Forbidding Participation in Dubai

[k s swigart]

Not long ago Diane Trefethen reported of a communication she had with USEF regarding banning US riders from participating in endurance events in Dubai in the same way that some European associations have been doing with their members as a result of the perceived horse abuse at such events. She was reporting that she had heard back from USEF that they believe they cannot.

Recently, I came across this communication from Susan Garlinghouse regarding this same subject with respect to AERC members’ participation in the President’s Cup held in Dubai last weekend even after having been admonished by Michael Campbell, the AERC’s outgoing president, to please not do that as he believed that it would reflect badly on the AERC and endurance riding in the United States.

>>The BoD has spent a great deal of time and effort considering what "can" be done to discourage riders from participating overseas in the problem areas. Legally, we cannot forbid anyone to sell a horse to anyone they want to, as doing so is suppression of commerce or something along those lines. Our affiliate, USEF, continues with the position that according to their by-laws and the Ted Stevens Act concerning international competition, we cannot forbid members who are qualified and in good standing from competing overseas. We can discourage it, and we/USEF can state that such competitions will not carry significant weight in selecting WEG teams. <<

While it is true that the AERC cannot legally forbid anyone to sell a horse to anyone they want, nor can the AERC forbid anyone from participating in events anywhere they want to, the AERC CAN deem such people to be “not in good standing” if they break the rules of the organization.

 

It is a violation of rule 12 of the AERC to “act in a manner” that “reflects poorly on the sport of endurance riding.” The full rules can be found online at www.aerc.org.

 

It is quite clear from all of the discussion of this matter world-wide, from the letter of the outgoing president, and from the joint letter from AERC/USEF to the FEI that there are LOTS of people think that the very act of participating in events such as the President’s Cup in Dubai DOES reflect poorly on the sport of endurance riding. As a consequence, it could easily be argued that anybody doing so is in violation of the AERC’s rules and therefore could be found to be “not in good standing” for doing so.

 

Consequently, Susan’s assertion that the Board cannot do anything about AERC members participating in such events is false. It can make a statement that anybody doing so is in violation of the AERC’s rule 12. The AERC rules (rule 15) also allow the organization to impose the penalty of suspension for violation of its rules. Or they could be censured for doing so and told that if they ever do it again, they will be suspended.

If the AERC chose to do this, USEF would have no choice but to “forbid” such people from participating in events in Dubai…or anywhere else internationally. USEF cannot give permission to people who are “not in good standing” to participate in such events. To be in good standing with USEF, they have to be in good standing with the AERC as well.

Please note that I am not expressing any opinion either way as to whether I think the AERC Board should do this, just that it CAN. So if the Board is, as Susan states in her post, considering “what it ‘can’ do,” it should consider this. After which, everybody will know that if the Board chooses not to do so, it won’t be because it “can’t” do anything about it, but because it doesn’t want to.

Furthermore, individual AERC members do not have to wait for the Board to act on this matter. Any member of the AERC can now file a protest against any of the members of the AERC who did participate in Dubai last weekend asserting that these people violated rule 12 of the AERC by doing so, and since they did so even after having been advised against it by the president of the organization, were told that they would get not ‘credit’ for having done so, and they would have to have their heads buried in the sand not to have known BEFORE THEY DID IT that there are a great number of people all around the world who consider it to be something that reflects badly on endurance riding, it could be shown to be a serious infraction indeed because it was clearly intentional.

If a member were to do file such a protest (and not allow themselves to be talked out of it by a "mediator"), the Protest Committee would have no choice but to respond. The AERC would HAVE to go on record as to whether participating in the President’s Cup in Dubai reflects badly on the sport of endurance riding. Consequently, any member of the AERC is in the position of being able to require the AERC take an official position in this matter.

Please note that I am not expressing any opinion as to whether I think an AERC members should do this, just that any one of them CAN. Individual AERC members are not powerless in this regard.

I will, however, be so bold as to say that any individual AERC member who DOES believe that participating in the President’s Cup in Dubai by these AERC members reflects badly on the sport of endurance riding SHOULD have the courage of their convictions and file such a protest. But they had better be quick about it, as they only have 30 days from the date of the infraction to do so.

 

Me? I cannot. I am not a member of the AERC. And it is for this very reason that I am not.

 

At the end of 2103 I had a long telephone conversation with Mike Maul about the AERC Board of Directors and whether it had either courage or convictions with regard to the implementation of its rules. He told me “no.” Such that even individual members of the Board itself that do have conviction are powerless to change this. Mike Maul had been a member of the AERC Board of Directors for a long time and had served multiple terms as AERC President. I believed I could rely on his evaluation in this regard and determined, from his answers, that membership in the AERC was an exercise in futility. I have not renewed my membership since.

 

Since then, I have continued to watch to see whether there is any indication that either Mike or I were wrong in this determination; I have not seen any such indication so far. I will continue to watch to see whether this changes, as there is much about the AERC and endurance riding that I care deeply about, and I would be eager to support the AERC if it were to show that it does have courage and conviction. For now, however, all I am willing to do is support individual ride managers and individual riders in whatever small way that I can.

kat

Orange County, Calif.