ACTHA ~ Mild Bunch Meets Hole in the Wall Gang (Part 3)

 

Yes, you read that right. Mild Bunch. That’s the name that my buddy, Renee gave our small group of 4 Buddy Riders (Renee-riding one of Colleen’s horses Sadie, her hubby Greg-riding his horse Jessie, Lynette-riding Colleen’s horse Rosie and myself-riding Apache, of course) for the CTC ride.

Well, mild was the kind of ride we were all wishing for. haha!

In the morning, we woke up to find that the parking areas around the stables were filling up fast. We were expecting about 60 registered ACTHA horse/rider teams to arrive that day and we were not disappointed.

(Apache was somewhere in the middle of all those rigs, in her outside pen, and was thoroughly enjoying all of the activity and new equine neighbors who moved in beside her.)

  

There were trucks and trailers everywhere and Colleen and her husband, John and many other Walkin’ n Circles Horse Ranch Rescue volunteers helping out.

I guess I’m kind of a nerd, but I really enjoyed checking out all the different horse trailers that were there. There were smaller ones, like these 2-3 horse trailers with no living quarters.

And there were big ones, like this one that was hauling a Clydesdale and a Missouri Fox Trotter from the New Mexico Search and Rescue Team.

But the way to go, if you are planning to participate in many adventurous Competitive Trail Rides, is having a trailer with LQ (living quarters).

 

After arriving, all riders had to make a stop into Cattle Kate’s Saloon, where all the registered ACTHA riders paid their fees and received their info packets, all while being greeted by the friendly Cattle Kate herself (Howdy Anna!).

Then it was time for all riders to head over to the indoor arena for some breakfast burritos and coffee and the Riders Briefing, with the ‘Sheriff’.

(Howdy Colleen!) (That dour-faced man behind her was the Firearms Official, there to make sure any 6-shooters were clear of bullets and zip-tied secure before the ride began)

We were also introduced to the 5 Safety Rider Volunteers from the New Mexico Mounted Search and Rescue Team (NMMSAR). I met some of them last summer while attending the Route 66 Mother Road Parade in Edgewood (click link for photos of the NMMSAR from that event)

There’s Matt C. riding his handsome Clydesdale while ponying another NMMSAR rider’s Missouri Fox Trotter (More on that particular Fox Trotter later. hah!)

 

My friend Theresa was there, too, but I was so busy I forgot to get a photo of her and her gorgeous Lipizzaner/Hungarian Warm blood, Zema. But you can see the two of them by clicking on the previous Route 66 parade link (she’s also a member of the NMMSAR) or this link: Lipizzaner.

I was also happily surprised to see another horse-related friend there, too. Kat, an employee from my local feed/tack store was at the ACTHA CTC ride riding her horse, but again I forgot to take a photo.

But I did manage to get someone else to get a photo of Danny and I. We met at the last ACTHA CTC Ghost Riders to the Rescue. Click on that link and you can see some awesome pictures (towards the end of that post) of Danny and his Arabian horse all decked out in full Arabian costume while jumping over tall log challenges!

(By the way, Danny won best male costume from that ride and from this ride, too. He and his horse also won first place in the Open Division. Way to go Danny!!!!)

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After the Rider’s Briefing, it was time to get our horses groomed and saddled. Because we were the last to head out, and 40+ horses had already left the area where Apache was penned, I noticed that she was anxious to get started.

She was impatient and took a couple minutes to stand still for me to mount and then after I mounted, she moved forward without me asking her to, and without both my feet in the stirrups. And then I realized her brakes were broken. gah! Thankfully she was just heading towards the stables and I was able to get her back under control and then made her do a number of tight circles to remind her that I was now the ‘driver-in-command’……thank you very much. She did manage to stand still long enough for a quick photo, though.

 

There were 5 groups of 10-12 riders in each group, set up to head out every 15 minutes, to give each group enough space in between to complete each challenge. Renee decided to get us signed up for the last time slot so that we wouldn’t have riders behind us making us feel rushed. In addition, that choice worked out well for us, because typically Buddy Riders are just along for the ride and don’t usually get the opportunity to try out the obstacles during the CTC (unless there is enough time, or after the CTC has been completed, the riders are sometimes permitted to head back out to try out the obstacles on their own).

(A photo of Lynette, riding in our Buddy Rider group, on sweet Rosie. I owe that mare a lot)

(A photo of headless horses, Jessie and Sadie, with their riders, Renee and her husband Greg)

But since our group was last, the judges offered us the opportunity to try each of the obstacles as we rode the course, which turned out to be a lot of fun!

(Apache carefully observing other horses attempting to complete an obstacle)

To Be Continued………