Equine Trail Sports....or "Well, that was fun, but my horse is STILL broken!"

I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO MENTION THIS!!!

So, at the place I used to board the horses at (Rusty's Walnut Creek [hey, I don't board there now, and since I know my ex still stalks my stuff, I always tried not to mention it by name ANYWHERE {yes, he's THAT creepy}]) hosted another Equine Trail Sports challenge the last weekend, and, while Joe and I both had things to do on Saturday, I kind of whined and got him to sign up to do the ETS on Sunday.

Originally we were going to be companion only riders (which means we weren't going to do ANY of the obstacles), but, they begged and said we should go try and if we just HATED the obstacles, they wouldn't charge us the fee, so, we decided to go.

Now, Strider was CONFUSED.  So, we're at Rusty's, his "home".  There's trailers!  And LOTS OF HORSES!!  IS RACE DAY MOMMA?!!!!  WE GO FAST!!!

No.  No dude. 

My friend H got us this saddle pad at the Bluebonnet Horse Expo, so I HAD to use it!!
People should KNOW that they're in the presence of the Paso Fino!  LOL!!!

Almost fully dressed with our number! 

I told Joe I was going to walk only Strider, and I did, with the exception of ONE obstacle and when he BEGGED me to go for a little bit.

I rode him in the Myler Kimberwicke, which is what Douglas had used on him when training.  Strider wasn't exactly HAPPY in his bit, but it DOES help him refine his moves.  And he tried his heart out for me.

The first obstacle we had to take them into the round pen, step in a square box and you had to have their head naked and bridle them.  Joe and I both opted to do it without a halter around their necks.  Of COURSE both of our horses walked out of the box.  LOL!!!

Our group, consisting of 2 other endurance riders, Joe and one of my friends in the Central Texas Lady Trail Riders group (who is on her amazing horse Kansas!!) mounted and set off. 

Obstacle two was to turn on the forehand down an invisible fence.  Strider and I bombed this one.

This video is obstacle 3.  Move from cone 1 to 2, line up on the cone, back up, move off back to the cone, line up, back again, and then move off the obstacle.

You can tell in this video that he's off.  I wasn't completely sure, but fairly sure he wasn't QUITE right.

Obstacle 4 was to touch a big piece of plastic on the fence with monsters on it. 

We actually did obstacles 5 and 6 out of order. 

So, we did 6 before 5; which was get a bucket of candy off a peg in a tree, move through cones and hang the bucket back up on the tree.

Obstacle 6 was to side pass obstacles going down the trail.

I was actually very pleased with him ALL day (except for the lameness that was intermittent).

Here are our scores.

Strider and I got a shout out for the obstacle with the candy bucket.  And our reward?

Look!  You CAN make money with horses!!!

Now, let me talk about Joe and Tilly.  Joe was COMPLETELY game to try things that he had NO idea what to do, how to cue Tilly or ANYTHING!!  He was so calm and patient with her ALL day long.  The only time he "got after" her was at the tarp on the fence because she would NOT go near it when he asked.  However, once we finished that obstacle, he DID make her touch it with her nose.

We did tell the judges that this was only the second time he had ridden her, and that he really wasn't sure how to cue some of these things.  The judge at the obstacle you were supposed to side pass on said "That's fantastic!  It leaves them a LOT of room to grow!  Good for him to coming out and riding today!"

Here are their scores.

Overall, I enjoyed our ETS ride (minus my hurt horse).  There ARE people who you can tell are there to win and are competitive, but the overall atmosphere felt very laid back and casual, and no one said anything negative about the endurance riders.  Everyone was very supportive, and the judges were FANTASTIC about explaining what the obstacle was, and what they were even looking for.

My endurance friend (TM) taking an over the shoulder shot of Joe and Tilly. 
That's Strider and I and TC and her horse Kansas behind them.

All of our group (except TM, the photographer!) after we finished obstacle one!!

I would recommend an ETS ride to anyone who has never done one!!!