EN Yesterday: Insanity in the middle

One of the contestants in EN’s blogger contest, Yvette Seger, submitted this video with her final entry. Check it out–It’s a little crazy and a lot hilarious.

Yvette included the following explanation:

Cult-like Phenomenon Strikes Equestrian Community, Proclaims to Bring Insanity to the Middle

LEXINGTON, VA: While politicos in the U.S. debate the merits of the Presidential candidates (and their pets), the equestrian community is attempting to ward off the effects of a cult-like organization that calls itself “The Eventing Nation.” While the discipline of eventing is a well-established and popular sport among equestrians, individuals who proclaim to be members of the Eventing Nation are recognized for taking the sport to absolute extremes, including mandatory training sessions in extreme weather conditions, forcing members to conduct exercises in full riding apparel, and even cross-training in local discount stores. The cult seems to affect riders of all ages. One mother at the United States Pony Club’s National Championships East — currently underway at the Virginia Horse Center — became concerned when her daughter started marking doorways, local streets, and even stretches of I-95 with red flags on the right and white flags on the left, in “an effort to contain the insanity to the middle.”

A recent Google search uncovered what appears to be a recruitment video for the group. The video outlines some of the core qualities required of Eventing Nation members, including training practices and apparent corruption of younger recruits to make them more malleable to Nation practices. The video unwittingly chronicles the disturbing interactions of this group with members of the general public, including taunting of FEI judge, Wayne Quarles. Mr. Quarles refused to discuss this experience with the Eventing Nation, stating only that it was “too traumatic to talk about at this time.”

The video shown here is intended to increase awareness of actions and behaviors that may be indicative of an individual’s recruitment to this fringe group. If you suspect that a friend or family member has become “insane in the middle,” lure the afflicted individual to a securable location by flagging the entrance with red and white flags, and call the authorities.

Go Eventing.