By Tommy Brannon
Many riders might agree that the stress of competition can take a lot of fun out of horse sports. But the Shelby Farms Equestrian Alliance’s Trail Challenge leaves in the fun in their competitive Trail Challenge. Their third annual Trail Challenge was held Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26, at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis, TN.
A trail Challenge is similar to a trail class in a Quarter Horse show, yet held outside in an open environment, containing some natural obstacles, and subject to the elements. Indeed, at this year’s Trail Challenge the winds were gusting up to 30 miles per hour, ripping apart one of the obstacles: a simulated tunnel made of a frame and a tarp. Horses were naturally more skittish with the high wind, although quite a few took the wind in stride, more concerned with the challenge of dragging a sack of rattling cans or walking over a teeter totter than some imaginary demon ready to pounce from behind.
This Trail Challenge is open to all disciplines. There were horses in trail saddles, dressage saddles, roping saddles, jumping saddles, and outback saddles. Everyone was there to have fun and the camaraderie was quite evident. There were twenty entries (slightly down from last year) in five classes: Junior, Senior Tween, Open and Extreme. There were 17 obstacles for the Open and Extreme classes and 14 for the others. The Extreme class was the only one that was timed.
Some of challenges included opening and closing a gate; dragging a sack of cans; lifting and rotating a turnstile pole 360 degrees; a drop jump; a water obstacle; a combination challenge to move a tennis ball from one cone to another; performing a half pas over a pole to a mailbox; removing an envelope from the mailbox and backing to another mailbox to deposit the envelope. Riders were also required to ride through a tunnel, go over a teeter totter, and pick up a large stuffed lion from horseback, carry it over the withers and return it. The Open and Extreme classes required the rider to remove the saddle, jump on their horse, and ride over the finish line bareback. Jeff Taylor, winner of the Extreme class on his seven-year-old Quarter Horse Molly, opted to cross the finish line without a bridle either.
The Shelby Farms Equestrian Alliance is an organization devoted to promote horseback riding in Shelby Farms Park and elsewhere in the mid-south. For more information visit www.sfea.org
Many riders might agree that the stress of competition can take a lot of fun out of horse sports. But the Shelby Farms Equestrian Alliance’s Trail Challenge leaves in the fun in their competitive Trail Challenge. Their third annual Trail Challenge was held Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26, at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis, TN.
A trail Challenge is similar to a trail class in a Quarter Horse show, yet held outside in an open environment, containing some natural obstacles, and subject to the elements. Indeed, at this year’s Trail Challenge the winds were gusting up to 30 miles per hour, ripping apart one of the obstacles: a simulated tunnel made of a frame and a tarp. Horses were naturally more skittish with the high wind, although quite a few took the wind in stride, more concerned with the challenge of dragging a sack of rattling cans or walking over a teeter totter than some imaginary demon ready to pounce from behind.
This Trail Challenge is open to all disciplines. There were horses in trail saddles, dressage saddles, roping saddles, jumping saddles, and outback saddles. Everyone was there to have fun and the camaraderie was quite evident. There were twenty entries (slightly down from last year) in five classes: Junior, Senior Tween, Open and Extreme. There were 17 obstacles for the Open and Extreme classes and 14 for the others. The Extreme class was the only one that was timed.
Some of challenges included opening and closing a gate; dragging a sack of cans; lifting and rotating a turnstile pole 360 degrees; a drop jump; a water obstacle; a combination challenge to move a tennis ball from one cone to another; performing a half pas over a pole to a mailbox; removing an envelope from the mailbox and backing to another mailbox to deposit the envelope. Riders were also required to ride through a tunnel, go over a teeter totter, and pick up a large stuffed lion from horseback, carry it over the withers and return it. The Open and Extreme classes required the rider to remove the saddle, jump on their horse, and ride over the finish line bareback. Jeff Taylor, winner of the Extreme class on his seven-year-old Quarter Horse Molly, opted to cross the finish line without a bridle either.
The Shelby Farms Equestrian Alliance is an organization devoted to promote horseback riding in Shelby Farms Park and elsewhere in the mid-south. For more information visit www.sfea.org
