AUGUST 2004 RECREATIONAL / TRAIL RIDING ISSUE
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AUGUST 2004 RECREATIONAL / TRAIL RIDING ISSUE |
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CONTENTS Trail Riding with Backcountry Horsemen
UPCOMING
ISSUES |
Mountain Trail
Championships Last year was the competition of an awesome new horse facility in Eugene, Oregon. It is most appropriately named the Oregon Horse Center. It boasts of 3.4 acres all under one roof. It contains 3 indoor arenas as well as about 200 stalls. It is wonderful to have such a facility for events, especially during the rainy season, which generally lasts 6 months of the year here in the Pacific Northwest. Last fall the owner ‘invented’ a very different type of event, which he called The Mountain Trail Championships. What he did inside of the main arena was absolutely unbelievable! He literally recreated the outdoors & brought it inside. He hauled in mountains of dirt so that there were actual hills to climb. He dug trenches to negotiate & installed a live creek with running water that the horses had to cross - no plastic or fake water hazards here! He brought in huge tree stumps complete with root wad, big boulders, a forest of trees 10' - 12' tall. There was a wind machine to blow tree branches, as well as a variety of fiberglass wildlife - deer, horses, etc. He had a false front Western frontier town complete with a saloon & hitching rail where competitors dismounted, tied horses & went into the saloon for a ‘drink’. One of the biggest challenges was the ground tie. A three sided box made of poles was placed on the ground. The horse was ridden into the box. The rider dismounted, ground tied the horse & walked around 3 bales of alfalfa hay that were stacked in a pyramid directly in front of the horse. Not diving into that luscious, sweet smelling alfalfa took an incredible amount of discipline on the horse’s part! Last year’s gate obstacle was quite a challenge for many of the horses. It was strategically placed next to a pen of Brahma bulls! The responce to last year’s event was so enthusiastic that it was decided to make this an annual event. The next year’s course was even more challenging than the first. The Brahma bulls were replaced with Alpacas. The horse was to ride up to the pen & stand quietly while the rider tied a piece of twine to the fence. The live creek was expanded to include a running waterfall that was level with the horse’s head as they crossed the creek. That was followed by a real bridge about 50' long. The horse then negotiated switch-backs, downed trees, trenches & boulders before crossing the last abstacle, a real pond! There was a campsite with a regular wagon, a covered wagon & a live, buring campfire. Much of the ‘brush’ that was strategically placed in & around obstacles was sagebrush. I’m not sure where he procured that, since it is not native to the area but it smelled wonderful! While the Mountain Trail class was going on in the main arena, there was a more traditional Show Trail course set up in other arenas for folks who prefered thay type of setting. A wide variety of classes were offered, up to & including in-hand, which could be done on either course. One thing that was particularly appealing for competitors was the fact that they threw the ‘formal show rules out the window’! We were told to ride the way we would if we were on a real trail ride. That meant no fancy show duds, hats were optional, cavesons were allowed for Western as well as riding with two hands in a stiff bit. The relaxed rules made it less formal, less stressful & more fun for everyone. The show managers went out of their way to accommodate our Fjords & us. Our stalls were facing the warm-up arena & we were allowed to hang our banner & stall door covers so Fjords had great exposure to every single competitor! This year there were 3 Fjords at the event. Pam Garza & Hansel from Wilsonville, Oregon, joined us on Friday evening for the ‘play’ time. For a fee of $20, those who chose to do so, could ride the course for a half hour to familiarize their horses with the obstacles. Five horses were allowed on the course at a time. With three Fjords on the course together, it did indeed create interest & piqued curiosity for those who had never seen Fjords before. The other Fjord there, in addition to Dusty, was TRR Thomas, owned by Sue Grantham. Sue boards Thomas at our barn & has been an enthusiastic student here for the past several years. Sue & Thomas were entered in the Adult division. Dusty & I were in the Senior division. Both Sue & Thomas & Dusty & I placed 5th in our respective divisions. We were tickled since there were over 100 horses entered. We recieved a nice ribbon as well as a free 8x10 photo of our choice from the show photographer, Anna Wight. Anna does a wonderful job & had great equipment. She uses a digital camera & then downloads the photos onto a laptop after each class so that the competitors can see their pictures right on the spot. No waiting a couple of weeks for proofs to arrive in the mail! This event is a blast to participate in & is a perfect venue to showcase Fjords as it highlights their quiet, accepting dispositions. It is held mid-November. It would be wonderful to have even more Fjords participating next year, so mark your calendars & join us if you can! |
FEATURES |
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