American Endurance Ride Conference 'deeply troubled' with equestrian world governing body

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Senior figures in US endurance riding are considering separation from the international sport in the wake of doping and injury concerns in the Middle East.

By Pippa Cuckson
8:00AM GMT 14 Nov 2013

Last week far-reaching measures to solve the horse welfare crisis were unveiled at the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) General Assembly in Montreux.

But five board-members of the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) are not convinced and on Wednesday floated concerns in a 2,000-word open letter.

The USA pioneered modern endurance and the annual Tevis Cup ride in California has iconic status. But the American maxim “to finish is to win” has become increasingly incompatible with the high speed race-riding of the Middle East.
The AERC board members are “deeply troubled” by the “toxic nature” of the controversy, at the centre of which are stables owned by Sheikh Mohammed whose wife Princess Haya is president of the FEI. They also claim the FEI is non-transparent in its refusal to publish traumatic injury statistics...

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/equestrianism/10455028/American-Endurance-Ride-Conference-deeply-troubled-with-equestrian-world-governing-body.html