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[RC] Fw: [CTR] About CTR-Lincoln Journal-Star - Patrick Allen/Evelyn HartmanTammy is not on this list so I am forwarding it for her. Evelyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tammy Vasa" <tvasa@xxxxxxxx> To: <horsesctr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 13:36 Subject: [CTR] About CTR-Lincoln Journal-Star From the Lincoln Journal Star/Lincoln, NE NE - Sport puts riders on their horses and out in the countryside NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST, Neb. - The sight of the stubbled cowboy riding through barren, rugged terrain for days without a single provision makes Linell Miller laugh. Where's the water? The food? And the feed? They just seem to absorb it all through osmosis, theorized Miller as she jokingly zeroed in on the patent inaccuracies of Hollywood westerns. "They're pretty funny now." As a novice competitive trail rider in 1998, Miller learned what it takes to get both horse and rider through a days-long ride by doing it. Miller got onto her first horse at the age of 14, but says she's learned more about horse riding in her six or so years of competitive trail riding than she did during 30 years as a weekend rider. Miller, who lives in Arvada, Colo., will be among about 60 competitors at this weekend's Pine Ridge Competitive Trail Ride near Chadron, a two-day, 50- mile ride in an area of Nebraska that bares more resemblance to the craggy splendor of South Dakota's Badlands than the usual gentle, rolling Sandhills of the region. The sport of competitive trail riding was started about 35 years ago in California by a group of people involved in the Tevis Cup Ride, a legendary test of a rider's endurance covering 100 miles in one day on one horse. Wanting perhaps not to ride quite so hard and hoping to put more emphasis on horsemanship throughout the ride, the group created competitive trail riding, said Cheri Jeffcoat, president of the North American Trail Ride Conference. Unlike endurance races, riders in competitive trail rides are penalized for traveling through a course too quickly. Instead the focus is on how the riders and the horses get to the finish line. The horse is judged on its condition and trail maneuvering skills throughout the ride. The rider is judged on presentation, the grooming of their horse, trail skills and trail courtesy. Competitive trail riding falls under the general category of distance riding, which includes mounted orienteering - navigating through a course using a map and compass atop a horse - and endurance riding such as Tevis. With 700 races per year, endurance is the fastest growing equestrian sport in the nation, said Mike Tomlinson, president of the American Endurance Ride Conference. "It's an addiction," said Tomlinson, who has been involved in endurance riding since 1975. "It is just a good feeling to see an obstacle and be able to say, 'I overcame it with my horse.'" Over the last decade competitive trail riding also has been growing. Today, there are about 2,000 to 4,000 riders competing each year in about 80 rides around the country from New England to California and Alaska to the Southwest, said Jeffcoat who lives in rural Sterling. Though the sport attracts everyone from preteens to riders well into their golden years, Jeffcoat said competitive trail riding seems to have particular appeal to new riders and the baby boomer set. "The kids are gone. They do have some discretionary income. ... They want to learn and do new things. This is a great opportunity to travel not only, let's say, in your local region but if you have the time you can kind of go cross country," she said. The sport also provides a context for new riders to learn from more seasoned riders how to work with and care for their horse, Jeffcoat said. Experienced riders act as mentors and very few participants wouldn't stop for another rider needing help, said Theresa Haynes, chair of the Pine Ridge ride, which is in its second year. "This is just the neatest bunch of people I have ever been involved with," Haynes said. Most seem pretty content that their only reward for winning a competition is a simple ribbon - because a reward is not what most riders are there for, Haynes said. "You're looking for what people call a Zen ride ... you and your horse are one unit," said Steve Vogel, trail master of the Pine Ridge ride. As trail master, Vogel maps out the paths for riders. He said what attracts people to the sport and trail riding in general is the drive of a rider to work with his horse to successfully negotiate a trail. "You work towards that perfect game," said Vogel, paralleling a good ride to a good game of golf. But riders say there's more to the competitive trail riding than just the sport. "We just really enjoyed the people and the friendship," said Miller, who plans to compete along with her husband, Gary Inman, in 14 rides across the county this year. She persuaded her husband - who had never ridden a horse before - to start competitive trail riding about a year after she began. "I got him involved. And next thing I know he had a horse. He's riding. And now he's beating me," Miller said. She and her husband look forward to soon having even more fun with the sport. "Now I'm retired and I'm going to have a ball," Miller said. Men are a rarity among competitive trail riders, 80 percent of whom are women, Jeffcoat said. She attributes the gender split to what seems to be a greater interest among women to work together with their horse to conquer a trail and a greater interest in the community the sport provides. "You do this sport for the love of it, the love of horses, the love of being out on trail," Jeffcoat said. "And quite frankly, I would say for most of us ... The people are usually what keeps us coming back." --- On the Net: North American Trail Ride Conference: http://www.natrc.org/ American Endurance Ride Conference: http://www.aerc.org/ Tevis Cup Ride: http://www.foothill.net/tevis/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/horsesctr/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: horsesctr-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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