Which sheikhlet? (was: Endurance riding world champion at centre of scandal...)

[k s swigart]

From the Horse and Hound article:

> The reigning world champion Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum

> (pictured top), is among a number of big names in Middle East endurance caught

>up in the “bogus” rides scandal.

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/endurance-world-champion-at-centre-of-rides-scandal-479305#GBePHcsDFHmqWVfe.99

Does anybody happen to remember whether this is the same particular sheikhlet that was given the free pass from the AERC P&G Committee for riding the horse leased from Darolyn Butler's that was drugged at an AERC ride about 10 years ago because, after all, he was just a kid and knew nothing about the horse because all he did was ride it, and it was some minor lackey of the sheikh's who ignorantly gave the horse the drugs the night before the ride because it was showing signs of being colicky?

I don't remember exactly when that happened, nor do I remember the name of the rider on that day...but I wonder if it is the same person and if, perhaps, the FEI would be in a different place today with respect to the conditions of endurance riding if the AERC had had the courage to throw the book at him instead of trying to come up with a ruling that was sufficiently wishy-washy than nobody would complain about it too much but instead everybody was willing to just drop it?

One of the things that I have learned as a horse trainer is that it is always easier to correct misbehavior in its early stages before it has become an established habit.  And that if, instead, you let the bad behavior slide, it almost always comes back to bite you in the ass---and with a vengeance and is more than twice as hard to fix than if you had just sharply corrected the behavior when it first showed up.

Does anybody else remember the name of the "blameless jockey" who was given that free pass all those years ago? I suspect that Lisa Salas would know when it was, since I believe that that was the major incident that caused her to give up her membership in the AERC.

Anybody?

kat

Orange County, Calif.

:|

[Lynn White]

Kat,

 

So what is the prefered outcome of knowing this?  I think there are plenty of "I told you so's" out there.  Enough already.  Let's move on and concentrate on the future of AERC.  Of course AERC is not without fault and isn't perfect, but it started  modern Endurance riding and still does it better than any other orgainization in the world.   Let's keep it that way and quit openning up old wounds by finger pointing at something that may have happened 10 years ago.  It can't be undone whoever was at fault.

 

Regards,

 

Lynn 

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[Joe Long]

Well, it depends ... if the purpose of the "I told you so" is to improve the way such things are handled in the future, or to provide warnings about foreign big-money influence on our sport and organization.

I agree with the AERC moving on and concentrating on its future.  The way for the AERC to do this is to disassociate from USEF/FEI and concentrate on its purpose, endurance riding in the U.S.

Lynn White

March 31, 2015 at 8:25 AM

Kat,

 

So what is the prefered outcome of knowing this?  I think there are plenty of "I told you so's" out there.  Enough already.  Let's move on and concentrate on the future of AERC.  Of course AERC is not without fault and isn't perfect, but it started  modern Endurance riding and still does it better than any other orgainization in the world.   Let's keep it that way and quit openning up old wounds by finger pointing at something that may have happened 10 years ago.  It can't be undone whoever was at fault.

 

Regards,

 

Lynn 

--
Joe Long  aka ChipRider
jl...@chiprider.com
A++ G+ PKR+ PEG+ B+ M+

[Lisa Salas]

I am pretty sure it was 1996 and it was a championship ride. I threw out all of my letters and e-mails because I was so disgusted. Whatever. It does appear all of that has disappeared from the AERC website. In fact, I can't find any DQ's from a championship ride or the fact that the protest ever took place. As a matter of fact, no protests have been filed since 2013, according to the website. Now maybe that info only appears in the magazine. I hope this info is somewhere where members can see it. 

I think the reason it was swept under the rug was because AERC did not have a legal defense fund. Or so I was told. (I know a backbone was missing) I couldn't understand that because how do you encourage people to file a protest, knowing it could be challenged and not be able to defend yourself?? If the board hadn't been so "soft" on that particular issue, maybe they could have parted ways with FEI then. If the board hadn't been so deaf when AERC members complained about FEI/AERC sanctioned rides, maybe they would have parted ways with FEI. In my mind, there have been so many times AERC could have been pro-active and made a stand. FEI endurance never has, and never will be good for AERC. It is NOT the same. 

Lynn, it is not an old wound. It wasn't an accident. A horse was intentionally drugged, to mask a previous illness, so that the rider and owner could possibly win a championship at the horse's expense. 

It is history that shouldn't be forgotten. Otherwise, it might happen again. You know, like it already has. 

Lisa Salas, thee oddfarm

[Lynn White]

My point was that Endurance riding in the US and in general has lost its innocence.  It will never be the way it was before ME money got into play.  But it's not totally bad because we know more now, and it's not just how to drug a horse.  There is so much more that we know about conditioning and the abilities of the endurance horse.  

 

I am of the mind that AERC just couldn't conceive of anyone cheating to that extent and hoped it would go away.

 

Conjuring up old history may teach us something, but using it to whack away reminds me of the 500-year old grudges in the Balkan countries:   they don't seem to accomplish very much because they are so focused on settling old scores. 

 

The leadership of the ME countries are going to have their hands full just trying to deal with their neighbor across the Gulf.  I think sport of any kind is going to be way down on their list of important things.  They'll be spending big bucks on various methods of preserving their very existance.  They might be obcsenly wealthy and  cheat like hell, but I have no envy of them at all.