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"Oh, how beautiful are our Emperor's new clothes!
What a magnificent train! And how gracefully the scarf hangs!"

In fact no one would admit he could not see these new clothes which everyone seemed to think so beautiful for fear he would be called a simpleton or unfit for his office.

"But the Emperor has nothing on at all," said a little child.

Red Hills recieves endless kudos. I feel just like that little child in the Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tale when I say, "But, the Red Hills CIC-W*** did not run according to FEI Rules!"

Red Hills and its organizers Sally M. Austley and Sylvia C. Ochs do many things wonderfully. The organization of shuttles to carry spectators from the parking areas to the competition areas, particularly Cross Country; the detailed coverage they get in the Tallahassee Democrat; and the way they have been able to attract local, non eventing, non horse-related people both as volunteers and as spectators is exemplary.

However, it is essential to remember that the competition itself is the heart and soul of the endeavor.

It is essential to remember that Red Hills runs a CIC-W*** which is a qualifier for the FEI World Cup Final to be held in Malmo, Sweden this year.

Could the CCI-W***, of which Red Hills is so proud, possibly have been run according to FEI Rules? - apparently not!

The FEI Rule reads as follows:

Article 513 STARTING ORDER

1. At a Three Day Event the drawn starting order will be used for the Dressage and Cross-Country Tests.

2. The starting order in the Jumping Test must follow the reverse order of classifiication at the end of the Cross-Country Test. The lowest placed competitor will start first, and the last competitor to jump will be the one placed highest. If two horses ridden by the same competitor are classified within eight places of each other, the starting order of the lower placed must be adjusted.

3. At a CIC, the Order of Starting will be drawn and this will be adhered to for the first two tests. (Emphasis Supplied.) The last Test, whether Show Jumping or Cross Country, may be run in reverse order of classification, at the discretion of the Organizing Committee.

What is it that the Organizers, the Technical Delagate (Trish Gilbert) and the Ground Jury (Jo Young (CAN) President, and Roger Haller (USA)) do not understand about the words, ". . . Order of Starting will be drawn and this will be adhered to for the first two tests."?

There was never any secret about the changed Starting Order - it was printed in the Program! Why wasn't that violation of FEI Rules caught and fixed?

Even more egregious was the fact that on the original Starting order - the one that should have been adhered to - Darren Chiacchia and Windfall, # 130, preceeded Phillip Dutton and The Foreman, # 131.

In the second, though incorrect, Starting Order, Windfall was scheduled to run third and The Foreman was scheduled to run eleventh. However, two of Darren's horses exchanged start positions so that Windfall actually ran third from the end. This gave Darren and Windfall, who led after the Dressage, an absolutely unfair advantage, in that by running well behind Phillip and The Foreman, who stood second after Dressage, Darren knew that Phillip had run a double clear Cross Country and that Windfall could only afford less than 5.6 time failts and still remain in the lead. He actually incurred 2.8 time faults.

How was the first error allowed to happen?

How was this second error allowed to happen?

All sorts of skulduggery has been suggested, into which I shall not delve.

The fact remains that, had the Red Hills CIC-W*** adhered to the FEI Rules , none of the rumors of underhanded and dishonest behavior would be circulating today.

The rules are our friends. They make for a level playng field. To put it in the vernacular, "Rules Is Rules!"

When is Red Hills going to grow up and learn to follow the FEI rules?

When are the those knowledgeable people officiating at Red Hills going to stand up and enforce the applicable FEI Rules?

Until these things happen we are going to have to continue to say:

"But the Emperor has nothing on at all!"

Cora C. Cushny, Editor