During the '70s, '80s, and '90s we suffered substantial trail loss. The recreational portion of the horse industry was fragmented. Across the U.S., trail riders began to organize. Many made an attempt to work with the local land managers. Slowly but surely we began to understand what we were up against. Land managers removed trails from maps at will. Cross-country travel was eliminated. We were put on forest roads which were then called trails.

At the same time the pastime of trail riding began to increase. The result was an ever-increasing load on forest roads which were never made for recreational use. Damage resulted to the resource. And those of us who were using the road (trail) were accused of damaging the resource.

As we have heard many times, "horses cause erosion." Just to set the record straight, horses do not cause erosion. Water, wind and rain cause an improperly built trail to erode. A trail that is built properly will withstand the ravages of our environment. It costs less to maintain a trail that is designed properly than to keep us on old forest road beds.

But back to the land manager. Once he found damage to the road bed (trail) it was easy to close the trail. After all it was our fault that the damage occurred. Never mind that the time, money and effort never went into trying to keep the road in any passable form. They just let them deteriorate.

At the same time very few new trails were being developed. And unfortunately the same scenario continues today. Horsemen, however, have caught up with the game. We now know how to build sustainable trails for now and into the future. We are far ahead of understanding what has to be done to keep our trails. Most land managers lack the knowledge we have gained. Training on the subject is non-existent in the federal system. Some books have been written, but hands-on training is not there.

So how do we break the chain of events that takes place and results in trail loss?

First, all of us need to do our part in trail preservation. When only 10% of us show up on a work day, the other 90% are getting a free ride. That won't cut the mustard. We need to get our participation rate up. Attend planning meetings and work days, or if that is not possible, putting some cash into our trails fund will do just fine.

The AERC is now sponsoring Trail Master classes all across the U.S. In addition to teaching our riders the proper way to design and build new trails, we invite two land managers to attend the class with endurance riders. Both sides of the management issue regarding trails are in the class -- makes for some interesting conversation. It gives us a window of opportunity to see how the land manager thinks regarding access and our trails.

Those who graduate from the four-day class are certified crew leaders. They can go anyplace in the U.S. and lead crews in the proper way to maintain, build or design trails. By working together with our land managers we can build sustainable trails for the future. In time we will return to riding on real trails, not forest roads.

For the 2006 ride year we will have five training classes. Most will be in the West. If you have an interest in becoming a Trail Master, please send me a post. Remember, all you need is a horse and a trail.

Trail Master class pays off

by John Proudman

I must comment on the value of the Trail Masters class which the Trails Advocacy Committee and the AERC board of directors had the foresight to establish and support. I was a participant in the second class.

I am the chief of trail stewards for the Old Dominion 100-Mile Ride, Inc. We have approximately 10 stewards who are responsible for overseeing various sections of just the trail that we use for our June rides. Adding our other two rides, the OD probably maintains over 150 miles of trails, exclusive of forest roads, on both public and private property.

To put this in perspective, the Lee Ranger District of the George Washington National Forest, where 80% of the OD ride takes place, has 350 miles of multi-use trails. Most trail maintenance, and even construction, is shared by the OD, the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, and the Happy Trails Running Club. The Forest Service could not begin to maintain these trails without these volunteer groups, and the groups work well together. Like others in these groups, I have attended the Forest Service course on trail maintenance, which is a weekend course taught by local Forest Service employees.

I signed up for the Trail Master class because I hoped it would be a more in-depth course, and I hoped it would focus more on trail problems associated with horses. I spent at least $600 of my own money and took vacation time to attend.

Unlike the Forest Service course, the Trail Master course focused heavily on how to design a sustainable trail. This design knowledge will provide extremely valuable opportunities when we are able to construct a new trail section. More importantly, it will be extremely valuable for assessing places where a minor relocation of an existing section of trail may solve serious trail hazards and maintenance problems.

A second area where the Trail Master course was unique was in the crew leader training. This was one entire day of the course, and consisted of both lecture, role-playing, and hands-on crew leadership. This is the point of the "certification," and it built on what we learned the first three days. How will I use this? I recently went out with a seven-person crew to do maintenance on a mountainous and rocky section of trail. I will be much more confident in leading this crew than I would have been before taking the course.

This is of direct benefit to the AERC and its members, as you will be riding this section of trail for your National Championship next year! Our instructor, Mike Riter, said that we would never look at a trail the same way again -- and he was right.