Affiliate News Competitive Trail News
in the Southwest Sponsored by the
Visit us at
www.nctha.com NATRC’s Indian Territory
CTR Celebrates 40 years by Phil Broderson and Elaine Swiss
On Memorial Day weekend, the last ride of the re-
gion’s 2012 NATRC spring season offered great weather and well-planned trail to competitors of all ages. The In- dian Territory CTR on the John Zink Ranch in Sand Springs, OK featured 31,000 acres of open meadows and scrub forests. This event marked the 40th Anniversary of this NATRC competition, with the first one held in 1973. This year more than 45 competitors representing eight
states and three NATRC Regions started the two-day event on Saturday morning. One of five first-time competitors traveled the farthest, all the way from New Jersey. The ride also featured three mother/daughter pairs, all riding in the advanced Open division. After trail fun included movies and plenty of good food for all. NATRC’s Region 4 (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and
Arkansas) takes a short summer respite before launching into the second half of 2012, with the Benefit ride at the LBJ Grasslands on September 8-9. This ride also features the Region 9 Arabian Horse As-
sociation Competitive Trail Championships. A new loca- tion follows on September 22-23 at Trace Trails in Athens. Summer is a great time to begin a conditioning pro-
gram if you have been thinking of trying distance riding and NATRC competitive trail events. Mornings are cool and you and your horse have plenty of energy to enjoy miles after mile. Start your fall with some fun on the NATRC trail! w
Texas Style AQHA Trail Challenge By Irene Henry
AQHA had their first Texas ride in May and what
fun it was. Rockin M Stables at Blue Ridge pulled out all the stops and those who rode had a wonderful time. There is always something new at every ride and this was no exception. We had a gentleman on a beautiful Palomino who
was at the steer pulling obstacle. He did just an excep- tional job then decided to turn and face the mechanical steer and the next thing we knew rider and horse were up a tree. It is always funny to me how a calm horse can turn into a fire breathing, tree climber in a matter of seconds. The rider took it all in stride and after the ride worked with his horse for a long time till the horse accepted the mechanical steer. This is what TRAIL RIDERS are all about! Keep your eyes open for more AQHA rides
in the future.w 38 SouthWest Horse Trader July 2012
EVENT SCHEDULE: • July 21: AERC Camp Prague Prague Lake, Prague, OK,
glenn218@yahoo.com • July 21-22: NATRC Willow Springs, Jefferson, CO,
wingles@uncert.com
National Competitive Trail Horse Association NCTHA’s motto is “Uniting Trail Riders of America”.
Successful Stroll through
Storm Ranch Series by Elaine Swiss
The Texas Trail Challenge Summer Stroll held on
June 2 at Storm Ranch in Dripping Springs, Texas offered competitors scenic fields of wildflowers and creeks for cooling as horse and rider teams were judged on natural obstacles along an 8.5-mile route. The Stroll was the sec- ond event of the Storm Ranch Trail Versatility Champi- onship. This is the second year of the Versatility contest, with
the first event the NATRC Wimberley Wayfarer held in May. The Stroll is the shortest of the three-event series which concludes with the AERC Riding the Storm En- durance races on October 6-7. The Stroll was managed by Julie Johnson of Bee
Cave, who also volunteered for the Wayfarer and is the volunteer coordinator for Riding the Storm in the fall. Vol- unteers are the critical to the success of all the competitive trail events and new people are always welcome to join theranks to take part in NATRC, TTC and AERC rides. If you want to learn more, please contact Elaine Swiss on 830-825-3032 or at
swissranch@earthlink.net. w
Photography by Optical Hamonics
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