The Rules

THE GREAT DISTANCE DERBY is a yearlong tracking program/game/competition & community where you GPS your ride/drive mileage.

As part of The Great Distance Derby, in addition to tracking your own mileage you can also play/compete virtually with other Teams in your Town, State, Nation, Continent & Across The World.  

The purpose of this game is to encourage you to get out and ride & drive. Any equine, any time, any speed. It is intended SOLELY for the FUN of both horse & human. It is not meant to detract but instead enhance your partnership with your horse(s) by increasing your awareness of how far you travel together & how far they are carrying you. 

1)  GOLDEN RULE: NO BULLYING OR DISCRIMINATION OF ANY KIND WILL BE TOLERATED. SPORTSMANSHIP & HORSEMANSHIP TRUMP MILEAGE ANY DAY!
You may agree to disagree with anyone in a mutually respectful way. Posts/Comments on any of DD sites that do not honor this will be cause for IMMEDIATE ELIMINATION from DD. While we cannot control what happens on the trail we hope a commitment to kindness & respect will permeate all our activities and events. This should be a SAFE space where the DIVERSITY of the human & horse species is CELEBRATED.

If repeat issues on trail, Facebook or elsewhere surfaces, management reserves the right to decline, eliminate or not invite back competitors who, for whatever reason, do not work toward creating a Great Distance Derby Community that is kind and considerate.

While we compliment our tracking with a PRIVATE Facebook Community that some of our Teams choose to participate in we know that sometimes people in the virtual world can be more unkind than they might be in person. We manage our FB Community so that it counterbalances this phenomenon & to keep us inline with our vision/mission. We are a UNIQUE community & have proudly removed people from the DD who use this FUN game to talk unkindly about others or for their own personal agendas/egos/opinions. 

This game is not likely a good match for those who are highly opinionated, frequently critical of others or unable to follow someone else's barn rules respectfully & gratefully. You are being invited into the home/barn of the main volunteer as well as many of our Teams, please conduct yourself as if you are guest as all Teams are. If you participate in our FB Community please read the Group Description BEFORE posting there & please relish the rare space we are creating for you & others to have FUN!

 
2)  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The materials and format of this Derby, it's sub-derbies and it's predecessors (Distance Derby, Michigan Distance Derby, Great Lakes Distance Derby, etc) are Copyright Protected. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. As a participant of this Derby you agree not to duplicate or participate in a duplicating version. As a VOLUNTEER run year long Derby, time is precious and to have volunteers here working redundantly is not only inefficient but inconsiderate. Exceptions include: Standard Breed Programs Hourly or Mileage Tracking; AERC/UMERCA and its divisions and Trail Time. If you have a question about whether or not you are already participating or going to participate in a Duplicating Derby, send an email. Competitors who fail to disclose or try to duplicate will be dropped immediately out of respect for the Honor System this game relies on.  Any copyright infringement will be met with the FULL force of available remedies.

3)  THIS IS A VOLUNTEER RUN DERBY.  THE FEW VOLUNTEERS WE HAVE ALSO WORK MULTIPLE JOBS, HAVE FAMILIES, OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES & RIDING/DRIVING GOALS OF OUR OWN. PATIENCE IS NOT ONLY APPRECIATED BUT EXPECTED. OUR TIME IS VALUABLE & LIMITED SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO CONTINUE TO VOLUNTEER  IT TO INCLUDE YOU IN THE DERBY YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING THE INFORMATION ON THIS BLOG, READING OUR STATUS UPDATES ON FACEBOOK & POSTS IN OUR PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP BEFORE ASKING QUESTIONS. WE HAVE DONE OUR BEST TO ANTICIPATE & ANSWER QUESTIONS. THIS DERBY HAS 5 YEARS DEMONSTRATED SUCCESS SO PLEASE HELP US SUSTAIN IT BY NOT HAVING US WASTE VALUABLE & LIMITED TIME RE-ANSWERING QUESTIONS ALREADY ANSWERED.

4)  ALL MILEAGE MUST BE GPS MILEAGE. You must have a horse (or other equine) or access to one and a GPS device to record your mileage. Please note that many Smartphones have GPS capabilities. Sample apps include SportsTracker, Runtastic, Garmin Fit and MyTracks. Find the app that works best for you. You are responsible for the operation of your unit. Technical support is NOT available through The Great Distance Derby. ALL mileage entered MUST BE GPS Mileage.

Duplicate entries have happened in the past so it is imperative you keep a separate log on your Team Page & compare its accuracy to Leaderboard periodically so you don't lose mileage/standing/ranking at the end of the year when we clean up and pull duplicates. A summary of mileage will be posted periodically in the right sidebar of this blog.  See this page for complete instructions on entering miles.

Throughout the year (2-4 times) a volunteer will review mileage of Teams for duplicates or errors that sometimes happens. At that time duplicates are deleted & errors corrected. The BEST way to ensure your mileage is always correct is to use your Team Page to keep your mileage log. Without that any mileage discrepancy is left to the discretion of management. There are well over 7 THOUSAND individual mileage entries each year so your backlog on your Team Page is the BEST way to ensure your final year tally is accurate.

This competition is all in FUN.  If a rule is protested, ride management has the final decision. Stay safe and keep your horse happy and healthy!

5)  CALENDAR YEAR. The Great Distance Derby (aka Derby) begins January 1, and ends at 11:59 PM EST on December 31. All eligible mileage must be accumulated in that time period. Participants are encouraged to be enrolled by January 1, of that year. But we will remain open to new Teams throughout the year. Mileage begins on January 1 or the DATE OF COMPLETED REGISTRATION if later than January 1 and is NOT retroactive.   All mileage accumulated in accordance with the Derby Rule 6 and the last week's mileage must be posted by January 1, Midnight EST to be eligible for Derby credit.

6)  TEAM DEFINITION. A Team by definition is you, the rider/driver, and 1 equine(s) you are riding while recording miles.  If you have multiple horses you regularly ride you may register a separate Team for each. Each Team gets a Team Page which will allow you to keep a journal & back up log for your miles & smiles! You get a New Team Page EACH year you participate in the Derby & it will remain so long as you are in Good Standing with the Derby regardless if you are active or retired from the Derby.

7)  REGISTERING, fill out REGISTRATION FORM & email 1 favorite photograph of your Team to THE GREAT DISTANCE DERBY EMAIL. You will be assigned a team number and your bio information will be shown on this Distance Derby blog page.  (Click here for a sample entry/bio).

8)  TRACKING MILEAGE. ANYTIME you ride or drive your equine, record your mileage with your GPS device. Enter date & mileage and commentary (optional) MILEAGE FORM. You must be in saddle or cart/wagon to count miles. Ground Driving & Ground Work does NOT count. Each ride/drive is a separate entry even if it occurs on the same day. It must be GPSed mileage. It is up to you to keep your own log (preferably on your Team Page) and check for accuracy on the Leader Board. It is also up to you to keep it honest.

9)  POSTING MILEAGE. This is a Derby therefore mileage must be posted frequently for riders to know their placings.  Each Team must post their mileage within 7 days of their ride to receive ride credit.  Any mileage submitted beyond 7 days will not be eligible for credit.

Exception:  If a Team is going on a riding/driving vacation and the length of the vacation prevents the rider from posting one or more days in the 7 day period, rider must advise the group via their comments prior to leaving for vacation specifying the time period (date to date) that they will be unable to post due to riding vacation or event.  Rider will have 7 days from the last date specified to post their total mileage from the trip.  If rider does not notify group of extended leave prior to the event, credit will not be given.

10)  REMAINING CURRENT. Teams who do not submit miles for 60 or more consecutive days will be disqualified from competition as abandoning the Derby. Riders who have not ridden in 60 days may continue to compete as long as they make notation on their bio that they plan to continue the competition.     

11)  ERRORS. A volunteer scribe will post your miles most generally each week.  It is up to each rider to verify if the mileage is correct.  Errors must be reported via DD Email within 7 days of the update.

12)  RANKINGS. There are multiple categories (Overall Winner; Top Rider Each State/Country; 60 & Over; 20 & Younger; Most Miles Driven; Most Miles On Multiple Horses {Recreational & Professional Category}) to place and multiple ways to earn bragging rights! 

For example, Number 1, Top 5, Top 10, Top 25, Top 50, etc. We even have a Most Valuable Player Award (Our Most Important Recognition) & Turtle Award! 

In some cases teams have donated awards throughout the year to encourage participation in an event or for year end category awards. Don't get too excited, it's about winning not an award, right? The purpose of the DD is not prizes & awards but an improved partnership with your equine (s) who will be well-conditioned while improving your riding/driving skills.

13)  HONOR. This game is based on the honor system.  There is no big bag of cash or a trophy saddle awarded to the winner so there is nothing to cheat for.  If the goal is to out-distance another rider for bragging rights then that can only be done by really doing it.  Trust and integrity is as much a part of this game as the miles traveled in the saddle. 

14)  RESPECT. This game is being offered for you to have FUN & you should help to make it FUN to RUN. If you post a comment or complaint against the DD, Administrators or Volunteers you WILL be REMOVED & BANNED from the DD without notice. Teams that instigate complaints to other Teams creating or contributing to a negative experience for other Teams or undermind the work of the Derby will be REMOVED from the Derby. The Derby offers opportunities for you to have FUN; if you find that challenging you may leave the Derby at any time. Communicate with Administrator by PM ONLY.

15)  NEGATIVE COGGINS. Not unlike shows, clinics, competitions and boarding facilities we are interested in responsibly caring for our horse community and as such ask anyone who participates in DD Group Rides as they impact other people/horses to have Proof of Negative Coggins within the calendar year as is the minimum requirement of nearly every organized horse activity. 

Those who ride on their own property and do not interact with other horses needn't have one to participate in the DD. 

This ONLY applies to folks participating in an OPTIONAL activity as these group rides are and that as part of a group are asked to comply with MINIMUM standards practiced by the horse community for years. Our intentions here are not to exclude anyone but to ensure we are keeping with best practices of the horse community by doing our part to ensure those who participate in group activities of the DD can expect the minimum standard of prevention already widely practiced in the horse community. We owe our horses at least that much. 

*Distance Derby Rules will be revised or altered as needed as we grow. It is the responsibility of each Team to Read the Rules prior to Registering & throughout the year as they have questions or if issues arise.
TOP 10 REASONS EQUESTRIANS LOVE THE DERBY!