An interesting (and disappointing) article here; http://www.horse-canada.com/straight-up/how-to-piss-off-the-swiss/
This makes me want to tear my hair out! :grief:
Thank goodness my friends know that the kind of Endurance I ride is not THAT kind of Endurance… But it’s just a matter of time when we’re all tarred with the same brush. And we must stop this abuse somehow, but that’s so much easier said than done…
I wish our own US (FEI) riders would not engage with Region VII countries anymore (e.g., accept their invitations, send the juniors, sell their horses to them, etc.) These countries need to be isolated and none of their competitions should get FEI-sanctioned again until they clean up their act.
And when will the FEI finally stand up for the horse!?? The rules in FEI Endurance are fairly solid - now let’s enforce them, for crying out loud!
FEI endurance is a disgrace.
This makes me sick. AERC endurance is about the horse. I feel proud to compete in a sport where the horse’s health is placed first and the grand prize is probably a fleece cooler. The highest level of endurance should retain these values, not disgrace them.
[QUOTE=Lieselotte;7434885]
This makes me want to tear my hair out! :grief:
Thank goodness my friends know that the kind of Endurance I ride is not THAT kind of Endurance… But it’s just a matter of time when we’re all tarred with the same brush. And we must stop this abuse somehow, but that’s so much easier said than done…
I wish our own US (FEI) riders would not engage with Region VII countries anymore (e.g., accept their invitations, send the juniors, sell their horses to them, etc.) These countries need to be isolated and none of their competitions should get FEI-sanctioned again until they clean up their act.
And when will the FEI finally stand up for the horse!?? The rules in FEI Endurance are fairly solid - now let’s enforce them, for crying out loud![/QUOTE]
It is highly unlikely that the FEI will ever “stand up for the horse” while the President of the FEI is the (junior) wife of Sheikh M, one of the bad boys of endurance (and TB racing).
It certainly won’t be happening anytime soon, especially if the FEI rules are changed to allow HRH Haya another term as President of the FEI. (against her wishes of course.) http://www.dressage-news.com/?p=25001
http://www.fei.org/news/statement-fei-president-hrh-princess-haya-fei-governance http://www.dressage-news.com/?p=23320
Somehow, I see her overcoming the platform that she championed when “running” for the office (term limits for FEI Presidents) and giving in to the overwhelming wishes of the national federations …
“Oh, please stay and throw more money this way, because you have a lot more money than we are willing to throw at equestrian sport”.
Of course , having the FEI GA in Dubai where your husband is “Ruler” and since he has been exonerated of any wrongdoing (by people hired by him), does keep things nicely in the family…
I am aware of the bitter nature of my post here, however I stand by it. I am heartily sick of the FEI charade.
The situation stinks.
I think endurance is a really bad sport to make professional / have highstakes because the sport by its very nature is inherently risky for the horse / puts a lot of mechanical and metabolic stress on the horse. Vet controls and rules can only do so much…the main safeguard for the horse has to be the owner/ rider who hopefully cares about the horse as a living being more than they care about winning. Otherwise, the whole sport is going to very similar to tb. Racing, with possibly higher fatality and injury rates and a lot of throwaway horses.
Add to that the fact that anybody who has a competitive mindset and can stick on a fast horses back for hours can win…riding skill or talent has very little to do with success in endurance and its really just a mess. Ugh.
[QUOTE=saratoga;7435566]
…the main safeguard for the horse has to be the owner/ rider who hopefully cares about the horse as a living being more than they care about winning…[/QUOTE]
Amen.
When I was actively vetting distance rides, it was a rare phenomenon to have to be “pushy” when it came to pulling a horse.
More often, I’d comment on something I saw, and before I got to the part about the horse needing to be pulled, the rider would say, “OK, we’re done for the day.”
If you’ve got nothing else to do (ha!), Endurance.net has been keeping track of the whole FEI controversy dating back to 2012: http://www.endurance.net/international/UAE/2013FEIControversy/
I’ve been reporting on AERC rides and FEI rides around the world for a couple of years, and I can say that not all FEI is bad. In fact, most FEI countries are not bad. Region 7 FEI (the Middle East), IS generally BAD (that can be concluded by the rule violations), the rules are there but they are not enforced by the officials. Why? Well…what’s their motivation to enforce rules in the UAE? The UAE runs the sport of endurance racing. UAE has a big hand in British horse racing too, and British horse racing is afraid to touch the scandals in that sport, too.
And having said that, I don’t get why good FEI riders/nations would want to compete with the BAD ones to try to get a medal - but I am not competitive so I don’t understand the drive to do this anyway. If I were a competitive rider who wanted to represent my country (like an Olympian in the Olympics), I’d have a different perspective on this, but I don’t.
The FEI endurance racing in the UAE, and the AERC endurance in the US are 2 completely different sports/hobbies, like apples and rocket ships. I wrote a piece on our US endurance riding, showing what I think about our sport:
http://merritravels.endurance.net/2014/02/american-endurance-riders-set-gold.html
AERC is interesting in that although the events are “races”, most people are not actually trying to “win”. In pretty much all other sports, people are, although of course many people know that they don’t have the skill or talent to realistically win the competition, but they are certainly giving it their all and trying. But most endurance riders in the US are just not interested in racing…I think one reason being that the longevity of their horse is a primary concern.
That makes for a nice mix…something for everyone…and the racers can get their glory and meet their goals without a whole lot of competition or pressure, which makes it safer for their horses.
I’m on the AERC BoD, and I can tell you that this certainly has been a challenging time for us, trying on one hand to be supportive of our AERC membership which is also involved in international competition and which competes to the best of their ability and follows all of the rules, and also to draw a line in the sand about how we feel about the current abuses in Zone VII, as well as the FEIs apparent lack of governance of their own competitions. It’s been a divisive time and when I look at it, I wonder how our decisions today will impact not only endurance overseas but how the public and the general horse public views our sport in this country.
I anticipate it will be a serious discussion topic at our upcoming AERC Convention in Atlanta. Hopefully some of you will be there to join in.
Thanks for the civil commentary.
–Patti
[QUOTE=Ghazzu;7435678]
Amen.
When I was actively vetting distance rides, it was a rare phenomenon to have to be “pushy” when it came to pulling a horse.
More often, I’d comment on something I saw, and before I got to the part about the horse needing to be pulled, the rider would say, “OK, we’re done for the day.”[/QUOTE]
^ As a rider I’ve pulled my horse by walking into a vet check and saying he’s NQR please mark down a rider pull. There’s always another day for me. Another race another place - not another horse.
[QUOTE=rainechyldes;7441685]
^ As a rider I’ve pulled my horse by walking into a vet check and saying he’s NQR please mark down a rider pull. There’s always another day for me. Another race another place - not another horse.[/QUOTE]
And that’s one of the things I love most about distance riders. Which is probably why I’ll get my act together and renew my ECTRA judge’s card after a few years’ hiatus.
[QUOTE=patti;7441451]
I’m on the AERC BoD, and I can tell you that this certainly has been a challenging time for us, trying on one hand to be supportive of our AERC membership which is also involved in international competition and which competes to the best of their ability and follows all of the rules, and also to draw a line in the sand about how we feel about the current abuses in Zone VII, as well as the FEIs apparent lack of governance of their own competitions. It’s been a divisive time and when I look at it, I wonder how our decisions today will impact not only endurance overseas but how the public and the general horse public views our sport in this country.
I anticipate it will be a serious discussion topic at our upcoming AERC Convention in Atlanta. Hopefully some of you will be there to join in.
Thanks for the civil commentary.
–Patti[/QUOTE]
It has been a very long time since I have kept up with U.S. endurance racing.
The people that I knew “back in the day”, who participated in endurance racing, were excellent horsemen and horsewomen.
I am glad to hear that things haven’t changed. Well done you!
The disaster that is Zone VII will only be dealt with effectively by the endurance community keeping up the pressure on the FEI.
(2013 articles for anyone who may have missed them; http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/doping-scandal-rocks-middle-east-endurance
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/06/20/endurance-doping-draw-line-in-sand/#axzz2twnpXQpT)
I don’t think it will be possible to effect change if Haya is elected for another term.
In the meantime, I am happy to know that the endurance community as a whole are (still) good eggs.
[QUOTE=patti;7441451]
I’m on the AERC BoD, and I can tell you that this certainly has been a challenging time for us, trying on one hand to be supportive of our AERC membership which is also involved in international competition and which competes to the best of their ability and follows all of the rules, and also to draw a line in the sand about how we feel about the current abuses in Zone VII, as well as the FEIs apparent lack of governance of their own competitions. It’s been a divisive time and when I look at it, I wonder how our decisions today will impact not only endurance overseas but how the public and the general horse public views our sport in this country.
I anticipate it will be a serious discussion topic at our upcoming AERC Convention in Atlanta. Hopefully some of you will be there to join in.
Thanks for the civil commentary.
–Patti[/QUOTE]
I just wanted to take a minute to comment on your worry that the future perception of the sport is in jeopardy. I am not an endurance rider. I spent much of my early life riding hunter and dressage. I haven’t seriously rode in years, but I am looking to get back into it. My boyfriend is also interested, so I have been looking for something that we could do together. I have done tons of research and have decided that endurance would be the perfect sport for us.
As an outsider, but still a horse person I am aware of the problems within the sport. Truthfully though I don’t care what you decide to do in the horse world there is some stigma around it. To me the worst (other then race horses) is western show horses. They start their horses at two and the horses go around with their mouths open!!! Just like any area you decide to go in there is controversy, but most people within the sport are there cause they love the horses and treat them with respect. I think all horse people know that and when becoming interested in a new area of the horse world they understand that there are bad eggs, but that doesn’t mean the whole sport is bad. I also think that on a broader perspective most people understand this about all sports.
It’s shame that the FEI won’t stand up to these people. Hopefully with time more countries will join the swiss and pressure will force things to change. As for now I believe that AERC is doing a great job. I am excited about hopefully being able to be apart of this sport in the future.
This is really too bad…:no: http://www.horse-canada.com/horse-news/meydan-group-to-sponsor-2014-alltech-fei-world-equestrian-games/
“Love of the horse”? :mad:
I (for one ) did not just fall off the turnip truck Mr. Mohammad.
The FEI has lost its mind.
Let’s accept the sponsorship of ( and name the endurance race at WEG after) the ruler of Dubai when the horrendous record of abuse in his own region has made the majority of the endurance world very irate, culminating in an “FEI Endurance Conference”.
REALLY? :eek:
Great move… 
Oh boy… It still stinks but…
Wow. Not unusual to stretch the truth in the Middle East - you know - cultural norm and all that. But they can’t keep trying to impose “just a little lie” on international competitions.
This, and his racing trainer from last year’s drugging scandal. Too bad - he has such beautiful facilities and horses.
I wonder if he could even see it was a different chestnut. And wonder if he’ll claim that. But wouldn’t make him much of a horseman than, would it? :rolleyes:
Sheikh Mohammad’s son is the PR here. It is all in the FEI family though…
Not unusual to stretch the truth in the Middle East - you know - cultural norm and all that.
CVPeg, let’s stay away from such sweeping (and dumb) generalizations, please.
Marmoog’s name change adds fuel to ‘ringer’ allegations oops that link didnt work but its shown on the original “ringer” link above and can be sourced from there) - you really couldnt make all this up :no:. However its heartening to read that the horse has apparently been competing at this level for at least 20 months as it has been reported that the average life of endurance horses in group v11 countries is between 12 and 24 months :sadsmile:. Expect the PR boffins are preparing a plausible explanation for the latest revelations :eek:
