Overview

Below are the finalized Divisions and rules that will apply to the 2024 year as a whole including quarterly and annual rankings.

Please note – website updates and app launch will be going on throughout the year as improvements are made and the 2024 rules are applied to the site leaderboards, rankings, reporting, and other items, and thus the website may not reflect the most accurate and up-to-date data based on the new rules. After the end of the year, during annual audits, all data will be reviewed and finalized to determine final standings.

Membership Levels

Top Trail Membership: $35/year

• Join any time, good for 1-year from sign-up date or renewal
• Access all features on website/app and other activities
  • Participation in 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: admin@tophorsetrails.com
• Printed certificates
  • MUST opt in for printed certificates via member profile (checkbox for printed certificates)
  • 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
  • Sent annually for milestone achievements (1000 mile increments) during the year (Jan1 – Dec 31) based on actual miles ridden (not Challenge miles)

Add-Ons

• NATRC: $25/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
• All Other Affiliate Groups
  • No Additional Cost / No Limit
  • Must be a member of affiliate before purchasing add-on
  • Current Affiliations Roster
    • Michigan Horse Council
    • Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association
    • Hags with Nags
• Groups: 
  • No Additional Cost / No Limit
  • Any paid member can start a Group and will become Group Admin but group 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. 

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 – they are meant to be “challenging” – otherwise Riders can still ride and record miles and happen to rank where they rank on the Challenge Leaderboards and focus their attention on other Contests and Events if they want to win prizes that are not mileage related. Riders are limited to one Challenge per year – Trail Ride or one of the Equine Sports.  

Trail Ride Challenges

The Trail Ride Challenges require participants to be riding horseback on trails or dirt roads, 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

• Trail Ride Challenges are for ridden mileage completed on trails / dirt roads
  • Allowance for some arena riding (up to 15% of rides)
  • Allowance for some competitive paid rides (up to 3 per year)
  • Allowance for some other types of ride surfaces (ex: paved roads)
  • Allowance for paid non-competitive rides and events (no limit)
• All riders will start every year at zero for the Challenges.  
• As riders record miles, they will level-up through the Divisions based on Total Miles. 
• Riders who exceed their Division mileage at any time during the year will automatically be upgraded to the next division. 
• Final ranking within Division will be determined by audited final qualifying mileage.

Equine Sport Challenges

Equine Sport Challenges are for members who participate in multiple settings (arena, competition, trail, etc) and/or in multiple sports (horse hiking, burro racing, carriage, etc).

• Professional Division
  • Any rider paid to ride or makes their primary income from the equine industry (trainer, guide, outfitter, stable owner, etc)
  • Mileage must be ridden mileage
  • Mileage for all rides included (paid, recreational, etc)
  • Any location or situation (arena, trail, paid, etc)
• Competitor Division
  • Any rider who pays to compete in more than 3 organized events (AERC, NATRC, ETS, shows, etc) during the year
  • Mileage must be ridden mileage.
  • Mileage for all rides included (paid, recreational, conditioning, etc)
  • Any location or situation (arena, trail, paid, etc)
• Multi-Sport Division
  • Any other equine facilitated sport that does not fit into any other category or division (arena riding, carriage driving, equine hiking, burro racing, or combination of equine sports, etc)
    • As this category grows, we will look at breaking it out into further divisions as needed, even its own Challenge group
  • Any location or situation (arena, trail, paid, etc)

Scoring Criteria for Trail Ride & Equine Sport Challenges

1. Participant Responsibility
   1. It is solely the participant’s responsibility to turn in true and correct recorded tracks (.gpx files)
   2. If a track (.gpx file) is found to have disqualifying factors, the entire track will be disqualified, including all mileage recorded on that track
   3. Participants are HIGHLY encouraged to check ALL tracks (.gpx files) for correctness and fix them prior to uploading them to Top Trail (driving miles, tracking glitches, etc)
2. Mileage Disqualification
   1. Vehicle Miles
      1. If there is more than 1-mile of vehicle driving tracking, the entire ride mileage will be disqualified (will still count toward Lifetime Mileage)
   2. Glitch Tracking
      1. If there is more than 1-mile of “glitch” tracking, typically shown as perfectly straight lines on tracks, the entire ride mileage will be disqualified (will still count toward Lifetime Mileage)
   3. Missed Deadline
      1. If ride track is uploaded beyond the allowed 10-days, the entire ride mileage will be disqualified (will still count toward Lifetime Mileage)
3. 10-Day Upload Rule
   1. Rides must be uploaded within 10 days of riding (240 hours)
      1. 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.  
   2. Server time-date stamps will supersede all other time-date stamps. 
4. No Minimum
   1. There is no minimum mileage per ride. 
5. Ride Details / Editing
   1. If uploading your GPX file via third-party app, you will need to log into the Top Trail website and manually update any additional Ride Details at any point before the end of the year.
   2. Ride Details are not required but encouraged if you want to compete for additional awards and prizes.
6. Qualified Miles Completed
   1. Intent: Encourage riders to ride more trails
   2. Primary ranking factor for Mileage Challenges
   3. Rides with glitched tracking (usually shown on tracking map as perfectly straight lines for more than 1-mile) will be disqualified since actual mileage cannot be verified with faulty tracking
   4. All rides will be audited for meeting above stated criteria and qualified or disqualified based solely on Top Trail admin discretion
   5. Final ranking will be determined by audited final qualifying mileage.
7. Contribution + Engagement
   1. Intent:  Encourage riders to help others by including photos and trail reviews so that other members can find new places to ride 
   2. Each member’s contribution and engagement within the Top Trail community 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

Ride Uploading

The ‘Add Ride’ form and ‘Edit Ride’ functionality allows 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

• Accessibility:  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
• 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

Monthly Contests

Monthly contests give all members, even if they don’t ride a lot, a chance to win. Monthly Contests will be hosted and run within the Top Trail website and app. In order to participate, members will need to log into the website or app.  Winners will be chosen based on specified criteria for each contest. Must have an active membership to participate and qualify for prizes. Themes for each month may change annually.

Examples of Themes: 

• January:  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
• 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
  • Random drawing for prizes for everyone who posts in monthly contest thread
• 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
  • Random drawing for prizes for everyone who posts in monthly contest thread
• 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

Rankings & Recognition

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

• 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 other locations
  • Voting will happen either via the Top Trail Website, App, and/or Online Survey
  • All members will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite nominee during the voting period
  • Winner will be announced after voting is complete (estimate 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
    • Top Trail Equine
  • Top Sport Equestrian + Equine
    • Top Sport Equestrian
    • Top Sport Equine
• Divisional Mileage Rankings
  • Trail Ride Divisions
    • Pleasure (up to 250 miles)
    • Adventurer (250-500 miles)
    • Explorer (500-1000 miles)
    • Legends (over 1000 miles)
  • Professional
  • Competitor
  • Multi-Sport
• Affiliate Rankings
  • NATRC
  • MHC
  • MFTHBA
  • Hags with Nags
• Group Rankings
  • Fuzzy Butters
  • Double Trouble
• Fun + Noteworthy Awards
  • Additional awards as determined by Top Trail admins

Reporting + Updates

On-going reporting available via real-time leaderboards on the Top Trail Website and App. Audited and finalized reporting will be done on an Annual basis to determine final standings.

• Monthly
  • Monthly Contests
  • Unaudited Divisional Rankings (via real-time leaderboards)
• Quarterly
  • Unaudited Divisional Rankings (via real-time leaderboards)
  • Unaudited Group Rankings (via real-time leaderboards)
• 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

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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Leaderboards are representative of unofficial rankings only and do not guarantee rider ranking or placement at any time. 

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By submitting rides marked “Public” 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. 

• 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 overall 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 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.