Hobby Horse Farm - Links - Carlton, Minnesota

The First Gaited Trail Trials Sponsored by MWHA

I had been gathering information since our FOSH board meeting last November where I first heard about the event. They are very popular out in California. In fact, on any given weekend you can find a Trail Trial someplace to attend. I had a lot to think about and plan for; logistics, who would be the judges, trail course, obstacles, maps, markers, land use permission, parking trailers, food, prizes, communication, advertising, who would come? etc etc etc. Dale and I and our neighbor Ed, spent quite a bit of time planning, clearing, making signs and discussing what would work and what would not. Some of the obstacles were Wood Cutters Camp, Kiss the Blarney Stone, Beaver Pond Camp Site etc. We had everything prepared and set up in time!

Labor Day Weekend, what a great time to begin getting ready for fall trail riding season. And what better way to kick off then to participate in a Trail Trial event. Trailers started rolling in Friday night at Hobby Horse Farm in anticipation of the 10 am start time on Saturday. The eleven judges had the first run at the eleven natural obstacles on the 6 ½ mile course Friday evening for their training session. The scoring process was reviewed and suggested items discussed to pack out to their assigned stations as they were going to be out there for approximately 5 hours.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and warm. The lucky judge who would be at the river crossing all day! Registration, coffee, muffins, donuts, and paper work. The judges were all delivered to their stations and we were ready to go~ The names of the 16 participants riding three Icelandics, one Fox Trotter, three Spotted Saddle horses and the rest Tennessee Walkers, were pulled from a hat in pairs and the first set started off with the following pairs in 15 minute increments. New friends were created. As I watched the group get them selves organized, I noticed a man on a grey Missouri Fox Trotter and a lady on a grey Icelandic moving quickly across the field in perfect timing. WOW I thought, now there looks like a winning team. Sure enough, they both did quite well.

I was taking pictures at the three closest obstacles then went out on the 4 wheeler to some stations out on the trail. While checking on the progress of the riders and making sure all was going well I snapped more photos. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Each participant carried their own scorecard and would hand that to the judge at every obstacle. The judge then would record the score on the individual’s card as well on the official judges score sheet. This way, as the riders came in to the finish area, their scores could be tallied right away, so there wouldn’t be a long lag time for results at the end of the event.

As soon as the last riders were in and the horses put up, it was time to eat. The food was gone faster than we could get it out there! Everyone was hungry, talking and laughing and comparing their rides. Then it was time to roll out the big score board and find out just who the winners were!

1st place – Ann Kritta on her Icelandic – Palmi
2nd place – Cindy Nadler on her Icelandic – Andri
3rd place – Rachael Nyenhuis on her TWH – Tootsie
4th place – John Warren on his Fox Trotter – Dancer
5th place – Candace Thompson on her Spotted Saddle Horse – Jazz
6th place – Callie Avelsgard on her TWH – Pride

Here are the rest of the places if you have room in the news letter:
7th place – Eva Goeres on TWH – Smoke
8th place – Renee Pearce – on her TWH – Cree
9th place – Tym Petron – on his TWH – Dazzle
10th place – Carrie Rochensock – on her Spotted Saddle Horse – Fancy
11th place – Katie Livingood on her TWH – Classy
12th place – Tanya Loehr on her TWH – Beauty
13th place – Sherry Wangen on her TWH – Lincoln
14th place – Peggy Butler on her TWH – Winni
15th place – Eve Loftness on her Icelandic – Spyrna
16th place – Abbie Schramm on her TWH - Rainy

Next, more trophies were awarded to: the tallest horse, the shortest horse, the oldest horse and oldest rider. A clip board was handy for participants as well as judges to put any suggestions for the next trail trial. Many door prizes were drawn for participants as well as judges and a great time was had by all. Some riders camped overnight again and rode more trails the following day.

Response from participant:
Another new way to let the walking horse riders in Minnesota enjoy their horses! I brought my mare to the gaited horse trail trial at your farm and had so much fun! Going through the natural obstacles was a great reinforcement of what my horse does well – and of what she and I need to continue working on. Pairing up riders randomly was a great idea. I’ve met some Icelandic riders I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know so well had we not ridden together. And handing out trophies for tallest and shortest horse, oldest horse, and oldest rider was fun and got the group laughing together during the meal. I truly appreciate how you bring fresh ideas to our association. Thank you!