Ride managers are the ones that put on the events that we call endurance rides. Without anyone willing to organize an endurance ride there can be no sport of endurance horse riding.

These past two years AERC has really emphasized how important welfare of the horse and trails creation and preservation are. Nearly every major effort and expenditure has been undertaken in light of these two goals. These two are extremely honorable goals and they fully deserve to be the pinnacle of AERC's education and support.

AERC needs to add to these goals the goal of preservation of endurance as we know it. I do not want to lessen our emphasis on horse welfare, and I do not want to lessen our emphasis on trails, but I do want to add to these an emphasis on welfare of the ride manager. While it is true that without horses or trails there would be no endurance rides, but also without ride managers, there similarly would be no endurance rides.

Being a ride manager in endurance is in many ways more difficult than organizing horse shows. When AERC started there was only a handful of rules, now there is a book of rules and new ones every year. In endurance, the ride manager has to know every rule and adjudicate whenever anything arises. In other disciplines there are stewards to handle this. Not that I want stewards, just that endurance ride managers have more responsibilities than organizers in other disciplines.

One of the new qualities in the perfect ride manager is to be a CPA. Accounting for the day member fee, every drug testing fee, the start fee, etc. is a major headache for every ride manager. The board of directors fully understands that the burden of collecting all these fees rests squarely on the ride manager, but there is nowhere else to turn. For every additional burden imposed, however, the board is striving to lessen the ride manager's burden some other way.

AERC, especially through the excellent staff in the Auburn office, has been trying to do everything possible to help the ride managers. The staff has worked on improving all of the ride forms to be as simple and efficient as possible, has made finding contact information for ride vets easier than ever, and has achieved many other similar advances. The board has approved ancillary improvements for ride managers such as new and better educational materials for new ride vets and increased drug testing at rides all across the country.

One other way which the board is currently trying to help ride managers is by providing a group insurance policy for all rides. This year the board approved an optional insurance policy which is available for all endurance rides for far less than many rides used to pay, and it covers the days before and after and also any fun or competitive trail rides held the same weekend. This is just one of the ways AERC can better support our ride managers.

Most important, however, is to let the ride managers know that we all appreciate them. Next time you are at a ride, tell the ride manager that you are grateful for their putting on the ride, rather than the traditional greeting that the outhouse is out of paper again. My personal thanks to all the ride managers out there.