ACTHA Monthly | July 2015 | 20
I also started riding him Side Saddle. On our first Side Saddle adventure, after mounting him he refused to move. It was as if he was saying “why me?” Being a good sport he walked ultra slow, certain I had lost my mind and didn't know what I was doing. Finally, I convinced him that all was well, "Just keep walking". What a funny boy he is.
Riding with my ugly, pink practice skirt was no problem. He was more interested in his horse friend Rusty's reaction. Rusty's Mom, Krista, tried to ride him over to us but he wasn't having anything to do with that pink, horse eating skirt. As I said before, my kid likes to terrorize other horses by showing off how “brave” he is.
"It was perfect, a nice long ride, fun obstacles, charitable and of course, showing off my beautiful boy. We went and had a blast!"
A few years passed and I kept hearing about Competitive Trail Riding. It really sounded like something we would both enjoy. The once a year challenge with the Mounted Unit wasn't enough. By now we had purchased our ranch out in Pahrump, Nevada, and then it happened! Advertised in our local “horse” paper was an event in Sandy Valley called ACTHA. It was to be a 5 series ride starting in February with the best score total winning a beautiful Silver Buckle! So I looked it up on-line to learn more about it. It was perfect, a nice long ride, fun obstacles, charitable and of course, showing off my beautiful boy. We went and had a blast! We didn't bring home a ribbon from that first event but I had found what I've been looking for. I love the challenges for him and me, the great places we've gotten to ride and of course meeting like minded individuals who have become friends. It gave us a new direction in our journey together and it sure didn't hurt that we Won that Gorgeous Buckle too! Since ACTHA'S season starts mid-year we only rode in 4 events that first season 2012-2013. We rode in the Pleasure Division . I really Love the Medals Program and wanted Navarre to start earning points right away! We have since earned the Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals. And are hard at work to earn our Platinum Medal! During our first “full” season 2013-2014 we really worked hard at home and on the trail. Competing locally and a little abroad we worked on building our skills and honing our craft. By season's end we had proudly won the Nevada State Reserve Championship!
Lisa Marie and Navarre (continued)