News & Events COMPETITIVE TRAIL NEWS IN THE SOUTHWEST


NATRC CELEBRATES REGIONAL AND NATIONAL CHAMPIONS


The North American Trail Ride Conference


(NATRC) held its regional and national convention and awards banquets in February, honoring more than 100 horse and rider teams throughout the southwest and around the country. The Region 4 convention was held February 24 in


Decatur, TX and recognized many talented teams that included: • Grand CH Open Horse - Moonshadow, Teresa


Galliher • Grand CH Novice Horse - Jack’s Red Rubarb, Veronica Skidmore • Grand CH Competitive Pleasure Horse - Halcon, Kelly Queen • Grand CH High Average Horse – Jose’s Royal Gold, Amy Martin • Volunteer Worker of the Year - Shirley Brodersen (798 hours) • Outstanding Day Worker – Betsy Zimmer-


man • 100% Club – Teresa Galliher, Annette Grif-


fin, Jonni Jewell, Dolly Miller, Teresa Musgrave and Betsy Zimmerman. The National convention was held February 9-


10 in Albuquerque, NM where National Champi- ons were recognized, including seven teams from the southwest. The sports highest award, The Pres- ident’s Cup, was presented to Jonni Jewell’s Ara- bian gelding Tezuby of Decatur, TX. The 2018 NATRC ride season is well under-


Teresa Galliher & Moonshadow


way with two competitions in March and two in April: • March 3-4 7IL Scamper, Cat Spring, TX • March 17-18 Raise the Bar, Valley Mills, TX • April 7-8 Pole Canyon Ranch, Quitaque, TX • April 28-29 Pine Grove Giddy-Up, AR Additional information can be found at www.natrc4.org or by calling 830-825-3032. w


Kelly Queen & Halcyon


HORSE PARTNERSHIPS


DIFFICULT TO PERFECT According to Wikipedia, a partner-


ship is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mu- tual interests. Equestrians use the term partnership to describe a cooperative arrangement between horse and rider. In the business world when a partnership is no longer mutually beneficial, the parties may agree to go their separate ways, but


what about the horse and rider partnership? That’s a tough question because most equestrians de-


velop a bond with their equines and often describe that bond as “love”. But does that love translate to a partnership? When it works, it’s like poetry in motion and horse and rider are one. When it doesn’t, it doesn’t. No matter how much emo- tion, or love, thrown in the mix, the partnership isn’t mutu- ally beneficial. So, what can you do? In broad terms, you have two choices: keep working at


it or move on. Working at it is noble, but we’ve all heard the adage, “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting,” so you must change something. But what? Are you putting in the time to bring about a change in your partnership? Regardless of your time investment and riding frequency, if you’ve reached the bottom of your horse- manship toolbox, and you just don’t know where to turn, seek assistance from a professional trainer or horsemanship coach who can help you implement changes. Yet, there’s no shame in moving on. Not every horse is


right for every rider. If you’ve done what you can, and it still isn’t working, you might need to find a different partner. That’s hard to hear, and even harder to implement, but it might be the best decision for both you and your horse. Only you can make that decision. When you evaluate a troubled partnership, try to set emotion aside and make a practical choice. w


26 SouthWest Horse Trader March 2018


Optical Harmonics


Optical Harmonics


Optical Harmonics


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