| Cora, With all due respect, a
more mean spirited editorial than the one you published on April 6th about the
Fork Horse Trials is hard for me to imagine. Your editorial is quick to
point out the most inane short comings of what was in fact a great weekend of
competition at a stellar venue. To harp on gate access for score runners, the
lack of hot coffee, and a farm owner's taste in stable architecture is to miss
what Jim Cogdell has done for our sport. Namely, he, along with venues like Poplar
Place, the Carolina Horse Park and Red Hills, has raised the bar to new levels
at considerable personal expense and effort with no apparent financial reward
on the near horizone. (sic) To criticize the footing in the competition
arenas specifically overlooks the fact that ten years ago the
dressage and show jumping would have been on grass and those of us who are riders
would have
longed for sand and rubber. To mention that the grass has yet to
sprout on the recently graded areas outside the arenas, where none of us actually
rode, is to overlook the fact that the cross country course was not only
agrivated
but also irrigated. (Craig is pictured at the right on Orion jumping the Canada
Goose in the BB&T Opportunity Pond - the second water.) Sorry you
got your shoes muddy at The Fork, forgot your thermos, and prefer bank barns,
but before you take another cheap shot at an event, consider adding to your resume
"event organizer." It's a role which is conspicuosly missing from your
"About Us" page, as well as an appreciation for the modern sport of
eventing and the type of venues and organizers necessary to make it happen. Sincerely,
Craig
Thompson This editorial is very much intended for publication. --
Craig
Thompson
540-454-4065 
Editor's
Note: Craig forgets that the Dressage
Phase is held on grass at
two of the World's CCI****'s - Mitsubishi Motors Badminton and Land Rover Burghley.
Cora Cushny The
following letter was received by e-mail on Tuesday, April 25th, hence the delay
in posting it: Mrs. Cushny: It disappoints
me when I watch the news showing American protesters burn the American flag, but
I realize the importance of freedom of expression. Although one has the right
to express their beliefs, it concerns me when they express a deficiency in knowledge
and complain from lack of maturity. Your editorial about The Fork Horse
Trials was not only ill-spirited but gave a false impression of the event as a
whole. Not only did Jim Cogdell provide a receptive event, but the event world
has gained a new friend who is willing to provide the time, facility and financial
commitments that is so desperately needed. Even events sponsored by local communities
are having a difficult time raising funds, and your irrelevant complaint about
lack of coffee available on Thursday was completely out of line. Why would vendors,
who have full time jobs and provide the service on a part time basis, spend the
time and money to set up concessions on Thursday and Friday when the sport cannot
attract enough spectators to watch dressage? Can you believe that the FEI association
wants royalty rights for vendor sales? We’re lucky some events can entice
more than one food vendor. The problem may be with the USEA or USEF in their duty
not providing the proper marketing and create better awareness for this great
and exciting sport. As reference to your complaint on gate locations, I
didn’t notice any problems. The warm-up area gate was directly across the
road from the entrance to stadium. The stadium had two gates spaced strategically
apart along with direct access from the barn area. The dressage arena for the
three star may have been a little too damp, but I thought with a technical delegate
and all the international officials present, that at least one would have paid
attention to the amount of water being applied, not Mr. Cogdell. The setting,
which included: a hunting preserve encompassing cross country jumps, rolling hills
with black four panel fencing, green over seeded fields, and buildings that are
perfectly balanced with the landscape, only identify the perfection Mr. Cogdell
requires. I thank Mr. Cogdell for all the contributions he has made to
the sport, especially as it’s his first upper-level event. I feel Jim is
owed an apology but some writers rather err on the side of arrogance. Then again,
I hate battling wits with unarmed people. George Gibbes This
editorial intended for publication
| 