New AERC Members Eligible for Heart Rate Monitor Drawing

October 27 2010

For trail riders who wish their rides didn’t end at five or 10 miles, endurance riding is the perfect next endeavor. “Our rides range from 25 to 100 miles, and our motto is ‘to finish is to win’,” said American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) Executive Director Kathleen Henkel. “Many fit trail horses are certainly capable of finishing one of the shorter distance rides, and the satisfaction that riders get from completing an AERC ride is incomparable.”

To welcome riders new to the sport, AERC is offering a drawing for a new Polar® Inzone Equine Heart Rate Monitor, sponsored by EquineMonitors.com, for brand-new members who join by January 1, 2011. Using a heart rate monitor is popular with distance riders as it allows them to exercise their horses within a specific target heart rate zone.

Membership in AERC includes a subscription to the monthly Endurance News magazine, plus rider and equine mileage tracking in the organization’s mileage award program. Each new member also receives an endurance handbook, which introduces riders to the sport, plus a packet of education information, a rule book and eligibility in annual regional and national awards programs.

“Endurance riders take their sport seriously, because care for the horse is vital,” said Henkel. “But our members also enjoy being out with their horses and their fellow riders in beautiful locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.”

AERC’s ride season opens December 1, and prospective members can visit www.aerc.org to check out the endurance ride calendar and explore the website’s extensive educational information and back issues of Endurance News, or phone AERC at 866-271-2372. The organization’s national office is in Auburn, California, home of the first modern endurance ride, the Western States Trail Ride, more often known as the Tevis Cup.

“The Tevis Cup is still the one ride that many new members aspire to ride. It’s a tough 100-mile ride and a true test of horsemanship and stamina,” said Henkel. “But once members try their first 25-mile ride, they know that even a 100-mile ride is not out of their reach, with proper knowledge and many miles on the trail together with their horse. Those miles together really bond the horse and rider into a true team, and that’s what endurance riding celebrates.”

To join AERC, or for more information about endurance riding, please contact the AERC office, located in Auburn, California, at 866-271-2372, email aerc@foothill.net, or visit www.aerc.org