Due to a number of incidents where riders entering at rides have not been aware of the rules of the sport the SMC has had rule books printed. These will be handed out to all MEMBERS at forthcoming rides or will be posted to new Members when they join.

Please read the rule books and make yourself aware of the rules. We don't want to have riders not being able to enter their first 80km event because they haven't got a logbook or horses with logbooks being refused entry into any of the rides as a result of leaving the logbook at home.

For those people who are not members please go to the AERA website (www.aera.asn.au) and download a copy of the rules.

If at any time you have a query about any rules or the requirements for entry please either post the question on the VERA FB page (there will be other people who will have the same question as you) or contact the VERA President of Secretary - see the VERA website for contact details.

As a member you are responsible for knowing the rules so please help us to ensure you can enter the event you wish to by knowing the requirements for entry.

Thanks to Lyn Taylor for providing this suggestion to assist our members.

The VERA SMC would like to congratulate the joint State Champions - Amanda Kettlewell and Tahlia Franke on their success at the VERA State Championships.

The OSO team worked together as a team so well and the horses looked keen all day long despite the challenges of the track. Well done ladies on your well deserved win.

The VERA SMC is seeking Ride Applications from Ride Organisers for consideration to be included in the 2020 Ride Calendar.

The Ride Application form is available on the VERA Website under Forms > Ride Organiser. Please complete and send through to our Ride Calendar Coordinator, Paul Nugent, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The VERA SMC have approved a new ride for the 2019 Calendar.

The Tallangatta Valley Endurance Ride will be held on the weekend of the 23rd and 24th November and will consist of a 20 km and 40 km event on the Saturday and a 20 km and 40 km event on the Sunday. Many thanks to Naomi McGaffin Brown and her support crew for adding this ride onto the calendar.

Looks like it will be a great track. More details will be posted as we receive the information.

Please note the separate entry form and information flier for the HEROs rides (Ararat, Moyston and Landsborough) have just been uploaded to the files section.

Anyone wanting to take part as a HERO's rider will need to nominate to enter the VERA Endurance ride, complete Horse Health Declaration and Temperature Log as per normal for any endurance event. The HERO's entry form is so you can be included in the series pointscore and be elligible for some great prizes and awards! Sincere apologies for the time taken to get all this together for you!

What started out as a germ of an idea among a small group of us sort of snowballed! Thank you to all at HRV HERO's and the SPonsor Peter Horobin Saddlery for this exciting opportunity to expose more Standardbred horses to the wonderful sport of endurance riding.

The VERA SMC would like to invite interested people to attend its Ride Secretary training afternoon. We have been lucky enough to have Kim Stephens (from Tumut and Snowy Zone rides) to help deliver this training.

The training will be held on 17th August 2019 commencing at 1 p.m. The venue is the Chittick Park Room (Seymour Leisure Centre), Pollard Street, Seymour. Afternoon tea will be provided.

If you are interested in coming along please contact the VERA Secretary, Ellen Prestage, to register your interest.

The SMC would like to thank Bronwyn Cuthbertson, who we originally approached to do the training, but we couldn't fit into her busy schedule.