UAE endurance: Gauging the depth of frustration

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

Neil Clarkson | 22 March 2016

Petitions have been a time-honored way to highlight a cause, and the one that seeks to have this year’s World Endurance Championships moved from the United Arab Emirates has certainly done that.

Petitions can be treated purely as a numbers game, but the internet has changed the terrain somewhat.

What constitutes a good number of signatures on a petition about an equestrian discipline that is little known outside the horse world? A thousand? Two thousand? Fifty thousand?

Who knows? The Change.org petition that targets the Dubai event had 5385 at the time of writing, which I would suggest is a solid show of support, indeed, for a sport with a modest international profile.

The first tranche of 4000 online signatures went to FEI President Ingmar De Vos on February 10.

For me, the comments posted by the mix of individuals who signed the petition provide valuable insight into the prevailing views on this matter.

One hopes that De Vos and the FEI’s endurance chiefs have taken the time to read the responses, for they paint a picture of a very angry horse community...

Read more: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2016/03/22/uae-endurance-depth-frustration/#ixzz43eAU49lR