these competitions are not easy, but I think they should remove the word “Trail” and any connotation about “Trail horses” from the title. We once naively took some unflappable go-anywhere do-anything real trail horses to a “trail obstacle” competition in an arena and they all failed miserably. I suspect many of the horses we observed happily backing through T’s would have nervous breakdowns out on a real trail.
or not 
My horses have to be multitalented to stay at my house
We ended up this year in the top 20 I think- Chippy stumbled dropping off the step up obstacle and I nearly ate some lovely red dirt 
but I didn’t- but that messed up his brain for the rest of the course, three more obstacles. I think we scored a 78 out of a possible 110. I was very happy with my little horse, he tried his little brain out. AND he’s a jam up real trail horse, too
I think I could never beat Bess as I am not willing to put the time into it that she does. If you wanna beat the best you gotta be willing to work harder at it than they do. Congratulations to Bess and her long ears
Congrats to Bess, Rooster and Grace on their Alabama victories!
Jake and I are looking forward to attending Bess’ obstacle clinic next month in Goethe. Jake lacks most of the “courage gene” but he tries hard for me. On the trail, with natural stuff, he’s a champ. In arenas not so much. Hoping that the clinic will help us out, especially with arena work.
Obstacle Challenges are great fun if you approach them as learning experiences. There is no such thing as an epic fail if you can accept your horse trying as a success. The timed courses that do not count quality of task completion are not my idea of a useful challenge. I would do one, but only at my own speed, and with willingness and try being the objectives. I want Jake to learn and gain confidence, not blast through it in a panic.
