Officials for Eventing need to be compensated for their Travel Costs and accommodation and catered for. They do not necessarily need a "Salary" for what they do, but we must acknowledge the work that they do and the responsibilities that go with being a TD etc. The welfare of the Rider and the Horse are paramount and are in the hands of these Officials. In the poorer and younger Countries/ National Federations there is very little money available for a Sport that is considered to be Elitist. Sponsorship is almost non-existent; it goes to the sport of the 'masses'!
Course Designers for Eventing do not just appear for the few days of the Event! They do need to be compensated for their time given. In South Africa it often means they are on site the whole time for the building of the tracks, because our labour is pretty 'raw' and without any basic knowledge and they need constant supervision. We also do not have the machinery at our disposal as appears to be available in the European countries, so things can take a little bit longer!! But this cannot be allowed to jeopardise the quality of the tracks and fences built, so we continue to work for the 'love of the sport'. It can wear a bit thin sometimes!

Getting back to the age limit of Officials. What a pity we had to loose the talent and expertise of Ronald Alexander as a 3* & 4* CD just because he reached the age of 70. We have very few CDs at the top level in this Discipline and I believe we cannot afford to just discard people because they reach the so called retirement age. These days we are all living much longer - and 'clicking' that Refresh button with new knees and hips!! We are therefore still able to give of our knowledge. Jennifer Millar of New Zealand is another example. She came to SA at the very beginning of our foray into the world of FEI & CIs and upwards. She had such a wealth of expertise and advice to give us and many other Young Nations venturing into the world of Horse Trials (I still prefer this to Eventing!!). Suddenly that is taken away all because one reaches the magical number of 70.

Good luck with this Forum - very interesting to watch and listen to.
Priscilla Young from Eventing South Africa.

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