Membership in the American Endurance Ride Conference has always meant more to its members than just riding in long distance competitions. The organization supports trail building and maintenance, horse welfare through veterinary research and education, as well as tracking rider and equine mileage and points for its 700 endurance competitions held annually across the U.S. and Canada.
Keeping endurance records open for horses and riders
The organization supports trail building and maintenance, horse welfare through veterinary research and education, as well as tracking rider and equine mileage and points for its 700 endurance competitions held annually across the U.S. and Canada.
The nonprofit organization, and its 26-member board of directors, recently learned how much free access to rider and equine history meant to the organization’s nearly 5,000 riders, and a generation of past endurance riders.
This fall, AERC’s board passed a proposal to make rider and horse endurance ride history available only to current members, via a computer log-in at the organization’s website, www.aerc.org.
Non-members have always been able to participate in AERC rides by paying a $15 day member fee for each ride, and their ride records had been accessible online.
But once the records became member-only, the outcry from endurance riders, past and present, as well as breeders of endurance horses, was immediate and vocal, and the board unanimously voted just recently to rescind their earlier decision.
Open access allows the public to check out records of some amazing endurance riders, like Dave Rabe of Nevada, who recently became AERC’s highest-mileage rider, with more than 60,500 miles in competitions of 50 miles or longer – that amount of miles is the equivalent of two and a half trips around the world!
AERC’s 2015 ride season begins on December 1, 2014, and the organization welcomes interested riders to contact the office, 866-271-2372, for a free informational packet about endurance riding.
AERC projects currently underway designed to encourage growth and stability for AERC include: hiring a marketing contractor to increase AERC's brand awareness; a mentor program for new endurance riders; educational clinics for new and intermediate riders; more educational videos available on AERC's YouTube channel; an updated website; and a program to recruit new ride managers.