AERC Decade Teams – Update Coming Soon!

I’ve been doing a little bit of work recently on the Decade Teams for AERC. It’s really exciting to see the increase in the number of same horse and rider teams who made Decade Team status in 2008! There were 33 new teams in 2008, which is more than 2007 and 2006 combined. How cool! I love to see that more and more riders are putting an emphasis on longevity with their horses. I think that having a goal of being a Decade Team is one that is worth achieving and planning for early in a horses career.

To read more about the Decade Teams visit the aerc.org website to go to this link: http://aerc.org/new_decade_teams.asp

In the next few days and weeks the website will be updated with the new list of Decade Teams through the end of the 2008 ride season as will some of the rider interviews. (UPDATE:  The new list is there now, check back for new interviews!)  I’m also starting a list for 2009 and already have three on it! To qualify you need to have completed one AERC 50 mile endurance ride in at least ten ride seasons – same horse, same rider. LD rides aren’t included, it has to be a distance of 50 miles or more. The ten ride seasons don’t have to be consecutive so if a horse or rider needed to take a year or two off for whatever reason they can still continue on and achieve this goal.

One of the things I like about this particular group of AERC riders is that a lot of them are not well known. It’s nice to see and know who they are and to sort of get to know of them by reading their interviews. These riders are the ones that come back to rides year after year and keep the sport going – they are sticking with it and are in it long term. Many never place in the standings or get awards from AERC.

I never thought that much about my horses longevity when I first started out because there was never any emphasis on it. So many riders were only interested in going out at each ride and riding as fast as they could. There isn’t anything wrong with that as long as you are prepared and know what you are doing. I have seen this change a lot and I think it’s great that more people are now thinking more long term. For me, there really isn’t any greater reward than to have the privilege of riding the same horse for a decade or longer. What goals do you have for your horse?