Sunday, June 13th - Dream On Curls Riding Center and Top O' The Hill Farm hosted a judged obstacle ride working with ACTHA -- the American Competitive Trail Horse Association. ACTHA donates up to 50% of its proceeds to eligible horse charities annually. On the 13th -- a trail ride was held in every state so there were thousands of riders and their horses trying out the same obstacles all across the nation. This ride was held to help fund Horse rescues every where. It was a bit of a dreary day but we had a great turn out and everyone had FUN ! ACTHA gives out some super awards and ribbons, provides all the judging sheets and does all the registration on-line... so Zoe and I only had to gather up volunteers for judging the 6 obstacles, place the obstacles along the route. We provided a breakfast and BBQ lunch with all the proceeds going toward the riding center. We will definitely host another ACTHA ride !!
Once the riders had all arrived and parked, with a yummy breakfast under their belts and the ride briefing -- they headed out to tackle the obstacles. The obstacles were placed along the ride - each one a few miles apart.. 2 judges at each obstacle. At registration time the riders had the option of signing on as either Open or Pleasure.... and the obstacles and judging criteria was based on the category - one being slightly more difficult than the other. The obstacles are kept secret until the pre-ride briefing .. no practicing at home beforehand !
Photo's from the last obstacle of the day - 4 cones set up. 2 and 2, 40 feet apart. For the open class - the horse had to canter or lope in 3 strides or less at the 'starting gate' -- for the pleasure class -- trot in 3 strides. Stop at the end 2 cones, squarely.. the horse standing on loose rein for 3 seconds.
Here's a couple of video's ~
Candids of the horses and their riders.
If I remember correctly- the grey horse rode as a "buddy" -- meaning they were there for the ride only. However, this rider did all the obstacles and did fine -- I think she said it was the grey horse's first time out away from his home. Great job !
There was a large representation of Rocky Mountain Horses.
This woman and her little buckskin "Bucky" made for a special pair. You can read about him on her blog here -
As judges, we saw a lot of great horsemanship and clearly a love between horse and rider.
Lunchtime and prizes !! ACTHA also had plenty of super free samples and discount coupons for horse "stuff " .. what a great day !!
Everyone was happy about their ribbons and prizes !
Despite the weather -- we all had lots of fun and Dream On Curls Riding Center looks forward to hosting our next ACTHA ride ! A big thank you to our volunteer judges !! If you are interested in volunteering for our next ride -- e-mail us
Enjoy ~
1 comment:
Thanks so much for hosting this!
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