News & Events COMPETITIVE TRAIL NEWS IN THE SOUTHWEST


LEATHERWOOD TAKES 2018 TRAIL VERSATILITY CHAMPIONSHIP


Cynthia Leatherwood and her


horse Big Cat won the 4th Annual Parrie Haynes Ranch Trail Versa- tility Championship, earning the highest total points in the North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC) and Texas Trail Chal- lenge Club (TTCC) competitions held on the west side of the Parrie Haynes Ranch in Killeen, Texas. There was not an American En- durance Ride Conference (AERC) event held at the ranch this year. “I have been trying to complete


all the events for a couple of years now, and this year it all came to- gether,” said Leatherwood. She competed in the NATRC Compet- itive Pleasure Adult division, a two- day competition covering 32 total miles, and in the TTCC Maverick Adult division, a one-day event covering 9 miles with more judged


trail obstacles than in the NATRC event. There were more than 80 horse and rider teams entered in the two events, with


11 successfully completing the requirements for both competitions. Amy Martin and Jose’s Royal Gold, a winner two years ago, was runner-up with Teresa Mus- grave and Marshall Dillon and Elaine Swiss and Petite Bonsheik tied for third. The 5th Annual traveling trophy will include the NATRC Wayfarer and the TTCC Pony Pilots competitive trail rides to be held in September 2019. ! w


Fort Worth Dressage Club News


The Fort Worth Dressage Club (FWDC) is a club


devoted to dressage and dressage activities for its members. We work throughout the year to provide educational opportunities and fun activities for our members. FWDC holds monthly meetings at Szechuan Chi-


nese Restaurant off Bryant Irving the 4th Monday of every month at 6:30 PM. Everyone is welcome. Coming up in January will be our annual Awards


Banquet and Silent Auction to benefit our Scholarship program. This year we will be at The Gardens Restau- rant in the beautiful Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth. There is always a fun and a unique assortment of horse


“HORSE SPOOKED. RIDER FELL OFF. RIDER GOT BACK ON.”


by Elaine Swiss Whether you were raised with horses or not, most of us have heard


the adage, “If you fall off, get right back on.” In theory, the opportunity to become fearful is greatly reduced if a fallen rider is not allowed to dwell on the mishap. Hopefully, when an unanticipated dismount oc- curs, the rider can simply re-group and remount. As the North American Trail Ride Conference National Safety


Committee Chairperson, I am provided with the official Accident Re- ports from NATRC competitions from around the country. It is my job to read them, analyze the data provided therein, detect trends or consis- tencies, and then develop recommendations for ride managers that will help prevent similar accidents in the future. I have quite the challenge with this assignment because the reports


are often scarce on details of the accident. Often there were no witnesses or the rider said he was OK, re-mounted and continued to ride in the competition. The report reader is left to wonder WHY the horse spooked, and sometimes even WHEN in the ride the horse spooked. The challenge of learning enough details to work on preventative


measures is daunting. Was there another horse that caused it? Was there a loud noise? Did wildlife jump unexpectedly? Did some tack mal- function? A large percentage of accidents at NATRC competitions occur at


the start of the ride when horses, riders, judges, volunteers, trucks and 4-wheelers are preparing to leave camp. If the temperatures are cool and it is windy, all manner of mayhem can, and does, occur. Chain reaction events are more common than not. There are measures ride manage- ment can take if there is enough data to help us determine the best ways to keep our NATRC participants safe, especially at the start of the day. Falling off is an inherent risk in any equestrian sport. The Safety


team of the NATRC National Board and local Ride management needs help to minimize that risk so accidents are few and far between. So always tell your story, then get right back on and ride! w


and non-horsey items to bid on! Please check out our website at www.fortworth-


dressageclub.com to see our latest happenings and activities. Who knows, you may find yourself in some of the pictures. If you don’t have time to go on- line, stay in touch with FWDC’s monthly newsletters and group e-mails to be informed of club activities and other dressage events in the community. Let me know if you would like a dressage event added to our calendar. Join FWDC and learn more about the wonderful


sport of dressage. We welcome all levels of riders on all breeds of horses! w


20 SouthWest Horse Trader December 2018


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