green horses and CTR

[Chelle Sherman <cms@fluent.com>]

I'm sure it depends on the CTR, and the area where it is held, but I
have had the pleasure of starting two green horses in CTR and I feel the
format makes it quite difficult for the horse to stay calm. All the
horses are basically clumped together, many are quite fast at the start,
and as another ridecamper mentioned, most can see another horse in front
of them that they want to catch. Pacing is very difficult when you are
caught in a pack of riders on horses. It's sort of like be sucked into a
vortex and spit out the other end 30 miles later! You can pull over and
try to let them go by, but another pack usually follows close behind.
Furthermore, if your horse does get overexcited, you can't get off and
lead for awhile (without disqualifying yourself). The water stops tend
to be very crowded, especially at the start of the ride. You can try to
arrange to go last, but my experience with this is that my horse knew
she was last, and got more and more frantic as the horses left camp. You
can bet that she was ready to go when we finally hit the trail. I have
also found on CTRs that many riders don't obey the rules about letting
everybody in a group drink before they start down the trail, and letting
everybody get to the bottom of the hill before trotting or cantering
off. If you're unfortunate enough to be at the back of the pack, you can
end the ride with a very sore and thirsty horse. My point in all this is
not to bash CTRs - I really enjoy them and support them wholeheartedly.
It's just that if you're going to do them with a green horse, it may not
be as calm and easy an experience as you think. At least with endurance,
you can leave camp when you want - let the whole pack leave and then go
out. You can get off and walk when you need to, and you have the option
of going much slower if you want to. I plan to do a short CTR with my
new green horse late this Fall, and I think I've learned my lesson:
train in groups before competing, teach pace control, and plan to ride
with a buddy who has a calm horse and a similar game plan.

Chelle and Mystik Star


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