From Wikipedia – A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities, or a surrender, in which an army agrees to give up arms, or a ceasefire (truce) in which the parties may agree to temporarily or permanently stop fighting.
Last week, several reports and confirmations floated their way out into the world wide web to be picked up by those weary followers who can still lift our heads long enough to read them. And if I’m tired of the Welly Wars, I can only imagine the level of fatigue that has caused the factions to attempt an ending to this tale of the wicked dressage showground beasty that threatened to tear Welly World asunder. But who seems to be the most tired of all is Mayor Bob Margolis, who has suddenly switched teams. And on a village council with just five members, one change of heart can mean a change of fortune for whoever and whatever hangs in the balance.
Sr. B expresses disappointment that Matt Willhite and John Greene persist in backing what he calls the ‘Jacobs-Hirsch agenda’. I’ll give Sr. B this – he doesn’t shy away from expressing his opinions in no uncertain terms. But I think he is looking at the situation from the wrong point of view. The fact that those two continue to hold out against him actually supports the notion that Mayor Bob came to his own conclusion about siding with the Equestrian Village, rather than having been coerced. Not that a person couldn’t decide to pour all one’s persuasive energies into just one person, but still.
Dare we hope? What are the chances of it sticking? I guess I’ll just have to keep paying attention over the coming weeks, even though I can think of any number of ways I’d rather spend my time and energy. Such as following the Endurance scandal as it lands like a cat’s hairball on the FEI’s red carpet. Yes, the FEI finally waded publicly into the murky steroid-infested waters that hide from view the broken leg bones of dead endurance horses. Placed at the head of the FEI Round Table session by HRH herself is none other than Andrew Finding. While his very name suggests he will get to the bottom of this ongoing cluster, Finding is in just a bit of a conflict of interest. See, he happens to be Sec Gen of the British Equestrian Federation. And if there is one country in the whole wide world that currently benefits from the middle eastern love of endurance racing, it’s Merrie Olde Englande. Could the princess not find ANYONE else to chair the round table? Let’s just say I’m sitting in my skeptic’s seat on this one until given good reason to go over to my optimist chair on the other side of the room.
If you are wondering why I haven’t commented on the oh-so-blogworthy German debacle in the Nations Cup in St. Gallen, it’s because I have made it the topic of my LowDown column in issue 4 of Horse Sport International, which will be in circulation in the next few weeks. The Germans may have been allowed back into the 2013 Furusiyya series, but that’s not even the half of this story – which, as is the case with so many of the controversies I consider to be ‘in my wheelhouse’, calls into question yet again the ethics, even the MO, of the FEI.
I would like to leave you today with a fashion statement, made by my beloved horse Theo. Because I was too lazy to go to the tack store and get him a respectable fly mask myself, my pal Bridget went ahead and got him one that she thought was most appropriate.
He sees everything in black and white
