These past several months I have been traveling to equestrian events three out of every four weekends. It has been amazing how many horse-people I have sat next to in airports, airplanes, and trains. Even more amazing to me has been that when asked what they do with their horses, how many have replied, "I do endurance. Do you know what endurance is?"

Usually I just admit that I know a little about endurance. For me these occasions have been my greatest opportunities to learn what the true base of the sport really thinks about endurance in general and AERC in specific. What this very small sample size research has shown me should not be surprising to anyone.

Most of the people I spoke to were very excited about endurance. Most had come to endurance from other types of equestrian activities, found that they enjoyed the attributes of endurance, and each now calls endurance their sport. Only one was an AERC member. All could name an FEI-level competitor that they knew of, spoke to, crewed for, etc. Every single person told me with great enthusiasm all about their next endurance ride, whether it was a 50 or a 25.

Endurance is the sport for people who love their horse(s), want to spend hours each day with them, and enjoy being around others that feel similarly about their horses. This basic premise came through loud and clear from everybody I spoke to. They simply want AERC to provide equestrians with an adequate number and distribution of safe, fair competitions all across the country. In addition to these events, they want heroes to emulate, challenging world-class competitions to have as completion goals, and the very least possible number of requirements and impediments to reaching their goals.

The AERC board of directors will be having their in-person midyear meeting in August in Kansas City, Missouri. I have heard from many endurance riders at all levels of the sport. I, and all of the other members of the board, would enjoy hearing directly from you. We are listening to your comments. We may not always respond to every e-mail or letter, but every single one will be read. While I look forward to your comments, most of all I would like to thank you for being a member of the family of endurance equestrians.