All you need is a horse . . . and life is good. Add a challenge, and life gets interesting. You meet that challenge on a trail somewhere. But without that trail, you're all dressed up with no place to go. We take so much for granted until we find ourselves without-- and then our appreciation begins to grow. No rides on the Ride Calendar for a month or two and we start to appreciate ride managers. A long wait in line for a control check and we appreciate an extra control judge. But even more basic, without a trail, we can't ride at all.

Trails are one of the two most essential elements of our sport and we take them for granted until access is restricted or the trail deteriorates to an unusable condition.

AERC's bylaws state: "The Conference shall encourage the riding of historic trails and shall encourage the establishment, preservation and maintenance of all trails on both public and private lands so that they may be accessible to equine riding."

This purpose is probably the most important of our bylaws for the survival of our sport. To that end, AERC has a Trails and Land Management Committee and provides Trail Master classes for members and land managers.

I took the Trail Master class by accident. I was really more interested in riding, but a friend recommended the class to me and a slot opened at the last minute in my region. Before taking the class, I had little interest in trails; I took them for granted. I had other, specific, immediate riding goals such as preparing and conditioning my horses. The truth is I was selfish and short-sighted. I assumed that trail development/management was common sense. I was uneducated. Then I noticed my riding workouts were slower and my horses' feet suffered an epidemic of bruising and abscesses. The trails I had ridden for years were rocky and had deteriorated.

Most recently, several rides throughout the country are at risk (in North Carolina, Texas, California and Arizona) or may be discontinued because land managers feel threatened by the intrusion of equines.

The defining issues of trail development and management are: (1) trail deterioration and (2) land managers. These issues are spreading in all regions. We can't take trails for granted any more.

Our first psychological defense when confronted with a conflict is avoidance. We just want to ride our horses. So, we avoid the problem and ride somewhere else. But as trails decline, rides become fewer and the distance to a ride becomes greater.

So what can we do? Great or small, every AERC member can contribute something to trail development and access. Whether as small as a supportive attitude or as great as lobbying government representatives, each of us can help. The most obvious contribution you can make is to take a Trail Master class and see what you've been missing. Educate yourself. Encourage your ride managers and regional representatives to take the class. Learn why horses are not a threat to properly designed trails and how such trails should be designed. The Trail Master slogan is, "You'll never look at a trail the same way again."

A second and very important contribution you can make is to simply meet your local land managers. Make an appointment and conduct an information-seeking interview. Ask the land manager about his/her goals for the land. Allow yourself to be impressed by their goals and accomplishments. And take note of how your sport and riding goals complement the goals of the land manager.

Like training a horse, sometimes we may have to go slower to get there faster. We can't avoid the need for trails access, development and maintenance. These needs can only be satisfied with the help and cooperation of land managers-- whether private owners, National Forest Service rangers or Park Service employees.

We must educate ourselves and develop cooperative relationships with land managers-- for ourselves and future generations. If we do not, we will find ourselves all dressed up with no place to go. n