ACTHA ~ Just Me and My Mare

 

After we left Obstacle #2, our group quickly left Apache and I behind as we headed in a northeasterly direction deeper into the forest of the Open Space Lands.

I really enjoyed this section of trail that ran through a deep canyon towards the third obstacle. We were all by ourselves and it was so quiet, except for a few birds and the wind, as it whooshed through the narrow canyon. There were sections of boulders and rocks that I allowed Apache to work her way through. And she calmly and carefully took good care of us, especially in the steeper sections.
This photo is where we were climbing out of that canyon.

Soon we were heading uphill and at the top of the ridge there was Obstacle #3……with everyone from our group…waiting to have their turn.

Thankfully, we only had to wait about 5 minutes there in the bunch before it was our turn. And we chatted with a wonderful lady who had been at Jessica’s group lesson with me 2 weeks earlier. She had brought along her friend to ride as a Buddy Rider and was giving her tips on how to ride in a group with other horses. Apparently she didn’t have much experience, if at all, with riding on trails, as she did most of her riding in arenas. So this was all new for her and I enjoyed sharing in her excitement.

As I moved up closer to Obstacle #3, I realized it was a Vine Simulator….something Apache and I have practiced many times as we keep one in our pasture. But ours is made of baling twine. Their’s was made of a bright white shower curtain, cut into strips, which was blowing and rustling in the wind. *gulp*

The rules for this obstacle was to have your horse walk through the shower curtain and then circle around the cone on the other side and then come back through the shower curtain, a second time, and then exit the obstacle.

Apache had already made it known that she didn’t like strange white things incorporated into obstacles. So, I didn’t put a whole lot of hope into us completing this particular obstacle.

This is my friend Kristi on her gelding. They walked right through, no problem.

But don’t you love it when horses surprise us in positive ways?

When it was our turn to try the obstacle, Apache gave a good stare at the shower curtain, we circled around the cone, then I pointed her straight at the shower curtain. As we got up close to it, she reached her nose into it, sniffed, blew and then walked right on through. Hooray!

We then circled the cone, and came back around and walked through the shower curtain for the second time, and exited the obstacle. I was so proud of my girl that I gave her a rub and a neck hug!

Roni had stuck around to watch me, as had the older lady and her Buddy Rider friend, and it felt great when they congratulated us, too!

After we left Obstacle #3, Roni decided to hang back and ride with me for a while. I told her Apache and I were just fine by ourselves and I didn’t mind if she wanted to ride with our group, but I think she maybe wanted to try out the slower pace and less waiting at the obstacles. At least I hope so, and instead didn’t feel guilty and felt like she had to stay back with me?

Anyway, the trail dropped down into a sandy wash in an easterly/south easterly direction with mountains on either side of us and as we rode through the canyon, we both sang songs, sometimes singing together, sometimes just singing back up. lol!

It wasn’t too long before we left the wash and canyon and turned right and headed uphill, through the trees. Apache was very interested in this section and kept looking around. At the top of the switchback covered hill, we came out onto the top of flat, clear-cut ridge, probably 5 acres wide, and rode across to the other side, where we came upon our group again, waiting to take their turn on Obstacle #4, The Slicker and Hat Challenge.

I was pretty confident that Apache could complete the Slicker part of the challenge as that is something we’ve practiced at home, but I was doubtful she’d even consider trying the hat pick-up part of the challenge, because I know she is very distrustful of sticks from back when she was kept in a paddock near a school and kids threw rocks and sticks at her. But we were going to attempt the obstacle and just see what Apache was willing to do.

Many horses, like my friend Anna’s mare, totally refused even getting close to the slicker.

Apache didn’t disappoint me with the slicker. We walked right up to it blowing in the wind, and I lifted it up off the branch and laid it on her withers. And then we walked over to the obstacle man so he could hand us the stick and throw the hat on the ground for us to pick up, and Apache’s head flew up and she stepped sideways away from him, eyes huge, snorting…..afraid. So, we weren’t able to complete the obstacle.

I don’t know if Roni was able to pick up the hat with the stick, because I was already heading down the trail, and she competed after me, but she did get the slicker off the branch. Well done!

 

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Note:

I did find out my scores today, and we scored a zero for Obstacle #4, as well as the Obstacle #1 Moo Cow Bridge and I have to say that I think those zip scores are unfair.

Now I want it known that I appreciate all the hard work our Ride Judges went through standing out in the weather all day, while judging over 80 horses and riders from 8am-5pm. That’s a long, hot, tiring day.

But when I have judged an ACTHA ride (And I have been a judge 3 times, so I do have a little experience with them), I always gave a partial score for a partially completed obstacle, especially if they completed at least half of an obstacle. Maybe they’d only get between a 2 and a 5, but they would get something if they tried.

I think Apache deserved at least a partial score for crossing the Moo Cow Bridge successfully, and for completing the Slicker half of Obstacle #4, unlike another horse who wouldn’t even get close to the slicker at all. For that I would have scored a zero. But if a horse had calmly allowed the slicker on it’s withers, I would have given them at least a score of 4.

Ok, sorry for the rant, but I’m probably more fair at judging because I know how challenging these obstacles can be and how much training and practice goes into preparing a horse to complete them.

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Moving along…….The next section of trail, between Obstacle #4 and Obstacle #5 was very long and challenging for Apache and I because as it steadily got steeper, it became narrower with many twists and curves at it climbed to the top of a mountain.

The NMMSAR did a very good job at clearing the trail for this ride, but Apache doesn’t neck rein well and she tends to get way too close to trees and bushes. And after she rammed my poor right knee into a tree, I was on a high alert focusing on keeping Apache centered in the trail and away from trees and branches.

This was also when I was very grateful for my helmet because of all the low-hanging branches that smacked and scraped my head. My long sleeve shirt was also a good choice or I would have come back home covered in scratches. It was a beautiful trail, though and I did enjoy the challenge of maneuvering through, over and around it, but, just like a white-knuckled car driver driving over a steep, narrow, scenic pass, I was glad when we finally left that section of trail and the trail widened a little.

Roni did, too, and decided to practice riding her mare reinless out in front of us.

Soon, as you can probably guess, we caught up with our group again at the next obstacle, where they were waiting in line for their turn. I didn’t like being bunched up in this narrow section of trail in front of the obstacle, especially after Roni moved behind me to meet up with a NMMSAR member who gave her a bottle of water because she had been complaining of feeling dehydrated and heat exhausted. That left me wedged behind one horse that was a known kicker, so Apache and I tried to stay way back as much as possible.

(The white horse in front of Roni in this photo was the kicker)

This is another obstacle Apache and I earned a zero score on, which I think was unfair. Obstacle #5 was called The Log Drag and Apache and I have worked on this one at home, so I knew she could do it.

The log was attached to a lariat hanging on a branch and riders were to pick up the rope and drag it about 20 feet to another tree and hang up the lariat on a branch. We had no problems pulling the log all the way to the other tree, but I had gotten us a little too far out from the tree, so I tried to side pass her over and just couldn’t get her over, so we had to drop the rope. I really feel like we should have been given a partial score for that challenge.

Roni was behind me and did really well until about 3/4 of the way across and she had the rope too close to her horse. The log and rope got twisted around her horse’s legs and Halley Cat got way freaked out. I was worried that Roni might fall off, but cowgirl that she is, she stuck like glue.

After we left behind Obstacle #5, we traveled in a southerly direction, down the other side of the mountain. And the trail very quickly became a challenging, steep, rocky, slippery descent for about a 1/4 mile. I wanted to allow my mare to pick her own way down, but she wanted to stay close to the trees that lined the trail, which threatened to scrape me off her back.

 

To Be Continued………….