Check out Forum Calendar for April 18th, 2009. Extreme trail horse obstacle challenge with BIG Cash PRIZES. :winkgrin:
$50 entry fee
Limited to 100 participants
Walk course 8:30; starts promptly at 9:00 a.m.
If 91 - 100 participants:
:yes: $750 FIRST Place, $350 Second Place, $200 Third. Non-monetary prizes 4th through 10th.
CONTACT: Bess Wall
howlingpl@msn.com
(3860 437-3472
so, would mine qualify? Theyāve done rednecks on ATVs, wild and domestic turkeys, deer, coyotes, rogue propane tanks, idle and moving road graders, bulldozers and locomotives, creeks,swamps, bullbriers, copperheads, giant tree trimming saws on cherrypickers, people carrying long flapping pieces of vinyl siding, armadillos, cows in the road, slaughtered pigs in the back of pickup trucks, and kittens under their feet, all out on the trail. Are they ready or do they need more bombproofing?
Not sure Iād haul to FL to pay 50 bucks for that kind of fun when I can get it right out my back door for free!
Jeano I wouldnāt smart off to Bess, her mules are amazing. And doing these things in an arena, only critter out there, has humbled quite a few first time competitors, but it sure is fun 
Bess are you coming back to Montgomery this month? Iām bringing a different horse this time and wondered if you were going to come back through and kick our butts again
OK, Iām having a severe moment of deeply missing HRH Avery, who would have been ALL about this. :sadsmile:
Ah well: time to start workinā on the newbie, soon come! 
Wasnt actually trying to smart off. I followed the suggestion of Googling for trail obstacle challenges made in the sticky on the calendar but didnt come up with too much enlightenment. Had, have no intention of dissing mules or MuleLady1.
What Iād like to see is links to photos or videos of an extreme trail obstacle competition. Got the impression some of these competitions actually took place on a real live trail as opposed to in the arena. If it was me setting this kind of thing up (and I had all the liability insurance in the world) I would be routing it thru the kind of trail obstacles I encounter.
On new yearās eve we were out and Someone had parked a propane tank in front of a gate the horses knew well. They about had a stroke, but did eventually go sniff and walk around it.
My two are not in fact at all good with the most mundane things like gates and backing through Ls and all that, but are really brave on the trail, so I wondered what it takes to go āExtreme.ā They can do foam noodles overhead, however, and scary tarps and what all from going past the stuff in my neighborās arena.
They and I dont do competitions. I have no trailer of my own, no time. However, for what its worth, anyone that wants to brave the snakes and freight trains and spooky horse eating propane tanks is more than welcome to come ride with us. No prizes, no entry fees, just laughs.
Obstacle challenge
No offense taken :D. Do a Google search for the obstacle challenges but click on images. You can go to youtube, also and do a search for trail horse obstacle challenges.
Yes, Iām going back to Alabama. I can always try to kick butt :lol:, but like a football game, itās a new game every time.
CHALLENGE info. To put a challenge on a trail, you would be better off to do TRAIL TRIALS. Thatās what they are about. You would have to have one QUALIFIED judge per obstacle. No specatators much. Finding a place to do that would be very difficult where one could monitor the obstacles and nobody would see or practice on them ahead of time (day before).
This is a pretty big event with big prize money. To pay that kind of money, one has to be able to have close to 100 participants. If an animal will do these types of obstacles in an arena by itself under pressure, then one has a pretty good animal. Everything in the arena events could be found when out riding to one degree or another. Much could be found in a rural area when riding through housing. Other could be ranch-type jobs or on the trail. Some could be mounted posse type of obstacles, too.
I have thought about doing a challenge in the wide open spaces, but there is no way to protect the integrity of it (cheating by practicing on the obstacles).
Jeano I was joking with you
Looking forward to seeing you again Bess
These things are so much fun to me, seeing what the course designers come up with, what the horse thinks, etcā¦itās nothing like what you deal with on the trail. Iāve known some really good trail horses that came undone over the notion of these out of place obstacles. My SO thought eh, that doesnāt look so hard- til his good trail horse refused a funny looking water obstacle :lol:
Hit youtube and search for trail horse challenge, Bessā run from last yrs thing in AL is there, and some others, too.
Thanks, off to Youtube.
Speaking of venues and all, would a cross country course work? Not to have the horses jumping, mind you, but couldnt that be made reasonable secure from cheating, and would that not be more like a ārealā trail in that there would be intervals between the obstacles?
Iām sort of equating this in my mind with sheep dog trials vs demosāin the former the sheep are unknown and are out on a big unfenced hill with variablity in the form of weather conditions that day and so onāwhereas in a demo, the dog and the sheep are in a little fenced area where the sheep cant really escape and the dog cant really show all his chops, but the observer gets the general idea of how it would work in rhe real world.
Sure it would- thereās a group in N AL that uses an old Civitan park and uses the terrain to help shape some of the challenges. Even a little dry drainage that snakes through the park works- a lot of horses didnāt want to get in, and stay in, that drainage as was requiredā¦
The course included some fun obstacles, Iāll see if I can find the pics for you, I donāt have any videosā¦
this may work, I donāt knowā¦
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=64904629&albumId=2508894
obstacles included attempting to rope a dummy, water xing, hill climb, work gate, dismount, pen goats, remount, work gateā¦carry a big slicker around an obstacle and return it to itās roost, keyhole, sidepass, bridge, whoa and snag a flag way up high- so you really needed a good whoa to grab one, through a shredded tarp, mailbox, drainage, through a tarp tunnel, drag a crosstie, unsaddle, load, run on foot for the bell.
here they areā¦
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7z2--jwAX0
This is the second half of Bessā run from last January. Look through the other videos by the same poster and youāll see a few others. Buttermilk for example, is a brave, super, honest trail horseā¦but this unnatural setting unnerved him. His owner took it in stride and understood he was just afraid. I hate it but a lot of people just starting getting after them when they stall out at these things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxbO6enYtIY
This one is me on my TWH at his first one. Weād practiced with sacks of cans leading up to this event, and there AT the event, too- but he got worried so I dropped it. Not everyoneās way of dealing with it, hereās another way to teach 'em to just 'deal with it ā
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o19YIzmr-k
looks like you having fun
You bet
Iām having fun :lol:
Yeah, I saw one of these on the RFD channel (or whatever the hell it is).
The ākawtah hossā people apparently think they have found the smart-ass/dumb-sh!t answer to eventing. :rolleyes:
I saw this big-ass ācowboyā blasting a small & stresseded-out looking 2yo around a course.
The hick redneck announcers sounded positively orgasmic over the coltās ārunā. What morons.
Yet another way for the american kawtah-hoss ass-hats to show their ignorance & stupidity. Yee-fuggin-haw.
:dead:
thanks for posting up the other videos. first video I found myself of āextreme trailā scared the death out of me. I was afraid they would all be inept riders like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJOSc9syJrk Iām hoping this lady has learned how to stay with her horse and put that chunk of a beast on a diet since the video was made!
Iām not one for hurtful comments for the most part. but after the billionth time I saw this horses mouth get yanked I started to feel bad for him. Watch the ājumpā at 5:40 as well! OUCH
Iām sorry you feel that way or have had this experience. Nobody is allowed to āblastā their way around the course. They would probably not get much for points if they did.
There are many obstacle challenges out there and Iāve been to many in Florida and one in Ala. Iāve never seen what you describe.
me neither. Iāve seen some people that donāt understand what spurs are for, but thatās not unique to trail competitions.
I enjoy watching them on RFD when I get the chance and think it would be great fun to do one. Is there place/organization that gives tips on how to get started?
Thanks and Happy Riding!
The way to get started is either going to obstacle clinics or obstacle practice days. Enter a few of the meeker obstacle challenges. If they have divisions, enter the lowest one available.
[QUOTE=Juneberry;3780498]
] Iām hoping this lady has learned how to stay with her horse [/QUOTE]
I must have missed the part where she fell off the horse??? or do you know her from someplace else???
She also did alot better then another video posted earlier. Yes the horse is fat and a little hard to control but they did the coarse and while a little rough nothing really that bad. Again alot better then another example posted here.
There is nothing you could fail her on, take points yes but not fail.
As for jerking the mouth you donāt know the horse or how sensitive it is.
We certainly can make judgements based on nothing.
Again the team lacked polish but they basically did everything alright, a little rough but overall nothing to fail them. I base everything on a score of 1-10, 10 being perfect and for every little thing they do that takes away from the perfection of a move you subtract 1 point. The gate was rough but they never lost control of it, jerky yes but with control and a passing grade.
We also donāt know if she was suppose to lope between stations but it appears like the coarse was large and loping was required.
I have done these coarses and know what it takes to do a good job, smooth, keeping the horse square and never loose control of the gate.
As for practicing at home everything you see in one of these trials can be duplicated and practiced at home. If you canāt do gates, drag something with a rope, pick up trash cans , walk over plastic etc donāt go to the competition in the first place. Forgot backing between poles and side passing are a must and you need excellent control over the back or you will hit the pole. A touch of the pole is minus 1 for each and every time the horse touches it. Backing is difficult because you canāt see properly and if you twist your body the horse shifts so I found backing something to really practice. I would sit square on the horse, look straight ahead and back slow and controlled avoiding at all cost a tick of the pole.
Again a home course is easy to built and use a few old tires to drag, walk through and pivot around. Put his front feet in and pivot the hind around in a 360 degree circle. I practiced wooden bridges in the local park, steps also in the park.
It is fun:)
[QUOTE=MuleLady1;3780796]
The way to get started is either going to obstacle clinics or obstacle practice days. Enter a few of the meeker obstacle challenges. If they have divisions, enter the lowest one available.[/QUOTE]
Why do you need clinics?? Watch any video , look at the obsticles and duplicate them at home??? There are always certain things at every competition so just make them. Trash in a garbage bag is certainly not hard to duplicate so it should be a given anytime you compete. Gates are a given. Walking over plastic is a given, etc etc. Practice them at home so when you run into them they are not new.
Sidepassing over obsticles is another thing that everyone should practice.
Backing between poles is another given and 2 2x4ās laying on the ground works fine to teach yourself to back properly. I also practice the Tee with little gaps in the head of the Tee and the horse must sidepass and rotate through the Tee at the same time and every single tic of the hoof against wook is 1 point off.
Also practice with a broom hitting a ball, polo??
You donāt need a clinic to practice.
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