This past weekend we attended the last of five Mountain Trail Challenge events in our local winter series. We don't attend many shows but the mountain trail events are more of an obstacle course challenge and I really enjoyed participating in them. It was fun to see how our horses progressed in their skills and also to get two rather uncommon breeds out for people to meet and interact with.
Our interest in mountain trail started a year ago when I was looking for fun things to do with our youngsters to start teaching them skills while they are still too young for formal riding/driving training. I also needed something to motivate me to be out working with horses even when the weather wasn't my favorite! We began with just a few simple obstacles in our round pen but as we started practicing Dehan took charge and researched and built all kinds of fun obstacles for me. Soon, I had a teeter totter, water box, and scary pool noodle curtain among other more common obstacles! Our first event was supposed to be in March 2020, but fell victim to Corona cancellations so we had to wait until November to finally get in the ring...
In November we attended the first contest of the winter series at a local rodeo arena. The turnout was incredible! I think a lot of horse people were feeling the lack of events in 2020 and looking for a way to get out and enjoy their horses and the horse community. Before the classes started, we took part in an educational clinic to learn about how the classes are set up and scored and to get some practice time in the arena. Our girls did well with the obstacles but were clearly not sure about being in a new environment- questioning things like the banners hanging on the arena fences and the people on the bleachers outside. I entered our girls in the Novice division classes (the simplest on the agenda) and we gave it a go. On a whim, I also signed Funfetti up for the high point awards in the Novice division. The first event was incredibly educational and after the classes we were able to pick up our scoring sheets and see where we had room for improvement.
Over the next four months/challenges I took a variety of different horses along to get the arena experience but always came back to my core pair of Funfetti and Plum. I typically entered Funfetti in the Novice classes (since she was working towards the high point scores) and would stay for the day so that Plum could compete in the more complicated Adult classes. As it turns out, Plum would have been a good choice for a high point horse because once we mastered trotting in hand partway through the season she really shone in her classes. Regardless, the girls were able to get a lot of practice time in and we saw a lot of improvement over the course of the season. At the final event, Funfetti was recognized for her third place score in the high point division which was something I never imagined she would achieve.
We owe a huge thank you to all those who helped us in this new adventure. The crew at Sundance Arena and running the Mountain Trail Challenge series were fantastic. We learned so much and had a wonderful time participating. Dehan was our obstacle builder, brainstormer and at-home support. The number of crazy new obstacles he dreamed up for us is amazing! And Roberta was our biggest cheerleader and Funfetti's second show partner- entering a couple of classes through the season and really seeing her skills with Funfetti grow both at home and in the ring. The new friends we made along the way really kept things fun and we are grateful for all the interest in our unique horses even when we stick out like a sore thumb among the quarter horses and gaited breeds! There are quite a few summer mountain trail challenges scheduled and I'm hoping we will be able to attend a couple of them even with our normal summer craziness. It's been an adventure and I have a feeling the real fun has just begun.
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