Eventing Nation booted from covering Event in Unionville, PA

[Djones]

@Sticky Situation

Re: “cancel culture” … The only calls for “cancellation” that I’ve seen from people not directly involved in the situation have been those insisting that EN should be “cancelled.”

The event itself was (literally, not figuratively) cancelled not by public outcry or by EN or USEF, but by the people in charge of it. No one forced them to cancel.

Maybe it’s just because I’m too young to understand the ways of the world, but I’m still seeing immature behavior from both sides of the dispute.

Yes, people on all sides responded poorly. You bet.

Here’s the thing. People are just people. That’s never, ever going to change.

[Djones]

Also, perusing this topic of Fb to Twitter there are loads of folks attacking Boyd, et al for their points of view. That’s the canceling I’m thinking of , I should have been clearer.

[flyingchange]

@Gardenhorse

I freely admit that I do not have the resources to do so. But, if a progressive land owner did step up, I would be happy to contribute towards the development of a more inclusive venue.

That’s so great! Your own little version of eventing utopia, where you get to pick and choose which events you grace with your entry and presence based on whether the landowner lives up to your ideology and demands. You will be out every weekend, living and riding the dream!

[RainWeasley]

@flyingchange

That’s so great! Your own little version of eventing utopia, where you get to pick and choose which events you grace with your entry and presence based on whether the landowner lives up to your ideology and demands. You will be out every weekend, living and riding the dream!

That…is not even close to what the post you quoted was saying.

[evilc123]

@Ghazzu

I am reminded of my landlady (and later, good friend) who came down on a number of boarders at her farm wrt policies and procedures. (Indoor lights left on, owner’s horses removed from turnouts so boarder horses could go back out, etc.)
They organized a meeting to compile a list of “demands”, which one of the invitees told her about. She walked in midway, and gave them all 2 weeks’ notice to vacate.
Gasps.
“You can’t do that!”
“I can, and I have.” (she had just paid off the 2nd mortgage she took out for the indoor.)
The group left to lease an empty barn nearby, and run it as a co-op, because they were such a simpatico group,
It lasted less than 6 months, and they were at each others’ throats over management issues.

I see what you’re saying…but I’d hope that if the issue of contention had related to bigotry, everyone would have been eager to tell her to go screw.

[trubandloki]

@evilc123

I see what you’re saying…but I’d hope that if the issue of contention had related to bigotry, everyone would have been eager to tell her to go screw.

And they still would have been out of a boarding barn.
Because telling the landlord to “go screw” will likely get you asked to leave. (Which is the point that was being made.)

[anon6923113]

@evilc123

I see what you’re saying…but I’d hope that if the issue of contention had related to bigotry, everyone would have been eager to tell her to go screw.

Did the issue of the name of Plantation Field have s as nothing to do with bigotry though? I must have e missed that. I thought it had conclusively been established that the name of the venue was because of the landowners family history.

Other people think about racism and bigotry and plantations when they HEAR the name. But the name itself had no racist history.

[MorganSercu]

@evilc123

Just curious…do you believe that people with nasal allergies should not be allowed to have drivers’ licenses since sneezing is one of the top causes of motor vehicle accidents?

Dementia is serious. So is a history of passing out at the wheel after being injected. It led to a death that day in 2012. Mrs.Luchianni and her family paid a very high cost that morning for Leslie to minimize a sign of aging.

More than one incident in10 years and she knew how to prevent it. All she had to do is get someone else to drive. A friend, for example. A cab may have been pricey but a lot less costly in the end.

"Iden said medical records obtained during the investigation revealed that Wylie had a history of fainting spells involving use of needles by doctors going back to at least 2002 – the same condition that overcame her on the day of the fatal accident.

“What she told police is that just after she left the doctor’s office, she began to think about the procedure she had just been through, which is cosmetic Botox,” Iden said.

Iden said the procedure involved needles injected into crow’s feet on Wylie’s face."

[pluvinel]

@Virginia Horse Mom

…

It wouldn’t surprise me if the bill for all that ran into the millions.

…

Comments online have speculated about Chesterland filling that need for the eventing community. I don’t know how likely or unlikely that is… I can look to the paragraph in Nancy Jaffer’s article about the Plantation Field loss though, to get an indication of Bruce Davidson’s feelings about the whole situation, and the possibility of him opening up his farm to the eventing community now that Plantation is gone

Eventing legend Bruce Davidson, who lives in the area, was angry at anyone in the sport’s governance who “was supportive of this problem,” contending they, “should be dismissed…and find new jobs.” Their purpose, he said, should be “to promote the sport, not to interfere with it. To take some of the best sport we have in the country and do this to it is not a very intelligent thing to do.”
…

Try multiples of millions of $$$$.

Land in this area of Unionville goes for give or take +/- 50,000 an ACRE, depending on the site, the topography, the access, the easements, the restrictions…yada…yada…yada.

So 300 acres…if you can find it for sale…would be ~$15 million…just for the raw land. This is what EN just pissed away.

As far as Davidson’s comments…If you are a betting person, I don’t recommend making any bets on anyone in this area offering to open their land ever again after how this was handled.

[ladyj79]

@MorganSercu

Dementia is serious. So is a history of passing out at the wheel after being injected. It led to a death that day in 2012. Mrs.Luchianni and her family paid a very high cost that morning for Leslie to minimize a sign of aging.

More than one incident in10 years and she knew how to prevent it. All she had to do is get someone else to drive. A friend, for example. A cab may have been pricey but a lot less costly in the end.

"Iden said medical records obtained during the investigation revealed that Wylie had a history of fainting spells involving use of needles by doctors going back to at least 2002 – the same condition that overcame her on the day of the fatal accident.

“What she told police is that just after she left the doctor’s office, she began to think about the procedure she had just been through, which is cosmetic Botox,” Iden said.

Iden said the procedure involved needles injected into crow’s feet on Wylie’s face."

This story is so devastating and so needless. That family, I can’t even imagine.

[pluvinel]

@evilc123

I see what you’re saying…but I’d hope that if the issue of contention had related to bigotry, everyone would have been eager to tell her to go screw.

You seem to have missed the point that goes like this: My Barn – My Rules.

[evilc123]

@Virginia Horse Mom

Did the issue of the name of Plantation Field have s as nothing to do with bigotry though? I must have e missed that. I thought it had conclusively been established that the name of the venue was because of the landowners family history.

Other people think about racism and bigotry and plantations when they HEAR the name. But the name itself had no racist history.

Does it matter? When I was a kid we used to use the word “queer” allllll the time. Everyone and everything was “queer”. I grew up assuming it just meant something or someone who was odd/peculiar. The second that I discovered that it was an insulting word to a group of people that deserves absolute equality in all aspects of life, I was horrified and ashamed and never said it again. I didn’t defend myself or spout off the dictionary definition…I just dropped it. Had I continued to use the word, I would have been a bigot.

[evilc123]

@pluvinel

You seem to have missed the point that goes like this: My Barn – My Rules.

I am pretty sure I got the point. I would like to think that eventers would cease to patronize an establishment whose “rules” involved a refusal to compromise on something that they’ve learned is hurtful and alienating to a group of people who already deal with substantial disenfranchisement.

[ladyj79]

@evilc123

Does it matter? When I was a kid we used to use the word “queer” allllll the time. Everyone and everything was “queer”. I grew up assuming it just meant something or someone who was odd/peculiar. The second that I discovered that it was an insulting word to a group of people that deserves absolute equality in all aspects of life, I was horrified and ashamed and never said it again. I didn’t defend myself or spout off the dictionary definition…I just dropped it. Had I continued to use the word, I would have been a bigot.

But queer has an actual and appropriate meaning as well. And we still use it. Brendan Behan also has a play entitled “the quare fellow” (queer), which is still produced. A film was made.

I am 1000000% against destroying language because some meanings of words are offensive, and others are clearly not.

The idea should be for people to be more educated and nuanced thinkers, not less.

Please for the love of god and all that is holy, be on the side of becoming a more educated and nuanced thinker.

[Djones]

@evilc123

Does it matter? When I was a kid we used to use the word “queer” allllll the time. Everyone and everything was “queer”. I grew up assuming it just meant something or someone who was odd/peculiar. The second that I discovered that it was an insulting word to a group of people that deserves absolute equality in all aspects of life, I was horrified and ashamed and never said it again. I didn’t defend myself or spout off the dictionary definition…I just dropped it. Had I continued to use the word, I would have been a bigot.

Google “pine plantation” and you will find every college agricultural program across the US and the USDA, the Forest Service, etc. using the term plantation right now, today.

Queer, isn’t it?

[evilc123]

@ladyj79

But queer has an actual and appropriate meaning as well. And we still use it. Brendan Behan also has a play entitled “the quare fellow” (queer), which is still produced. A film was made.

I am 1000000% against destroying language because some meanings of words are offensive, and others are clearly not.

The idea should be for people to be more educated and nuanced thinkers, not less.

Please for the love of god and all that is holy, be on the side of becoming a more educated and nuanced thinker.

Where do you draw the line then? I have a few words in mind with actual alternate meanings that I don’t even want my fingers to type because I know how hurtful they are to some. How many people do you need to offend before it is offensive enough to gracefully remove it from standard use? And if one is educated and nuanced, wouldn’t one have plenty of alternative words/names at one’s disposal?

[ladyj79]

Draw the line at increasing your own education and capacity for nuanced thought so that you are never advocating for the destruction of clear and precise and completely morally neutral language.

[MorganSercu]

@evilc123

I am pretty sure I got the point. I would like to think that eventers would cease to patronize an establishment whose “rules” involved a refusal to compromise on something that they’ve learned is hurtful and alienating to a group of people who already deal with substantial disenfranchisement.

They may have. In the meantime the need for that form of protest is gone as eventers are no longer welcome on the property. Or so it appears at the moment.

I don’t know the turn out at the event this year and if it was lower was it due to last-minute principled stands against the name or was it related to Covid. Is that information sought by organizers or USEA or USEF?

[Mango20]

Here’s a tangent that really fits in with this whole situation:

At least twice in this thread, the phrase “call a spade a spade” has been used in one or more peoples’ arguments. I have always assumed that this phrase had racist origins, and was surprised to see it in this thread of all places. But. before saying so, I actually researched it, and apparently it did not start out that way, it was a translation of an ancient saying, and refers to garden tools. However, “spade” did come into fashion as a racial slur at some point in the 1900s. So, it may be offensive to some, but has non-offensive origins. Like Plantation.

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswi…-spade-a-spade

[Djones]

@ladyj79

Draw the line at increasing your own education and capacity for nuanced thought so that you are never advocating for the destruction of clear and precise and completely morally neutral language.

Yes!! If we can grasp that bitches are female dogs and contemporaneously… bitches are bitches, lol, we can do this