Endurance riders for the most part are very honest and caring people. We see riders sacrifice their own ride to help others find their way on poorly marked trails, mentor new riders, or to help other riders or horses that are having trouble. Endurance is a sport where we each have personal goals that we try to achieve so it is unimaginable to think that anyone would cheat on a goal they have worked hard to obtain.

As much as we hate to believe anyone is low enough to cheat on an endurance ride, it can happen. If you are naive enough to think that it can't happen on your ride, you are only kidding yourself. But the ride manager has the power to prevent some forms of cheating and should make every effort to maintain a level playing field.

It is very important that each ride manager enforce rules and not allow any infractions to knowingly take place.

When riders are making loops that can be shortened (cut), it is your duty to the best of your ability to try and ensure each rider has ridden the entire mileage. The surest ways is to have spotters located at the furthest points of the loops and have them take numbers or names of each rider and also record the time that they were there.

Some rides have even used digital pictures of every rider passing the checkpoint. If their name or photo is not on the list, they would then be disqualified or sent back out to do the loop again. Another way to insure that each rider has ridden the entire loop is to have a password that they know they must look for and return back to tell the timer.

You must be smarter than the potential cheater and since most of us do not even believe we even have a problem, it can make it fairly easy for anyone not wanting to play fair. Unfortunately, though, some people get accused falsely of cheating and this can put a big dark cloud over a ride. Spotters and passwords can be helpful for the ride manager in proving to a disgruntled rider that everyone rode the trail.

Many times riders have a feeling someone has either missed trail intentionally or by accident. By having some kind of plan set up ahead of time, it keeps everyone on the up-and-up and keeps other riders from being in awkward positions of accusing someone of cheating. Even if someone suspects another rider of cheating, without proof a ride manager has very little he can do.

So why not come up with some innovative ideas to keep riders on the straight and narrow path? Remember that excellent trail markers can save you a lot of headaches. A ride manager must always mark trails in a way that can easily be followed so riders do not get off trail and confused.

Other things that ride managers can do to keep the playing field level:

Pulse area set-up. Be sure to arrange this area so that when several riders come in together and say their pulse is down at the same time, their time is written on their rider cards at the time they call for their pulse, not when the pulse taker actually takes the pulse. Some pulses are easier to find and hear than others and get read very fast while others can take a couple of minutes. If you think someone is pushing it just to be in the same time frame as some others who have called at the same minute (before their pulse is actually down), start taking pulse first with the last person who called for their pulse to be taken. Don't let the rider's own pit crew take their horse's pulse, even though you may trust them. What's fair for one is fair for all. Keep everyone following the same rules of the ride, and don't make exceptions.

Vetting in. Pay close attention that everyone waits their turn in line for the vets. Some riders are pushy and will go right past new or timid riders.

Consistency in timing. Timers need to be consistent -- do not let riders leave before the time on their cards. Make sure the time is correctly written on the cards before they leave the check.

FUN RIDES, CLINICS AND INSURANCE

Introductory rides of less than 25 miles and educational clinics held in conjunction with your AERC sanctioned rides are covered by AERC's ride insurance only if noted on your application at the time of sanctioning. To insure coverage of your intro ride and/or clinic, a few other rules also apply -- a day member fee of $1.00 per rider or participant must be collected from individuals that are not current AERC members, and it is also necessary to provide AERC with the names and addresses of the day members that participated in your clinic or intro ride. The names and addresses should be forwarded to the AERC office along with your ride results. Please direct additional questions to the office: 866-271-2372.