ACTHA Monthly January 2015 | Page 32

T.E.T.R.A.

TETRA stands for Texas Equestrian Trail Riders Association, and is a 501(c) 3 organization formed in 1997. TETRA’s mission is to establish, improve, and maintain trails throughout the state of Texas, and to promote all phases of trail riding as a family activity; to educate the public on the care and conditioning of the horse for trail activities, environmental responsibilities, trail etiquette and safety; and to preserve the love of equines in Texas. TETRA has established relationships with local, state, and federal trail management groups and provide documentation of existing equestrian trails in Texas.  We offer clinics and seminars throughout the year that have attracted visitors and clinicians from across the country.

Texas is a large state and to assure each member is represented, no matter if they live in the Panhandle, North Central Texas, the Pineywoods, Gulf Coast, South Texas, Hill Country, or the Big Bend region TETRA has found it necessary to divide the state into 12 Regions.  The regions were patterned after the regions used by Texas Parks and Wildlife. Each region has a Regional Director who will host trail rides and trail work days in their region, to raise money and awareness for our cause during the year. We have trails rides almost every month and in the prime riding season, we may have two or three rides within a month, however they will be in different regions of our state. You do not have to be a member to attend any of our functions, but becoming a member of TETRA helps keep the momentum alive as we work with the Corps of Engineers and the Texas Parks and Wildlife to better the riding facilities of Texas.

ACTHA Monthly | December 2014 | 32

ACTHA CHARITY of the Month

by Jen Wenzel

Our projects consist of Co-sponsoring with Hill County State Nature Area Project on annual benefit rides to upgrade facilities and support trail upkeep in Dana Peak Park, Stillhouse Hollow Lake, Caddo Grasslands, Lacy Point, Reynolds Creek, McCown & Plowman Parks at Lake Whitney Lake Proctor, Land Heritage Institute, Lake Bardwell, Lake Granger, Lake Sommerville, Parrie Haynes Ranch, Mineola Nature Preserve, and the Palo Pinto Mountains State Park.

TETRA ‘s website www.tetratrails.com and Facebook page www.facebook.com keeps our members up to date on all TETRA activities such as regional and state trail rides, parades, clinics and seminars. We have an Annual Member Meeting luncheon, held every January, where the members elect and/or re-elect officers of the board and region directors, hold short informational clinics, have door prizes and a Silent Auction. This meeting is free for our members who attend.  Members also receive the bi-monthly TETRA TALK newsletter, a coupon for one free classified advertisement on our website, and one on our Facebook page, as long as their membership is in good standing.