News & Events COMPETITIVE TRAIL NEWS IN THE SOUTHWEST


MOUNT UP! FALL RIDES ARE HERE With the summer heat passed,


every competitive trail organization is in high gear through the fall months. The North American Trail Ride Con- ference kicked off September with the re-scheduled Woods Ranch Wander in Boswell, OK on Labor Day weekend, and the American Endurance Ride Conference opened with the Unicorn Hunt in Kennard, TX on the same weekend. The Texas Trail Challenge Club


opened its fall season with Pony Pilots at the Parrie Haynes Ranch in Killeen, Texas on September 7, which was the first of the two-event 5th Annual Trail Versatility Championship. The second is the NATRC Wayfarer Competitive Trail ride on September 14-15. This event features one and two-day com- petitions at all levels for equines of every discipline. October is chock full of TTCC,


AERC and NATRC competitions across the Southwest. Please visit the organizations’ websites or Face Book pages for more information or call Elaine Swiss on 830-825-3032. w


RIDE ONLY WHEN THE HORSE IS READY by Laurie Oehlerking


Whether you’re saddling up for a quick ride at home or a long trek down


the trail, take the time to assess your horse’s current state before mounting. This is a critical step in ensuring your safety. Is your horse calm and focused on you, or is he pacing and nickering


anxiously? Is he somewhere in between? If he’s anything but calm and fo- cused, don’t ride that horse! Instead, put his energy to work from the ground. Ideally, you’ll develop a standard “pre-flight” checklist that sets an ex-


pectation for you and your horse. This can include grooming and saddling a certain way in a sequence, a routine set of ground exercises, or whatever you find that works. Once established, this task set signals to the horse what’s next. This can provide a calming framework for your horse. If after executing your task set, your horse is still anxious, don’t ride


that horse! If your horse won’t stand still for mounting, don’t ride that horse! Go back to work until he can focus on you and stand still. Then, and only then, mount up and head out for your ride. w


September 2019 SouthWest Horse Trader 33 Jonni Jewell and her Arabian Tezuby of Decatur, Texas


and Gayle Muench and Blue Heart of New Ulm, Texas suc- cessfully completed the grueling grand-daddy of distance events, the 100-Mile Western States Trail Ride, also known as the Tevis Cup, on Saturday, August 17, 2019. The Tevis Cup is a point-to-point race that traverses more


than 6,000 feet of elevation change throughout the course. Horse and rider teams have 24-hours to complete the 100 miles, which includes veterinary checkpoints throughout the course and several mandatory rest periods. Jewell has completed the Tevis Cup four times, including


back-to-back completions on 19-year-old Tezuby. This was Muench’s first attempt and completion. Both riders attribute some of their success to competing in NATRC events where the selection and development of the distance horse is in its mission statement. w


LOCAL NATRC RIDERS COMPLETE 100-MILE TEVIS CUP RACE


Optical Harmonics


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40