The focus of Equine Trail Sports is the partnership of the equine and rider, and how well they work together to accomplish the obstacles. Having no time limit to perform an obstacle really allows the rider and equine to focus on doing the obstacle correctly and not rush. This, combined with being able to choose a different level of difficulty at each obstacle, really allows the equine and rider to grow their relationship while being successful. Some of this is accomplished by the shout out by the judges at the awards, with constructive comments on the obstacles.
The best reward is being able to help riders grow with their equine, and see the tremendous improvement that they have accomplished this year. This has also benefitted both riders and equines in other venues by giving them more trust in each other by working through obstacles together. This also helps them become safer when they do go to the mountains by having the knowledge and confidence in each other to work through difficult situations.
Equine Trail Sports Northwest has become the social life for a lot of riders with pot luck dinners and the wiliness to help other riders, whether it is by providing moral support when a rider is having a challenge or having an item of tack that has failed or just having a great time riding through beautiful country and sharing the experience with everyone else.
When I asked a first-year rider what she felt was the most important quality in ETS, her reply was “the comradery the willingness of everyone to help and the quality of horsemanship is what hooked her on ETS.”
When one of our judges was asked what, she felt was the best thing about ETS she replied” a chance to share incredible experiences with amazing people and their equine partners.”
I ask a senior rider and her reply was” a level playing field and you can be as competitive as you want since you are really competing against the obstacle.”
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