News Release: For Immediate Release

Contact: Steve Cates, National Marketing & Sales Director

USRider & Easy Rider Team Up To Put Equine
Travel Safety First With Mutual Promotion

Oklahoma-Based Air Ride Hitch Manufacturer
Works with National Equine-Based

Trailering Program to Make Special Offers
Benefiting Members & Air Ride Hitch Buyers

Lexington, KY — Transporting Horses and other livestock in trailers has always been considered a necessary but dangerous situation on our nation’s highways. But the risks for USRider Members just got a lot lower with a new promotional deal signed by USRider of Lexington, Ky, and Easy Rider, Inc., of Wewoka, Okla.

Offering a special price reduction for Members to purchase the premier safety hitches on the market today from Easy Rider, USRider agreed to a mutual benefits promotion which also gives the Oklahoma air ride hitch manufacturer’s buyers a special price reduction on membership costs associated with USRider’s Equestrian Motor Plan.

Details of the cooperative promotion reveal that USRider members will be given a special 15% discount on their purchases of Easy RiderTM Air Ride Hitches. As part of the deal, USRider will also waive the normal $29 one-time new member activation fee for Easy Rider’s customers.

USRider is a national equine-based organization that promotes equine travel safety and provides nationwide trailering roadside assistance through its membership-based Motor Plan. For a nominal annual fee of just $109, along with a host of other benefits, the USRider Equestrian Motor Plan provides its Members with 24/7 roadside trailering protection and also covers its Member no matter what vehicle they are in — even if they are not driving.

With a fee that is comparable to ordinary motor plans, this unique plan offers more than the typical towing, battery assistance and lock-out services. USRider offers equine liability insurance, emergency trip interruption veterinary services, special discounts with various equine retailers, plus a unique fund-raising program that benefits Horses.

Administered by the Motor Club of America Enterprises, Inc., USRider has a network of over 100,000 dedicated professionals throughout North America committed to the safety and welfare of its Members. For just pennies a day USRider Members have access to specially trained USRider Member Care Specialists 24 hours a day, 7 days a week anywhere in North America, including Canada.

Typical roadside assistance programs do not cover Horses and trailers. Nor do they offer equine liability insurance and other equestrian benefits. USRider surpasses other plans by offering $500,000 Personal Excess Liability Insurance and up to $20,000 Personal Accident Insurance while trailering. Complete details are in the Service Contract and Evidence of Insurance that come in each Membership Kit.

In addition to these great benefits, the USRider program offers special member-only deals from more than 20 nationally recognized equestrian retailers on items for Horse, rider and equine enthusiast, including gifts, jewelry, art, tack, apparel, vet supplies, services and more — now including Easy Rider Hitches.

According to Mark Cole, Managing Member for USRider, the arrangement makes sense for their Members and for both parties. "This type of 'win-win' agreement with one of our program vendors gives added value to our memberships and helps safeguard the primary participants in our program, members and their Horses,"Cole says. "After reviewing these safety-oriented hitches, we realized the added safety and comfort benefits were key factors in helping seal the deal," he says. He added, "The Easy Rider product discounts can easily amount to hundreds of dollars in savings for our Members and can literally save our Members more than the cost of their annual membership for our program," he added.

Steve Cates, National Marketing & Sales Director for Easy Rider, Inc. said, "We’re proud to be a part of this type of cooperative program to benefit members of a solid organization like USRider. As we all know, the roads do not seem to be getting any smoother and by the very nature of their rigid metal-to-metal connection, hitches are often the cause of the pitch and yaw (seesaw and bucking actions) between most trailers and trucks," Cates continued. "We’ve shown how Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches help separate the trailer and tow vehicle to make them ride independently. This isolation factor gives the trailer the ability to move on its natural axis, making it ride smoother and, ultimately, making trailers safer to pull," Cates added.

"Most horse owners know these travel-related problems exist for their Horses. By reducing the shock and vibration in the trailer, our hitches relieve or prevent injuries to the ankles, joints and shoulders of Horses while traveling in trailers. Our air ride hitch designs have been proven to put less stress on the trailer, which reduces the amount of wear and tear on the trailer, the tow-vehicle and the Horses." He continues, "For their rodeo, endurance, and show Horse clients, they also noticed how Horses traveled easier and stayed fresher or stress-free when being hauled with our hitches." According to Cates, the smoother ride and cushioning effect of the Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches during travel periods also seem to benefit post-surgical recovery and the success of artificial inseminations.

Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches, a revolutionary group of air ride hitches, have also been endorsed by veterinarians to help reduce the typical injuries, stress and fatigue that occurs to Horses and other animals while being transported in trailers. With a 75% safer and 80% smoother ride, Easy Rider's gooseneck and receiver styles of air ride hitches have been endorsed as towing technology that is beneficial for transporting Horses or other livestock in trailers.

Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches were designed to help prevent vibration and shock injuries to trailers and animals riding within them by introducing the first improvement in towing technology in 1998. By placing air springs in the hitch assembly, these hitches absorb much of the weight transfer occurring between vehicles thereby helping to reduce or eliminate tire bounce, road vibrations and trailer sway when towing. Available in gooseneck, receiver and fifth-wheel models, Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches integrate air springs into the hitch frame allowing both the truck and the trailer to ride as separate entities.

Positive by-products of their performance, Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches can also help drivers in the following areas: increased driver control, increased vehicle and trailer braking capacity; reduced road weariness or fatigue factors; reduced trailer flex and contents damage; and increased vehicle performance and gas mileage.

According to Dr. James Kuhn, a licensed DVM in Seminole, Okla., Horses must stand almost spread-eagle to keep from falling when a trailer is in motion. Kuhn said the reduction of shock and vibration to the trailer using Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches provides clear and convincing benefits to Horses traveling in trailers. "This is the best product to come on the market in years! The benefits to Horses and other livestock are too numerous to name. I highly recommend this product for all my patients to reduce the stress on joints and bones when traveling," said Kuhn.

Many veterinarians have concluded that while driving on the highway or in the field, the vibration and shock occurring in the trailer can incur or aggravate injuries to Horses. According to numerous veterinary and industry studies, traveling in trailers often places serious stress on the Horse’s leg muscles and joints causing injuries and making the animals stressed out, tired and jumpy by the time the trailer stops -- especially on long rides. Though trips may take a little longer, Kuhn and many vets across the nation instruct drivers to stop to let Horses or animals rest every 3-4 hours while on the road.

Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitch systems are available for almost any type of towing situation. The Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches are constructed with jig-welded steel, Goodyear™heavy-duty air bags and 5,200-pound cam-following bearings in a proprietary configuration to reduce or eliminate unsafe motions between the trailer and tow vehicle.

For most Horse, cargo, auto transport and utility trailer applications, both of the Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitch round and square shaft gooseneck versions are built to withstand 6,000 pounds tongue weight and 20,000 pounds gross trailer weight. The Easy Rider product line includes receiver hitches for standard ball mounts, pintle or weight distribution mounting brackets in the Class 4 and 5 weight categories. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) American Standards 1648 and VESC Regulations V-5 and Canadian Standard D264 have tested the standard receiver hitch for a Class 4 rating (1,000 pounds tongue weight and 10,000 pounds gross trailer weight).

With complete and retrofit systems for fifth-wheel gooseneck Horse and RV trailers, Easy Rider also offers 15-16K, 20K, and 25.5K fifth-wheel hitch versions built to handle 3,500-5,000 pounds tongue weight and up to 25,500 pounds gross trailer weight.

Easy Rider™ Air Ride Hitches are available on a retail basis to consumers from their dealers and distributors located throughout the United States and Canada or purchased direct from the company. For more information about the Easy RiderTM Air Ride Hitch line, contact your local hitch professional or Easy Rider, Inc. by calling toll-free to 877-543-7433. Or, you can visit the company's web site at www.easyriderhitch.com. For an interview with Dr. Kuhn or Mr. Cates, please call 405-257-5146 or send e-mail to stevec@easyriderhitch.com.

For more information about the USRider Equestrian Motor Plan, visit www.usrider.org or call toll-free 1-800-844-1409 to request a free brochure.

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