In the section regarding the setting up of a corporation, About.com states: "Corporate board members have a fiduciary responsibility to care for the finances and legal requirements of the corporation. They must act in good faith and with a reasonable degree of care, and they must not have any conflicts of interest."

Wikipedia says: "A fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care at either equity or law. A fiduciary is expected to be extremely loyal to the person to whom he owes the duty (in this case, the organization AERC): he must not put his personal interests before the duty, and must not profit from his position as a fiduciary. The word itself comes originally from the Latin fides, meaning faith, and fiducia, trust."

I think I speak for us all when I say that fiduciary responsibility in this economic atmosphere is foremost in the minds of all the AERC Board of Directors. How do we, in this recession, retain members, insure the survival of rides, and continue services while staying true to our bylaws and our founders' ideals?

Pretty heavy stuff for a bunch of people who really just want to ride a good horse on a good trail! But as board members, we take these definitions to heart and pledge to show fiscal discipline in our actions regarding AERC. At our first meeting after the convention, with a new executive committee and newly-elected directors at large, we talked about ways to tighten our belt and still provide services to our members. That will be an ongoing discussion.

That said, one of the first points of business we attended to at that Sunday morning meeting was to outsource our drug testing at a cost to the organization and to the members. Personally, I feel this fits with the sense of priorities I see as a board member. Drug testing is important to the integrity of our sport. Without it, not only would it be possible to create an atmosphere of "cheating" or undue drug use, but the perception of our sport as "clean" and fair would be gone. The outsourcing, to the nonprofit United States Equestrian Federation, will insure that our drug testing is professional, impartial, free of conflicts of interest, and done in a lab known for accuracy.

The outsourcing will begin in April and will utilize some of the reserves that the Veterinary Committee has from the $1 per rider fee that has been collected in previous years. Starting with the 2010 season, an additional $2 per rider will be assessed for the continuation of this program, making it self-funding.

Currently the State of California assesses a $5 per rider fee for mandatory drug testing. California fees will not increase and the state will continue to test those events held there.

One major issue that tipped my vote over the edge for the outsourcing of the drug testing was the knowledge that it is feasible for someone who has tested positive to appeal or even sue an organization that performed the testing. Look at the money and time spent in the bicycle racing world and in track and field over positive drug tests.

As the oursourcing motion reads, "An additional distinct benefit is to reduce the potential legal and therefore financial impact of our current drug testing system of which we have little legal recourse. Our exposure would in part be transferred to the USEF if we contracted with them to administrate our drug testing program."

Your board of directors will continue to work hard and to make good financial decisions on the part of the sport we all love. Our phones and addresses are listed on page 2 of every issue of Endurance News. Feel free to contact us with your thoughts.