The AERC National Championship Ride was held October 16 and 18 in Henryville, Indiana. You can read all about it later in this issue of Endurance News. Since I was involved in the ride management part of this event, and since I am on the Ride Managers Committee, I would like to talk about all the support that the AERC members gave during this ride.

I belong to the regional distance riding club that hosted the ride, the Daniel Boone Distance Riders. We have about 60 members and most all of them showed up to help with the ride or ride in it.

When the Arabian Horse Association decided they would like to host their endurance championship ride along with the AERC nationals, that helped bring in more experienced assistance from their newly formed endurance commission.

When the Southeast Endurance Riders Association (SERA) heard we were going to be hosting the ride so close to the Southeast Region they decided to join forces and help us. SERA members were gracious in bringing their horse scales along so riders could monitor their horses' weight throughout the ride.

We were elated when SERA folks volunteered to help Nancy Gooch with timing and also with manning some of the vet checks. We didn't have to even explain what we wanted, they just knew. It was really nice working with such professionals and we really appreciated that they came to help put on a great ride.

We also had several members of another regional organization, the Ohio Arabian and All-Breed Trail Riding Society (OAATS), volunteer to help out too. Many of the volunteers were ride managers themselves.

All these groups showed up in force with their experienced volunteers to help make this ride the most organized championship ride that we could have ever imagined.

When we thought we had all the help we could possibly use yet another group, the American Shagya Arabian Verband, called up with an offer to supply meals for the help at one of the vet checks.

It was wonderful that all these organizations came together for the good of our AERC National Championship rides.

The veterinarian crews had the horses flowing through the vet check with ease. The experience was evident as each horse was vetted through both with efficiency and thoroughness.

When a national championship ride has so much help with so many of the volunteers being experienced in putting on an endurance ride, how could it get any better? Things seemed to flow so easily throughout the entire event, even behind the scenes.

Of course while we are talking about experience, I must say that the riders were the best! They seemed to handle everything in stride and knew what was expected of them. We had so many horses and so many completions with very few horses needing any veterinarian attention.

The ride also had two very experienced ride managers at the helm: Cindy Young with the 100 mile and Amy Whelan with the 50 mile. I can't think of any details that were not attended to promptly.

Thanks to all the different organizations and individuals who volunteered in order to make this AERC National Championship ride a great experience for everyone to enjoy!