Intent & Purpose

First, as the new owner of Top Trail (as of July 2022),  I want to clarify my intent and approach to Top Trail and the trail riding and horse industry as a whole.  I am very passionate about equestrian trail riding and have turned it into my business to help support trail riders.  

One of the biggest issues I’m seeing in the trail riding world is that equestrians are losing access to trails and getting pushed out of previously horse-friendly camps.  When I speak to land managers the most common statement as to why is that “equestrians never used them” when referring to trails, trailer parking at trailheads, and public campgrounds. 

It truly is a ‘use it or lose it’ situation for equestrians these days as cities sprawl and more and more people are vying for access to the outdoors. 

If we want to keep riding trails we need to keep riding trails – all of us – everywhere.  

We are a minority when it comes to trail use and campground use which means we need to make sure our presence is known – in a good way – and to ensure that we are included when it comes to trailhead design (trailer parking), allowing multi-use trails for ALL trail users including equestrians, and allowing horses in campgrounds (bonus for corrals, water spigots, etc). 

In 2020, I launched a horse trail and horse camp directory called Top Horse Trails (www.tophorsetrails.com) with the goal of helping other trail riders find more trails to ride and horse camps to utilize with the hope that land managers would start to see more horse trailers at trailheads, horses on trails, and equestrians in campgrounds.  

In 2022, in an effort to find other potential partners in my mission to get more equestrians on trails – I found Top Trail and Troy.  I reached out to Troy to see if there was an opportunity to help support each other.  I ran a website directory of horse trails – she ran a website for equestrian trail riders.  In our discussions, she mentioned that she had been running Top Trail for over a decade and might be interested in selling the business if I was interested in continuing it.  It was a perfect compliment to my mission and purpose to keep equestrians on trails!  The business deal concluded and the business transfer went into effect July 2022. 

The beauty of Top Trail is that in order to compete in mileage challenges, all riders need to upload GPX files to prove they rode the miles.  When those trail rides are on public land or publicly accessible places, it provides maps of verified horse trails that someone has actually ridden.  Top Trail riders are leading the charge on scouting horse trails!  Those horse trails can then be shared with other equestrians, via the Top Horse Trails website, so they too can go ride them knowing they are a verified horse trail and someone else has already scouted that trail.   It’s a win-win-win for everyone!

My goal for Top Trail is to continue to grow it and encourage as many trail riders as possible to join so we can all encourage, reward, and cheer each other on while enjoying time out on the trail. Being a minority in regards to trail users, we need as many equestrians as possible out there riding. 

My plan for Top Trail is to invest membership fees back into it.  Here is what we have accomplished so far and plan to do over the coming year:

• Phase 1:  
  • Fix the immediate technological issues with the website – remember all the server crashes before?  – we had to go through the (slightly painful) server migration back in July, but this phase is nearly done!
  • Working out the kinks on some of the reporting systems to ensure accurate data.
• Phase 2:  
  • Rework the Challenges to recognize the different types of riders we have as members.
  • Improve prizes and rewards for members.
  • Add in more opportunities for rewards and prizes that all members, regardless of miles, can participate.
  • Make this whole effort as fun as possible for everyone involved (paid members, FB group participants, even us admins!)  
• Phase 3:  
  • Deep dive into technology to streamline everything and make the technology easier and more enjoyable to use:
    • Create our own GPS tracking app so we can provide support when members have issues and streamline ride tracking (no more uploading, it’s just there in your account as soon as you save the file) 
    • Streamlined, automated, and real-time reporting – so you can yell at the robots instead of me if you disagree with your rankings (haha!) 
    • Better integration with Top Horse Trails so you can find new trails, mark them as Completed, and create a map of all your trails ridden! (and camps too!) 
    • and soooo much more!  

We are already almost through Phase 1 and are just working out the kinks with some reports. 

Phase 2 is being rolled out in the coming weeks and should be fully in place by April 1.  In fact, in regards to Phase 2 and prizes, I purchased the Horse Saddle Corral company (www.horsesaddlecorral.com)  just last week as part of this effort so that I could easily award gift cards to riders and they could choose their own prizes. This is how dedicated I am to making this program better for you guys!

I hope to have Phase 3 completed before the end of the year.   

I want Top Trail to be EASY and FUN for everyone involved but there will be some growing pains, as we’ve experienced already, and that’s to be expected. I hope you can ride them out with me.

With that – Phase 2 – Rework Challenges, improve prize options, add in more opportunities for rewards…. Blah blah blah.   Please read on to find out how we’re going to do that!

Overview

Below are the recommended changes that are estimated to take effect April 1, 2023 (Q2) and apply to the 2023 year as a whole including annual rankings.

Q1 will continue loosely be based on current standard rankings and reports but will more or less just be a period of shenanigans. For Q1 (Jan-Mar), just get out there and ride, have fun, and enjoy time with your equine! During this time, we’ll focus on Monthly Contests, member goals for the year, and other ways to recognize members and their achievements. This will keep you guys distracted while my team and I work to build out the new systems.

Here is what you can expect in 2023 once we’re fully built-out, setup, and transitioned to the new setup:

New Membership Levels

Top Trail Membership: $35/year

• No more premium or basic, one simple plan
• Join any time, good for 1-year from sign-up date or renewal
• Singular membership gets all features on website and other activities
  • Participation in new monthly contests, mileage challenges, and other events
  • Lifetime mileage tracking
  • Multiple horses allowed
  • Digital certificates, badges, and recognitions
  • All other premium membership features
• Free Premium membership at TopHorseTrails.com 
  • Message Top Trail to upgrade your account
• Membership adjustments mid-year for 2023 only
  • As memberships renew, they will convert to the new flat rate plan
  • Basic members will be automatically upgraded to Premium features listed above
  • New members will sign-up on the new plan as soon as new structure is built into website and registration process (around April 1)

Add-Ons

• Printed certificates: $10/year
  • Sent annually for Lifetime Mileage for miles ridden up until December 31 each year
  • Sent annually for Miles ridden during current year (Jan 1 – Dec 31) for Rider
  • Sent annually for Miles ridden during current year (Jan 1 – Dec 31) for Primary Equine
• Patches: $15/year
  • Sent annually for milestone achievements (500 or 1000 mile increments) during the year (Jan1 – Dec 31) based on actual miles ridden (not Challenge miles)
• NATRC: $28/year
  • Must be a NATRC member prior to purchasing this add-on
  • This fee is required by NATRC and counts as 1 Ride Entry by NATRC (virtual ride only)
  • Can only be purchased any time, effective January-December of purchased year
  • Will not be prorated based on purchase date, only valid until December 31 of year purchased
• Affiliations: $5 per Affiliate per year / No Limit
  • Must be a member of affiliate before purchasing add-on
  • Current Affiliations Roster
    • Michigan Horse Council
    • Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association
    • 40-Something Cowgirls
    • Hags with Nags
• Groups: $5 per group per year / No Limit
  • Group owners get $3 per member to help cover prizes, time, costs involved 
    • This will also help encourage members to start and manage a Group
    • Anyone can start a Group but must be approved by Top Trail management
    • Group admins will be responsible for prizes but may ask for assistance from Top Trail / Horse Saddle Corral as needed
    • Group admins can determine the criteria for ranking in their group, it does not have to be based on mileage
    • Group admins can work with Top Trail admins to determine best reporting system or just track it on their own for determining scoring, rank, and awards, how often awards are given out, etc
  • Current Groups Roster
    • Fuzzy Butters
    • Double Trouble

All fees are to cover time, materials, postage, and fun prizes. 

Sign-up and renewal process will be like an e-commerce checkout process:  

• Purchase your flat rate plan to Top Trail
• Add any other Add-Ons to your cart (Affiliates, Groups, Patches, Certificates, etc)
• Checkout
• View previous orders, add-ons
• Add more items later or remove them – total flexibility

Nice and simple.  Plan is to have this functionality built out by April 1.

New Mileage Challenges & Divisions

These are the primary Challenges and Divisions that are based on quantity of miles.   The purpose of these Challenges is to push the rider to put in the effort if they want to compete based on mileage, otherwise Riders can still ride and record miles and happen to rank where they rank and focus their attention on other Contests and Events. Riders are limited to one Challenge per year – Trail Ride or Equine Sport.  

Trail Ride Challenges

The Trail Ride Challenges require participants to be riding horseback on trails or dirt roads only, are not paid to ride, and do not pay to compete in organized events.  These divisions are for the pleasure trail rider only. 

• Pleasure Division: 1-250 miles
• Adventurer Division:  250-500 miles
• Explorer Division: 500-1000 miles
• Legends Division: 1000+ miles

Trail Ride Challenge Rules

• All riders will start every year at zero for the Trail Ride Challenges.  
• As riders record miles, they will level-up through the Divisions. 
• Riders who exceed their Division mileage at any time during the year will automatically be upgraded to the next division. 
• There is no minimum mileage per ride. 
• Rides must be uploaded within 10 days of riding (240 hours), but uploading rides sooner rather than later is highly encouraged due to variances when it comes to time zones, device time-date stamps, and server time-date stamps.  Server time-date stamps will supersede all other time-date stamps. 
• Arena miles for Trail Riding Challenges
  • Arena miles, indoors or outdoors, do not count toward Trail Ride Challenges divisional rank since these challenges are for trail riding only. 
  • Arena miles must be tracked separately if you are riding in an arena prior to trail riding, otherwise full trail ride will be disqualified from Challenge miles. 
  • For Lifetime Mileage tracking and/or other awards, upload arena miles and check the box for “Arena” when updating Ride Details via the website – this will allow the miles to be counted for Lifetime Mileage and/or other awards but will not be counted toward your Trail Ride miles.
  • If a majority of your riding is in an arena, you may want to consider one of the Equine Sport Challenges. 
• If a Trail Rider would like to participate in a paid event, thus moving them to the Equine Sport Challenge Competitor Division, they can upload that ride for Lifetime Mileage tracking but opt not to include those miles in their Trail Ride Challenge mileage by checking the box for “Do not include in Trail Ride Challenge”.  This will allow them to maintain their status in the Trail Ride Divisions.
• If uploading your GPX file via app, you will need to log into the website and manually update any additional Ride Details within 10 days of the ride date, this is not required but encouraged if you want to compete for additional awards and prizes.

Equine Sport Challenges

• Professional Division
  • Any rider paid to ride (trainer, guide, outfitter, etc)
  • Track all miles for paid rides and regular riding
  • Arena mileage allowed
  • No mileage criteria (minimum, maximum, or levels/divisions)
• Competitor Division
  • Any rider who pays to compete in any organized events (AERC, NATRC, shows, etc) during their membership period
  • Track all miles for paid rides and regular riding
  • Arena mileage allowed
  • No mileage criteria (minimum, maximum, or levels/divisions)
• Recreation Division
  • Any other equine facilitated sport (carting/driving, equine hiking, burro racing, etc)
    • As this category grows, we will look at breaking it out into further divisions as needed, even its own Challenge group
  • Any location (arena, trail, etc)
  • No mileage criteria (minimum, maximum, or levels/divisions)

Equine Sport Challenge Rules

• Rides must be uploaded within 10 days of riding (240 hours), but uploading rides sooner rather than later is highly encouraged due to variances when it comes to time zones, device time-date stamps, and server time-date stamps.  Server time-date stamps will supersede all other time-date stamps. 
• If uploading your GPX file via app, you will need to log into the website and manually update any additional Ride Details within 10 days of the ride date, this is not required but encouraged if you want to compete for additional awards and prizes.

Scoring Criteria for Trail Ride & Equine Sport Challenges

1. Qualified miles completed
   1. Goal:  Encourage riders to ride more in general
   2. Primary ranking factor for Mileage Challenges
2. Trail variety
   1. Goal:  Encourage riders to explore new trails and/or variations of familiar trails
      1. This will operate on the honor system of Riders marking rides as ‘New Trail’
      2. It is up to each rider to determine what they think should be considered a ‘New’ trail and how much variance is required to qualify a ride as a ‘New’ trail will be up to them
      3. Audits will be based on if trail was marked as ‘New’ and degree of variance
   2. Will be used in the event a mileage tie breaker is needed, including degree of variation, as determined by Top Trail admins
   3. Each year, trails will reset to zero in terms of ‘New’
3. Contribution + Engagement
   1. Goal:  Encourage riders to help others by including photos with ride uploads, helping others on the Facebook group or website forums, etc 
   2. Will be used in the event a mileage tie breaker and trail variety tie breaker is needed
   3. Will also be a qualifier for ‘Top Trail Team’ nominee consideration

New Mileage Upload Reporting

The ‘Add Ride’ form and ‘Edit Ride’ form will be updated to allow for additional ride information to be submitted for ranking and scoring criteria, if the Rider so chooses to update those fields.  Additional fields are not required but are encouraged for participation in additional challenges, contests, and to qualify for prizes.

Update Rides on Website

• Checkboxes:  Publicly Accessible, Private Property, Public + Private  (select one)
  • If on private land, mark Private Property
  • If trail is publicly accessible (public land, paid entry, etc), then mark it as Publicly Accessible so others know they can access it too
  • If a mix of both, check box for “Public + Private”, this will be used to manually audit the trail map more closely to evaluate if the trail map can be edited down to publicly accessible land only for sharing on Top Horse Trails
• Checkboxes:  Trail, Road, Arena  (select all that apply)
  • Trail is any single-track trail up to forest service road size, includes ATV roads/trails
  • Road is any paved or unpaved road commonly used by passenger vehicles
  • Arena is any indoor arena, outdoor arena, or other structured riding space
• Checkbox:  New trail   (never ridden before by you)
  • Trail Blazer award for most new trails ridden (or variations of known trails) will be using this checkbox for scoring Divisional rank and for additional ranking and awards
  • Trail variations of familiar trails count as a new trail, this is to encourage riders to include some variety in their riding to keep things interesting
  • This will operate on the honor system of Riders marking rides as ‘New Trail’
  • It is up to each rider to determine what they think should be considered a ‘New’ trail and how much variance is required to qualify a ride as a ‘New’ trail will be up to them
  • Audits will be based on if trail was marked as ‘New’ and degree of variance
• Checkbox:  Do not include in Challenge Mileage
  • Allows Trail Ride Division riders to attend a paid event without forcing them to move to the Equine Sport – Competitor Division by excluding paid event miles from Trail Ride Challenge miles but still tracking them in their Lifetime Mileage
• Upload photo(s)
  • Will be used for Challenge scoring, tie breaking
  • Trail Paparazzi awards for members who post the most photos with their rides
  • Will also be part of consideration for ‘Top Trail Team’ award nominations

EasyTrails App Users

Update Trail Files Before Uploading

• If on private land, mark Private
• If on public land, mark Public
• If a mix of Public and Private, mark Public 
• Name file after park location or trail name
• Add additional information to Rides via the Top Trail website to solidify Division rank and qualify for more awards and recognition
  • Trail, Road, or Arena
  • New Trail
  • Do not include in Challenge Mileage 
    • if GPX file is arena miles or if you rode in a paid event (NATRC, AERC, etc)
  • Upload Photos

New Monthly Contests

In an effort to increase engagement and member enjoyment, host monthly themes and contests.  Monthly contests give all members, even if they don’t ride a lot, a chance to win. Winners will be chosen based on specified criteria or voting within the Top Trail Facebook group. Must have an active membership to participate and qualify for prizes. Any Facebook group member, even if not a paid Top Trail member, can participate in select Contests by voting via Like/Reaction to a submission on the Monthly Contest Thread. Themes for each month will change annually to keep things interesting.

These are the monthly themes for 2023 – so you can plan ahead: 

• February:  Love
  • Post photo of riding with your love, somewhere you love, wearing something you love, or just riding doing what you love!
  • Top 3 photos with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• March:  Spring
  • Jumping Activity:  Most “Springy” Jump 
    • Whether by costume type, jump style, you and your horse wearing slinkies, whatever way you interpret “springy” – go for it and take a photo or video!
  • Post photo or video of you and/or your equine jumping (or attempting) something related to the theme (big jump or even teeny-tiny jump or even a step-over, mounted or in-hand) and post it to the Monthly Contest Thread
  • Top 3 with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• April:  Poetry Month
  • Write your best equine poetry and post it in the Monthly Contest Thread in the Facebook Group
  • Top 3 with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• May:  Funniest Riding Track Shape
  • Time to get creative with your riding! Location of ride can be anywhere – arena, trail, field, etc and will not be disqualified regardless of what Division you’re in
  • Start your GPS tracking and ride your horse in the funniest shape you can think of to record your GPS track shape (draw a horse, dinosaur, or…. other things)
  • Upload your ride track to Top Trail as normal as a ride 
  • Once uploaded on the Top Trail website, take a screenshot of the map and save the image
  • Post the ride map screenshot image to the Monthly Contest Thread in the Facebook Group
  • Top 3 with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• June:  Great Outdoors
  • Post your best trail riding photo from the current month on the Monthly Contest Thread in the Facebook Group, multiple entries allowed, post them as you ride them
  • Top 3 with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• July:  Patriotic
  • Dress yourself and your equine up in the best patriotic display and go for a ride – take pictures – post them to the monthly contest thread in the Facebook Group
  • This applies to all USA and International riders – dress up in your country’s most patriotic garb
  • Top 3 with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• August:  Sizzlin’ Hot
  • Post your hottest trail riding photo from this month – whatever that means to you – on the Monthly Contest Thread in the Facebook Group
  • Top 3 with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• September:  Fall
  • Post your funniest or craziest falling off story to the Monthly Contest Thread in the Facebook Group
  • Top 3 with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• October:  Costume Rides
  • Go riding in costume and take photos, post them to the monthly contest thread in the Facebook Group
  • Top 3 with most Likes/Reactions win a prize
• November:  Thankful
  • Post what you are most thankful for this past year to the Monthly Contest thread in the Facebook Group
  • Random drawing for prizes for everyone who posts in monthly contest thread
• December:  Celebration
  • Celebrate by posting your favorite trail photos from the whole year
  • Random drawing for prizes for everyone who posts in monthly contest thread in the Facebook Group
• January 2024:  Goals
  • Post your yearly goal to the Monthly Contest thread in the Facebook Group
  • Random drawing for prizes for everyone who posts in monthly contest thread

New Rankings & Recognition

In order to make participation more enjoyable and rewarding, there will be additional recognitions and awards in addition to the standard divisional recognitions.

The goal is to put the emphasis on the Fun + Noteworthy awards for members who want a chance at ranking or winning something but don’t want to or are unable to compete for higher mileage.  Mileage Divisions are meant to be challenging to push each rider to ride more miles in order to rank. Fun + Noteworthy categories give all riders a chance to rank for lots of attainable things, be recognized, and win prizes.

• Top Trail Team | People’s Choice Award
  • Select Riders/Equines will be nominated by Top Trail admins for their performance during the year, contribution to the trail riding sport, and helping others
  • Nominees will be featured on the Top Trail website and shared on the Top Trail Facebook Group
  • Voting will happen either via the Top Trail Facebook Group or an Online Survey
  • All members will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite nominee during the month of January
  • Winner will be announced at the end of January / early February
  • This will be considered the Top prize of the year
• Overall Mileage Rankings
  • Top Trail Rider + Equine
    • Top Trail Rider (most miles + variety)
    • Top Trail Equine (most miles, variety)
  • Top Sport Equestrian + Equine
    • Top Sport Equestrian
    • Top Sport Equine
• Divisional Mileage Rankings
  • Trail Ride Divisions
    • Pleasure
    • Adventurer
    • Explorer
    • Legends
  • Equine Sport Divisions
    • Professional
    • Competitor
    • Recreational
• Affiliate Rankings
  • NATRC
  • MHC
  • MFTHBA
  • 40-Something Cowgirls
  • Hags with Nags
• Group Rankings
  • Fuzzy Butters
  • Double Trouble
• Fun + Noteworthy Awards (ideas listed below – have more ideas? Keep adding to them each year!)
  • Most Horses Ridden Award
  • Most Days Ridden Award
  • Most + Least Elevation Gain Awards
  • Fastest + Slowest Average Speed Awards
  • Working Class Award – Most miles for full-time workers Award
  • Arena Princess / Prince Award – Most arena miles
  • Road Warrior Award – Most road miles
  • Trail Paparazzi Award – Most photos posted
  • Trail Blazer Award – Most new trails ridden
  • Lifetime Mileage Achievements
  • Personal Goal Achievements

New Reporting + Updates

Reporting posted to Top Trail website, Top Trail Facebook page, and Top Trail Facebook group.

• Monthly
  • Monthly Contests
  • Additional rankings as time and report automation allow
• Quarterly
  • Divisional Rankings
  • Group Rankings
• Annually
  • Top Trail Team – People’s Choice Award
  • Top Trail Rider / Equine
  • Top Sport Equestrian / Equine
  • Divisional Rankings
  • Affiliate Rankings
  • Group Rankings
  • Fun + Noteworthy Rankings

New Profile Updates

In order to better categorize members for additional awards, here are some profile options Riders can update to qualify.

Checkbox:  Working Class

• Select:  Full-time, Part-time, Retired
• Allows Trail Ride Division riders only to qualify for the Working Class award

Updated Rules, Terms, and Conditions

Ride GPX files must be uploaded within 10-days (240-hours) of completion of ride.  The intent is to get more riders out on trails and for them to enjoy being out on trails more. By increasing the days allowed to upload GPX files, it gives riders a chance to do multi-day trips and still have those miles count. We do still need to have a limit due to reporting, audits, etc, but the 10-day rule seemed most fair to all riders.

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By submitting rides marked “Public Trail” and all related files, photos, and information related to that public trail, members are consenting to allow that information to be used by Top Trail Horse, Top Horse Trails and other related subsidiaries for marketing purposes and to provide additional programs and services across various platforms. All files will be screened before use to verify public land boundaries in case of accidental ‘Public’ marking. 

• This is to make members aware of what happens to their shared data and information. 
• Most trail information will be used to help build out the Top Horse Trails website and support the mission of getting more equestrians out on trails to ensure we don’t lose access. 
• We will never sell your personal data to other companies, the intent is to use it to improve our own trail riding products and services through our own brands in support of our mission.
• This stipulation is already in full effect per the Terms of Service stated on the Top Trail website and agreement with these terms is already required for members – we are simply making it more transparent and bringing it to members attention here.

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All rules will be interpreted based on the intent of the rules, as deemed by the Top Trail admins.  Top Trail reserves the right to adjust some rules and guidelines as needed without notice.  If there is significant impact to members, as deemed by Top Trail admins, these adjustments will be posted publicly on the Top Trail website and shared on the Top Trail Facebook group for awareness.  

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The rules, terms, and conditions stated above supersede all other rules, terms, and conditions.  Terms of Service still apply unless superseded by updated rules, terms, and conditions stated above. 

Terms of Service