who are ignorant and thus who tend to conflate and oversimplify.

Your name calling is noted.

[Sticky_Situation]

Boyd Martin has now officially asked not to be featured on EN.

[ladyj79]

@OverandOnward

Your name calling is noted.

Could you explain it to me then, becomes I think you are again attempting to smear people without cause.

Your unwarranted attacks are noted, as are your repeated efforts to sow discord and create controversy where none exists–based on ignorance of what words mean.

[Djones]

@OverandOnward

Did not bang on your door. So you can cool off on that.

Everyone picks their flag. Your Right. Your Choice. You be You.

Tonight I’ll just go sit with Ole Miss. Y’all carry on. :yes:

What about the morals thing you were stumping for earlier??

Aren’t I supposed to cater to your ass no matter what, since I own the land?

[kt]

@Sticky Situation

Boyd Martin has now officially asked not to be featured on EN.

His exact words:

At this time, I will respectfully request that I not be part of any “Eventing Nation” story. I will also ask that pictures or videos of me and my horses don’t appear on this website. Many thanks, Boyd.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@Sticky Situation

Boyd Martin has now officially asked not to be featured on EN.

Good for him!!! That will have some power. Hopefully some others join him. This whole mess was so irresponsible and ugly. It should never have happened the way it did, and real people were harmed by this mess.

ETA: Holy Moly! Some of the nasty comments on his Facebook calling him a privileged white make, etc etc.

Round and round it goes. Anyone who doesn’t agree with this specific activist agenda, and calls put the aggressive pressure tactics? Prepare to be smeared. I’m fine with respectfully disagreeing with others on the underlying issue… but come on guys… the never ending personal smears of those who disagree? It’s so bad.

[Sheasmom2]

No racism at the track? Uh. I doubt that. Also, BLM is a Marxist movement?