… that the Dressage Canada Board dismissed the entire Senior High Performance Committee in July? Not surprisingly, they haven’t gone out of their way to convey this shocking news to their members, though if you go to the relevant page on the DC website, under “Committee Members” there is a black dot where there used to be a list of names. The timing is pretty awesome, since a chef d’equipe for WEG 2010 was to be appointed over the summer – and that is a specific task of High Performance – it even says so on the web page
http://www.equinecanada.ca/dressage/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=461. The appointment of a coach (or Technical Advisor, as he or she is to be called) had previously been handed over to a completely new and separate committee called the Own the Podium Task Force, and taken out of the hands of the now nonexistent High Performance Committee. And speaking of that…
Did you know that an identical press release was sent out at 12 day intervals soliciting applications for said Technical Advisor? I was told by a member of the ‘special’ task force that there was a shortlist of candidates back in June, but I guess there was a little legal matter that had been bypassed; it had to be put out to public tender in order to be legit. The press release was sent out a second time due to ‘show season’, the belief being that people might not notice the importance of the content because they were blinded by their preoccupation with horse shows. I don’t know, but if you ignored an item in your inbox, it seems to me that receiving the exact same item a second time would elicit an even faster mouse trip to ‘delete’. If they decide to send it out yet a third time, I would like to suggest they add a headline to get people’s attention. Something like: ‘free beer if you read this press release’. Put it in red caps, too. And while we’re on the topic of vacant positions…
Did you know that Kerri McGregor has resigned from the DC board? Staying true to their ‘only good news’ press policy, DC has taken a passive approach to communicating the resignation. Kerri’s name is missing from the list of board members and has been replaced with ‘vacant position’. No news so far on how, when or even if, she will be replaced.
In case all these disturbing disturbances in DC are causing you to lose sleep, I highly recommend a visit to the soothing audio of the Horse Radio Network. Check out the show that covers the opening of the new indoor arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. It’s a guaranteed soporific for your trip to the Land of Nod. I was idly browsing through Dressage Canada’s Facebook page when I came across the link to this exciting episode of Horse Radio. It had been posted because EC’s fearless leader Akaash Maharaj had been in Kentucky during the opening and was interviewed by Horse Radio. I never made it as far as his interview; in fact I never made it past the first two minutes. The voice of the aptly named Glenn the Geek isn’t just mildly irritating; it could be put to excellent use as an invisible shield along the Mexican border, kind of like those invisible electric fences used for dogs. It would save the Americans all kinds of wall-building money. Now, before you jump to unsavoury conclusions about my political leanings, I am in no way endorsing US attitudes or policies toward illegal Mexican immigration. I am also not slagging the fabulous facilities being built in Kentucky for next year’s WEG. I talked to Canadian vaulter Colin Schmidt today. He was one of two vaulters to perform a demonstration during the opening of the new arena, and he said the new facility is nothing short of fantastic.
If you are up for some androgenous droning instead of your usual dose of Ambien, here is the link:
