Trail

mountain trail horse, trail horses, oregon horse center, horse obstacles, tania millen, debbie hughes, bc mountain trail, imtca canada, dragonfly stable, grasswood horse park, hanging h arena, oak springs farm, sagewood trail course, shumway lake equestrian centre

Twenty years ago, the Oregon Horse Center in Eugene, Oregon held an indoor trail competition using log obstacles, water ponds, and dirt embankments to transform their arena into mountain trails. That event was the beginning of competitive mountain trail, where neatly dressed riders navigate an untimed, subjectively-judged course of obstacles typically found on wilderness mountain trails. In Canada, two organizations promote the sport — International Mountain Trail Challenge Association (IMTCA) Canada and the British Columbia Mountain Trail Association (BCMTA)— and each has their own rules, judging criteria, and obstacles.

Pack horses, pack mules, tania millen, horse jobs pack mule

Job Description: These sturdy horses and mules carry gear and supplies, usually in panniers or sidebags, typically across rugged terrain.

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park on horseback, trail riding in alberta, horseback riding alberta, southern alberta trail riders, camping with horses

Our group of 17 horses and riders had taken shelter from the brutal midday sun beneath a massive overhang created thousands of years ago when water roared through the valley, and our chosen lunch spot was also home to several rattlesnakes.

trail riding canada, back country horse riding, canada's horse riding trails, protecting riding trails canada, back country horsemen of BC, PEI horse riders

Horseback riders across Canada are advocating for horse use on provincial and regional trails. In Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia (BC) that often means resolving potential conflicts with other user groups. On Prince Edward Island (PEI) it’s meant trying to gain access to the Confederation Trail — a 470-kilometre stretch of Canada’s Great Trail, previously called the Trans Canada Trail, which follows a former railway bed across the island.

tracy klettl painted warriors, timmearns painted warriors horse programs, indigenous horse riding, history of indigenous with horses, jacqueline louie

When Tracey Klettl is on the back of a horse on a beautiful woodland trail, her mind is always clearer and she feels so much more at peace. “I always hope that people feel that same peace that I do,” says Klettl, co-owner of Painted Warriors Ranch, located in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies about an hour-and-a-half northwest of Calgary, Alberta. Painted Warriors creates authentic outdoor experiences from an Indigenous perspective, based on Klettl’s Cree and Mohawk heritage and on the Ojibway heritage of Klettl’s partner and business co-owner Tim Mearns. Guests learn a variety of skills, from riding to natural navigation, medicinal plant identification, and backcountry basics.

mongolian ride, holidays on horseback, tania millen horse writer, riding a reindeer, horseriding abroad.

From May to August, 2022, 17 adventurers aged 27 to 70, rode over 3,640 kilometres across Mongolia in 84 days as part of the Blue Wolf Totem Expedition. It was the longest charity ride in recent history and combined exploration, fundraising, and adventure.

kelly plitz reining, colten powell show jumping, colten powell bronc rider, kelly plitz reining, tina thompson eventing, tina thompson endurance, changing horse discipliens, tania millen

Pivoting for Lifelong Learning Opportunities - Riders often pursue the same horse sport for years, competing up and down the levels depending on their horse and how life unfolds. But some riders choose to change disciplines altogether — by choice, necessity, or because their horses want to do something different. It’s something riders at all ages and life stages may experience but the learning curve for a new sport can be steep. We interviewed three riders who are embracing new-to-them horse sports and meeting the challenges that brings.

jec aristotle ballou dressage exercises dressage stretches english riding stretches equine stretches horse stretching carrot stretches equine physiology horse fitness

Simple Exercises and Routines to Reprogram Dysfunctional Movement - As tempting as it is to use our riding skills and training expertise when teaching a horse to carry his body differently or when rehabbing post-layoff, this actually slows the process down. Somehow, many of us equestrians missed this crucial fact during our educations.

effective breathing techniques for horse riders, how to breathe properly when horse riding, overcoming nervous breathing when horse riding

We breathe more than 20,000 times a day. Most of the time, we don’t give it much thought, since we do it automatically and all seems to go well… except when it doesn’t.

lindsay grice, flat class, how to judge a flat class, how to judge rail class, rules of a flat class, how to prepare flat class, lindsay grice

Riding the Rail - No jumps. No pylons. No letter markers. Unlike classes assessing the accuracy of patterns, the quality of movements in tests, or how the competitor meets each jump on course, flat or rail classes appraise the picture of you and your horse in profile.

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