RE: 1999 AERC CHAMPIONSHIP RIDE "ACTUAL" MILEAGES

[mbp@holly.colostate.edu (Brad Patterson)]

Greetings Randy:

Just one more important note you left out:

Since YOU are the Ride Manager, will the 50 mile AERC Championship Ride
ACTUALLY be 50.0 to 52.4 miles long and will the 100 mile AERC Championship
Ride ACTUALLY be 97.5 to 102.4 miles  long?  If we (AERC) are to be a
"National and International Leader on the World horse scene" and seek the
respect of the other equine disciplines, don't YOU think that it would be a
good idea for our AERC Championship Ride to ACTUALLY be the mileage that it
is sanctioned for?  Of course no participating rider would ever file a
protest against a "short" 50 or 100 . . . they would lose their mileage.

Also, I understood that AERC Competitions Committee guidelines are for
National Series Championship rides to be on "proven" courses.  Given that
this ride is replacing the NSC, does it not follow that it should follow
the same guideline?  It appears that this course is not "proven" as a 1
day, 100 mile course.

Other than these concerns, I think that this new AERC Championship Ride is
a great idea.  Congratulations to the member who proposed it!

Brad Patterson
AERC Member #9728
Mountain Region


YOU WROTE:
>Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 11:57:32 -0600
>Terry Woolley Howe pointed out an important point I left out on my post
>about the new AERC CHAMPIONSHIP RIDE.  I wrote:

>Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 21:46:25 -0600
>Those ridecamp members who are also members of AERC may have read in the
>September issue of Endurance News that AERC, beginning in the 1999 Ride
>Season, will have a National Championship 50 & 100 Mile Ride, sanctioned
>for mid August.  The location is in the Lincoln National Forest of New
>Mexico.  The Championship will use
>***some of the TIMBERON 5 DAY trails***<
> and will take place about a month after the TIMBERON Ride.

>The trails are established/
>***proven and will definitely be Championship quality.***<


>Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 11:10:36 -0600
>....fairness, quality, welfare are integral parts of the
>Board thinking. . . . Quality insures that the rides operate on at
>least a basic level of rules and conduct that follows the AERC Rules and
>is the same across the Regions of AERC.

>Date:  September, 1998 in Endurance News, Pg. 9, Vice President's Message
>"AERC has taken the steps to become what is should have always been . . .
>A >NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEADER ON THE WORLD HORSE SCENE.