To me, alot of people lump the different types of trail events under a “trail trial” designation - such as competive trail riding, trail trials and obstacle trail courses in an arena or field-type setting. What each are and entail can be very different depending on the organization putting them on.
Competitive trail rides to me are what NATRC puts on, which are sort of like training limited endurance rides (LONGER trails at various speed with vet checks the horse has to pass) with obstacles put in there to complete. I’ve worked as a vet scribe on a number of these and the obstacles are more “natural” than some of the other rides (no balloons, flapping table cloths, etc.), although it’s been quite a few years since I’ve worked one so maybe they’ve changed. I’d love to give these a go with my mare!
Trail trials to me are what ETI and ACTHA puts on -the 6-8 mile trail ride with obstalces in them, typically done at a walk (although they don’t have to be). My 1/2 Arab and I have gone on about 4 of these and have placed in 3 of them. I hated the rules about checking the cinch (although we did it) and the looking thing. As with others above, I WANT my horse to look at things (she typically knows about things around us WAY before I do - like deer & coyotes, etc.) and knew I’d get dinged for it (and did), but I didn’t care. My horse is willing and forward and did all the obstacles. She would just look at some of them. :yes: They don’t care what breed it is, they don’t want them to look AT ALL.
I rode with a nice group of people one time that I went alone. One lady had a FANTASTIC Blue Roan QH, steady and quiet. He was getting top marks on every obstacle until we had to ride by mules tied to a trailer. He had never seen a mule and cocked his head to take a look as he plodded on by. He didn’t stop and he didn’t take a hard look at it, just glanced on his way by. Yea, she got about 3 points knocked off for that. :mad: It was ridiculous. But then quite a few of the rules were ridiculous.
The arena trail competitions (like cowboy races by EXCA and AHCA) are not really “trail trails” to me. We’ve done those as well and have had a blast with them. My horse and I have placed in the top 10 in a few, but then fizzle out to 7th or so due to rider error under pressure. :lol:
So I presume that the OP is doing an ETI trail trial. What ever she is doing, English is fine, but you still need to follow all the rules like checking your cinch. And don’t forget to have someone in your group take pix to share with us!
