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TJR: FEI Rollkur Decision Reactions from the Horse World

By John on February 16, 2010 10:10 PM, Filed Under

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As we all know, the FEI decided to allow LDR (Long Deep Round) and ban Rollkur under the definition that Rollkur is "flexion of the horse's neck achieved through aggressive force."  Fran Jurga, who operates The Jurga Report, which is my favorite source for horse health news, has produced an excellent aggregation of reactions to the FEI's decision.  This gets its own post because Fran was kind enough to link to our post 'Rollkur: Why Should I Care?'


One of the things I have enjoyed most about developing Eventing Nation is watching how different members of the equestrian media have responded to our presence.  Some folks, such as EventingUSA, Samantha Clark of the HRN, the Chronicle Forums and now Fran Jurga have been extremely generous and have dramatically helped our growth, but other people have chosen to ignore us completely.  Understand that I don't have any ego in this respect; some people are just not comfortable with a site that covers eventing news in real time, or that does everything possible to get the fans involved, or that mixes humor with news, etc.  Of course, these are the same people who think newspapers will still be around in 20 years.

Thankfully, most eventers don't seem to share those concerns, and our rapid growth has blown away my expectations.  With 1000 readers constituting a slow day, and a growth rate of doubling our daily visitors once a month since our inception, I feel a lot of pressure to deliver great content each day.  Try feeling like you let 1000 readers down on a slow news day; it's not fun.  Getting links from excellent journalists, such as Fran, makes me feel like we did a good job and gives me a sense of excitement because I know that more people will get to enjoy the content that we work so hard to produce.  

Eventing Nation is fundamentally a community, and all of our readers are part of the process, whether by telling your friends, sending us feedback, or just enjoying the experience.  My point is that when people help to spread Eventing Nation by linking to us, I feel a great sense of gratitude and I hope you do too.  So, thanks for the link Fran, and thank you everyone for being part of Eventing Nation.  Go eventing.

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Andrea | February 17, 2010 12:45 AM | Reply

I know that I read much of the same news sources that you do but I look at things from a different perspective - I am an ex eventer (15 years past) and now an organizer.
It is refreshing reading the opinions of the up and comings in the sport today.
You also have an in for so much that I dont being totally not from where I am.
It helps me to expand my knowledge and understanding of eventing today.
also lets me dream a bit with our horse park. hehehe.
That is why I click in here daily to see what interesting fun stuff you have dug up.
As long as you keep having fun!!!!!!!!!!!

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Anon | February 17, 2010 1:32 PM | Reply

I enjoy this site, although agree with the previous poster that I often browse many of the same news sources as you, so will often see those items first there before seeing them here. However that doesn't take away from all the great interviews and different perspectives I see here either.

I am just wondering how you will be able to continue, as this site is getting more popular? Will you be moving to an ads-based site? Will this site continue to be free to view?

Keep up the good work.

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samantha clark | February 17, 2010 2:00 PM | Reply

I'm really enjoying this site, and happy to share the love! I'm thrilled that you're continuing to grow, and improve. I'll always be available to help in any way I can. I especially liked today's piece on Katie Prudent, and have enjoyed all the training articles, the next best thing to being there in person, Go Eventing Nation!

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Author Profile Page John | February 17, 2010 11:10 PM | Reply

>>Andrea: Thanks for the kind word's and you have been one of our most supportive emailers and commenters. Thanks for checking in daily, knowing that you visit each day means a lot to me.

>>Anon: Thanks also for the kind words. Our goal is to provide a synthesis of the best content elsewhere to save everyone time, as well as our own content. When we link to other sites, we try to link to them before they post the articles on their own sites, but we only accomplish this from time to time :)

We are able to continue as the site gets more popular because the site getting more popular is what keeps us energized and excited. I can absolutely, 100% guarantee that EN will never ever be a fee-based site. As long as we exist, we will be free and available to anyone with an internet connection. As for advertising, a few kind folks have contacted us asking about advertising and I have talked with our writers, but for now I think we all like the clean look. I'm wired a bit differently than most and making money takes some of the fun out of the hard work. EN is one little oasis in a desert of commercial sites where you can enjoy our content without having some ad rammed down your throat.

The only thing that really frustrates me is that some people who don't know anything about the site think we are small just because we don't have any ads. I won't rule out ads forever, especially because I pay out of my pocket for the hosting cost each month. But, as long as we keep growing, I'm happy.

>>Samantha: You're the best, no doubt about it. If we made a top 5 reasons why EN still exists, you'd be in it.

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