Oh give me a good vet and a well-marked trail, and everything else is secondary! This article is a collaboration of many great ideas from both riders and ride managers to make your trails easy to follow and save a lot of headaches.
Some of these suggestions can be found in the ride managers' handbook. Others are gleaned from years of trail marking experience.
Materials needed
Ribbon of different colors. Parachute cord works great and lasts for years if you can get it. Surveyors' ribbon comes in lots of colors. Please see the Ride Manager's column re: color-blind riders (October 2008 EN) when selecting the color ribbons you'll be using.
Paper plates and a black permanent marker. Paper plates that match the ribbon color are the best. Be sure your markings will not run from the plate if there's rain. Some plates tend to "shed" magic marker markings in the rain.
Clothespins. This can have several benefits. The obvious is they are easy to put up and take down, and you can just stuff them in a bag and reuse them the next year. Another benefit is if there are other ribbons on or near your trail, tell your riders to only follow ribbons with clothespins!
Tokens (think carefully). My first principal (I'm a school teacher) gave me some very sage advice. He said "never make a rule you cannot or will not enforce." If you use tokens, and a rider accidentally passes them or loses it, are you going to uphold your own rule and DQ this person, even though you know they did the trail?
If you do use them, you should have a big pie plate 50 feet or so before the tokens as a warning, and have lots of flagging at the token site. I have seen some tokens that are clothespins that are hung ABOVE the rider's head across the trail, and I don't think anyone misses these!
Another idea is to have a sign-in sheet on a clipboard. One advantage to this is to see the order of riders at that point in case there are some "trail issues" later, and no one loses the token.
Getting out of camp correctly
If you have multiple loops out of camp, be sure to mark where the ride goes out of camp and what loop it is! Even the start of the ride can be confusing if a rider leaves late and all the other riders are out of sight.
Marking the trail
Mark your trail on the right-hand side if you possibly can. If the trail goes both directions at some point, mark both sides.
Use different colored ribbon for the different trails or loops. Matching paper plates work great! If the trail "shares," I have found it easier to follow if all the colors are together. For example, if I am on blue, and the trail is also the pink and yellow trail at some point, I would rather have all three colors in the same place than a blue one, yellow one, and pink one, separately, every 100 feet.
Mark your turns before the turn with some sort of warning. Then use three ribbons or a different colored ribbon to warn riders that a turn is here. Be careful not to mark the turn far before the actual turn, and do not ever mark it after the actual turning point on the pre-turn trail, even if it is only by several feet.
I did a ride recently where the turns were marked with one chartreuse ribbon in with the other ribbons. This made the turns so easy, because whenever you saw that color you knew you were going to turn.
Using blue ribbon or a plate marked "water" to designate a turn-off for a watering spot is also a good idea.
Also, use caution ribbon to mark holes or down fences. If you are making an unexpected turn off a fast-traveling trail, put caution tape over the trail after the turn so riders won't blow past the turn! Tying a white ribbon on the end of the colors is also a good idea, especially for night riding. One of the most important things to remember is that your riders are riding at speed, and what you think is adequate trail marking at a jog or walk may not be adequate at a canter.
Be sure your finish line is clearly marked before the start of the ride, so riders can familiarize themselves with its location and determine the safest way to ride it.
Notes for night riding
Chances are you'll need glow sticks for a night ride. The number you'll need will vary based on your trail. Twisty, turning trails in the woods will require far more glowsticks than trails in an open area on an obvious trail. Contact any Ride Managers Committee member, or check out the Ride Managers' Yahoo e-mail discussion list for the best sources for glowsticks.
Be aware that some glowsticks can be "duds"! More than one night ride has been tougher than necessary because a well-intentioned ride manager bought glow sticks that just didn't glow.
One of the big things with glowsticks is using contrasting colors to mark turns, and to double-mark with arrows or other trail markers (white looks brightest at night) at intersections. Glow sticks are a must on corners, but sometimes if you use them along the trail, riders' eyes get accustomed to them and they will ride right past a corner.
If trail doesn't go through or to water sources, be sure to mark them with off-color glow sticks or signs. A pond that is clearly visible in the daylight disappears after dark.
And, as Mary Mosshammer of the Central Region suggested, "Don't forget to put glowsticks in the porta potties!"
For night rides, there should be plenty of safe passing. If the trail has extended single track, then you should plainly mark spots where a horse can safely pull over and let others by. This is particularly important if your trail is old or rutted. It's very hard to find safe places to leave and re-enter trail in the dark, especially if trees are blocking the moon.
You might want to use white paper plates to mark trail because they show up so well. If there are multiple trails, a ribbon can be tied with the plate to indicate color.
Remember that a lot of your night riders will be weary and, for some of them, it may be their first time riding at night.
It's best to have a night trail overmarked rather than undermarked. No one wants a rider out on trail in the middle of the night completely lost!
Consistency is key
As riders, we can figure out how you mark your turns, how closely spaced the ribbons are, and how many confidence markers you use on a long, straight straight trail with no turn options. If you use a lot of ribbon, do this consistently. If you don't, we will figure this out, as long as the infrequent confidence markers are consistent.
If different people mark your trail, be careful. Different people have different ideas about how frequently markers should be placed, and this can end up with riders "feeling" as though the trail has been marked by committee.
Beware, too, of riders marking the trail who know it well. It may seem obvious to them where the trail goes ("We never take that little deer trail up the hill!") and they can miss things that would be less obvious to someone who is unfamiliar with the trail.
If you have someone who can take some extra ribbon and pre-ride your trail, that's great, particularly if they don't know the trail -- they can fill in any sparse spots, or re-mark areas where ribbons have fallen.
