- Check Your RMS Profile – This is a great time of the year to take a quick look at your
profile in RMS and make sure your address, phone number, email address, and emergency
contact information is current. This really helps Ride Secretaries when making contact lists
for the rides. - Importance of Signing up and Sending in Ride Deposits Early – It is extremely helpful to
our ride managers for riders to sign up as early as possible rather than waiting until right
before the ride. Ride deposits are also very important. These deposits are a part of the
process of registering for a ride. To complete your registration in RMS, you must choose
either a deposit amount or your whole ride entry. By selecting one of these options, the Ride
Secretary and Ride Manager are notified that you will be sending a payment to secure your
spot in the ride. And then they must wait to see what arrives in the mail or via a payment
app, hopefully within a week or two. This money can then be used towards expenses a Ride
Manager incurs prior to the ride such as the ride sanction fee and insurance costs which is
paid upfront. Then there may be charges such as plan tickets that need to be purchased in
advance, camping spots reserved, event permits at the ride locations.
So, please help your Ride Managers and Ride Secretaries by signing up as soon as a ride
gets opened in RMS and then immediately send in your ride deposit. There is SO MUCH
WORK that these two people do to put on the rides for you, do what you can to help them
out. And if you see a ride struggling to get enough riders, consider sending them a donation
if you are able. - Retired Trophy Auction – Would you like to call a piece of rich NATRC history your own?
The first of the series of remaining traveling trophies is now available for silent auction
bidding until Saturday, February 21, 2026, at noon when all bids will close. The first trophy
for auction is the Polly Bridges Memorial trophy with an opening bid of $500. Bids can be
placed by emailing Sarah, NATRC Executive Director at natrc@natrc.org. Please check with
Sarah on what the current bid is at before emailing your bid. All bids will remain anonymous
during the bidding process with the winning bid announced at the NATRC National
Convention in Austin, TX. Auction proceeds will be applied to our NATRC national awards
program - Reserve Your Room Now For The 2026 National Convention – Make your reservations
now to secure your room for 2026 National NATRC Convention in Austin, Texas with our
convention hotel, the Holiday Inn Austin Town Lake, the weekend of February 20-22, 2026.
The hotel is keeping our block of rooms open until January 19 th . After that, the hotel will sell
out very quickly as this is also NASCAR race weekend in Austin. Click here to book your
room!
This year’s convention theme is Heritage, Harmony, and Hill Country and is being hosted by
Region 4. If you have not attended one of our national conventions, you should. You will
come away inspired as well as motivated for the upcoming ride season.
The educational seminars this year will focus on developing balanced riding skills for
healthier and stronger horse and rider partnerships. You will learn from experienced NATRC
November and December 2025
horsemanship and veterinary judges who will share insights to elevate your competitive trail
riding experience.
Meeting and getting to know other NATRC members from across the country is extremely
rewarding. Continue to stay tuned for more exciting convention information.
- 2026 Free Competing NATRC Memberships – In 2026, we will once again be offering
FREE competing memberships to first time NATRC members! Be sure to tell your friends
and neighbors! - Welcome New NATRC Board of Directors – Welcome to the following re-elected and
newly elected national board members: Region 1 – Maria Pilgrim; Region 2 – Kandace
French Contreras; Region 3 – Kay Gunckel (Alternate); Region 4 – Mike Perryman
(Alternate); Region 5 – Kris Gray; Region 6 – Marilyn Marston. Huge thank you to the
following outgoing board members for all their service and dedication to NATRC: Lory Walls,
Cara Liebman, and Marla Stucky. - National Officer Elections – Your 2026 National NATRC officer team is as follows:
President – John Zeliff (R6), Vice President – Fran Muench (R4), and Treasurer – Kris Gray
(R5). Congratulations to all. - 2027 Rule Book Clarification – There is one proposed 2027 rule book clarification having
to do with defining the adult class the same for all divisions for simplicity and consistency. - Reminder: 2026 Ride and Clinic Schedules – As regions finalize their Ride and Clinic
Schedules for the upcoming ride season, we are once again encouraging each region to
schedule a minimum of two clinics. NATRC clinics are a lot of fun and are easy to do. There
is a direct correlation between clinic participants and new members and riders to our sport.
Clinics also provide a fantastic opportunity for any rider to hone their skills. Include a LeD
ride the same weekend and location of your clinic and new riders can immediately apply
what they learned. Put together an advanced clinic that targets experienced riders. The first
two clinics sanctioned in each region will be reimbursed $100 for insurance costs. - Reminder: 2025 NATRC Raffle Tickets – Tickets are now available for our 2025 NATRC
Raffle! Purchase your tickets from any national board member for your chance to win. The
drawing will be held at the 2026 national convention in Austin, Texas. You do not need to be
present to win.
First prize is a Clingman 16” Gaited Western Endurance Saddle donated by our new
national NATRC sponsor Tennessee Saddlery. The second prize is a 1-year premium US
Rider Membership. For third prize, one winner from each of our six regions will receive a
$100 fuel card. - Reminder: Riding Warehouse Discounts Still Available – As I shared in the March/April
and May Membership Updates, Riding Warehouse is once again providing all riders and
volunteers at each of our rides a special coupon. This year’s coupon is for an additional $30
off an order of $200 or more. This is in addition to the current 10% NATRC Member
Exclusive discount we already receive. (As a reminder: The current Riding Warehouse
discount code can be found after logging into our website and then clicking on Partner
Discounts under the Members tab on the home page.) Thank you, Riding Warehouse, for
your continued support of NATRC! - Follow NATRC on the Web: Be sure to make our NATRC webpage natrc.org the startup
page for your internet browser. When you do, each time you open your browser, your
opening tab will be our NATRC webpage. It is an effortless way to stay current with NATRC! - Stay Current: Keep up to date with NATRC by following us on social media.
a. Follow us on Instagram @natrc_ctr. There are now 465 NATRC pictures on here!
b. Follow us on Facebook with our North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC) page. - Subscribe today to our NATRC (North American Trail Ride Conference) YouTube
channel. Be sure to check this resource out. We currently have thirty videos posted here
that are specific to our sport. It is a wealth of extremely helpful information. All previous Let’s
Ride webinars are here as well.
Follow me on Apple Music @j_zeliff
Follow me on Instagram @johnzeliff
And then be sure to follow me to that next NATRC ride!
John Zeliff, President
