Buronga Practise Group Competitive Trail Ride

Last weekend, I packed up Diago and made the 3 hr trip to Mildura to join the Buronga Practise Group with their Competitive Trail Ride.  Having just brought Diago in after a spell, I was a bit dubious as to how he would go with this as he is a bit of a nervous nelly and going out to new areas does tend to push his buttons a bit.  I arrived on Sunday and in the afternoon we had the vet check (thankfully Diago was fit to compete!) and then the opportunity to check out the trail, followed by a delicious meal that Dr Deb had prepared for us.

Monday morning, everyone arrived to prepare for their ride, although there was a bit of nervous anticipation, there were also lots of smiles and laughter as we all saddled up.  The trail consisted of a 2.5 km loop with a number of check points with tasks to be performed such as opening a gate, backing through obstacles, jumps and crossing a creek!  All things that you would expect to encounter when going out for a ride and give us a chance to practise our horsemanship skills.  The loop was to be completed 3 times and on our first trip out, I took Diago into the lead knowing that he would be feeling very alone - just what he needed to help build his confidence with me.  We took this first loop fairly steady and Diago did a fantastic job with each of the tasks that we encountered.  Diago's confidence grew on each consecutive loop and we trotted the whole way on the last lap.  We were the first to complete the course and I enjoyed a welcomed glass of cool water whilst we watch the others come in.

I found this to be a fantastic training exercise for our horses and we had lots of people of all different levels take part in the day.  People of each level had penalty points to even out the board which made it a fun, competitive day for everyone.

Diago and I came third in the event, Liz McLean and her horse Eadie got second and Amanda Bernaldo and her horse Demaris got first - Well done Amanda!  Judy Lamb also scored the encouragement award .

A huge well done to everyone who took part, and from the ear to ear grins on everybody's faces when they finished, I think everyone won in their own way.

Thank you Dr Deb, Amanda and the Buronga Practise Group for your lateral thinking and organising such a fabulous event - and I believe that there are more of these being planned!  Of course we wouldn't have been able to do this without the stewards who manned each checkpoint - thank you Glenda & Ashlin, Laura and Dianne, a great effort from you all!

Album: Buronga PG - Competitive Trail Ride