Program Rules

Registration

1. Riders must join AERC and Green Bean Endurance Challenge to participate in this program. See Membership Sign Up for the current registration fee.
2. Once your registration is confirmed, you’ll be added to the program and can sign in to Member Home.
3. Registration fees pay for the awards and maintenance of the website, and are non-refundable.
4. Every rider is automatically included in the Individual Rider points program.

Eligibility and When Points Start

1. Riders must be an AERC member in good standing.
2. The competition follows the AERC points year: December 1, 2026 through November 30, 2027.
3. Join by February 1, 2027 and your points count from the start of the season (December 1, 2026). Join after February 1, 2027 and your points count from the date you join.
4. This applies to AERC results, Bonus points and Tally-Hoe points alike. Activity before your points start date stays in your records, but it doesn’t earn points.
5. Riders with fewer than 1,000 combined AERC miles (LD and endurance) at the start of the season compete in the experience divisions below. Riders with 1,000 or more miles compete in the Canned division.

Divisions – Experience Levels

Teams and riders are assigned to an experience level based on AERC mileage at the start of the season (December 1, 2026).

1. Individuals
   • Seedlings: under 16 at the start of the season, with fewer than 1,000 miles (AERC’s “Junior” division)
   • Sprouts: age 16 to 20 at the start of the season, with fewer than 1,000 miles (AERC’s “Young Rider” division)
   • Seniors, On-The-Vine: 0–99 miles
   • Seniors, Picked: 100–499 miles
   • Seniors, Cooked: 500–999 miles
   • Canned: riders of any age with 1,000 or more miles
2. Teams, by the combined starting miles of all riders. We may adjust these brackets based on the number of teams.
   • On-the-vine: 0–499 miles
   • Picked: 500–1,499 miles
   • Cooked: 1,500–5,000 miles
   • Canned: every rider has 1,000 or more miles

Team Rules

1. Captains form teams in Member Home through the team formation deadline, March 15, 2027. After that, rosters are locked for captains and riders; the Green Bean team can still help form, combine or correct teams.
2. Teams have 3 to 5 riders. A team with fewer than 3 riders is Pending and isn’t ranked; Pending teams may be combined after the deadline.
3. A rider may belong to only one team.
4. A rider must have known starting miles to be placed on a team.
5. Canned riders may team up only with other Canned riders. A team can never mix riders under and over 1,000 miles, even as an exception.
6. Each team may substitute one rider through May 1, 2027. Substitutions are made by the Green Bean team; anything beyond that is at the Green Bean team’s discretion.
7. A team’s score is the full-season total of its current riders. When a rider moves to another team, their full season of points goes with them.
8. Points are earned by the rider, not the horse. A rider may earn points on multiple horses, regardless of who owns the horse.

AERC Ride Points

1. Only events sanctioned by AERC earn ride points: Limited Distance (LD) and Endurance. If AERC does not report results for your ride, no ride points are given.
2. Ride points come straight from AERC’s published results; you don’t need to submit anything. See the Scoring Matrix below for the points.
3. Back-to-Back points are calculated for you from AERC results, too.

Bonus Points

1. Submit Bonus activities in Member Home. You must be signed in.
2. You may earn AERC and Bonus points on the same day. Each Bonus activity has its own daily and season limits, shown in the Scoring Matrix; there are no combined limits across different activities.
3. A parent, guardian or other adult can submit for a Seedling or Sprout once the Green Bean team links their login to that rider. Please contact us to set this up.
4. For any errors in a prior submission, please submit a correction.

Tally-Hoe Mileage Derby

1. Log your saddle time in Member Home. Every 100 qualifying miles earns 5 points.
2. Competitive miles and personal miles. Miles count toward points and the Tally-Hoe leaderboard only when they are on or after your points start date and submitted on time. Every mile you log stays in your personal Tally-Hoe journal, even when it doesn’t count for points.

Submission Deadlines and Exceptions

1. Submit Bonus and Tally-Hoe activities within 30 days of the activity. For activity before you joined, the 30 days start on your join date.
2. The final deadline for the season is December 15, 2027. Nothing submitted after it counts unless the Green Bean team approves an exception.
3. Late entries are saved with 0 points. Bonus and Tally-Hoe entries alike stay in your records.
4. If the Green Bean team approves a late entry as an exception, it counts for points, standings and badges. A late Bonus entry that is not approved does not count toward badges. A late Tally-Hoe entry that is not approved stays in your personal journal only.

Scoreboard

1. Scoreboards update as soon as you submit an activity.
2. AERC ride results are updated automatically as AERC publishes them.
3. All entries are reviewed, and entries that don’t meet the rules may not be approved. We will make every effort to let you know when an entry is not approved.
4. All discrepancies or errors on the final scoreboards must be reported no later than December 15, 2027.

Awards

1. A rider must receive a minimum of 25 points in order to receive a completion award and certificate. This means if a rider on a winning team does not have at least 25 points, no team award will be given to that rider.
2. The number of awards given will vary depending on the total number of eligible teams and riders.
3. TEAM High point awards will be awarded in each division. GBE scorekeeper reserves the right to combine divisions based on number of registered teams. (Number of awards will vary based on participation rate)
4. Individual High point awards will be awarded to the top rider in each experience division.
5. If a rider is the top individual rider and also a member of the top team, rider will only receive one high point award. Additional lines of embroidery will be included, if possible.
6. The Canned (riders with more than 1000 miles) division is for support and fun only; as such, Canned awards are printed certificates and patches rather than team or rider high point awards. If you are interested in sponsoring an award, please reach out to the program director.

See completion awards and past winners on the Awards & Recognition page ›