AERC vs NATRC: Part I

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Monday, November 7, 2011 by EasyCare Customer Service Team
A few weeks ago, I gave an overview of the North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC), the largest competitive trail riding organization. I have received some questions regarding the differences between NATRC and the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC). In the following posts, I will do my best to shed some light on these differences.

Hoof boots are used in both disciplines but prior to the 2011 ride season, the only Easyboot that NATRC allowed was the Original Easyboot. Thankfully, there was a rule change and now boots with gaiters can be used in competition. The Easyboot Glove is currently the most popular boot among NATRC riders but Easyboot Epics also have a strong following. AERC has never had restrictions on hoof boots and while Gloves and Epics are still popular boots with endurance riders, the Easyboot Glue-On is the way to go for 100 mile or multiday rides. This year at Tevis, 8 of the top 20 horses wore Easyboot Glue-Ons.

Having been involved with NATRC for several years, I have noticed that many members have misconceptions about endurance. The most common one that comes to mind is endurance riders are crazy and so are their horses. Now I haven’t spent too much time around endurance riders, but so far the ones I’ve met seem more or less sane...

Read more here:
http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/horse-boots-customer-help/aerc-vs-natrc-part-i