TRAIL
CLASS IDEAS AND PATTERNS
By SUSAN DUDASIK
So, you’ve
been bitten by the Trail class bug! You’ve made a few obstacles,
started your horse with the basics on the ground and advanced
to riding around over and through various individual obstacles,
but now what? Well, it’s time to start designing some basic
courses. But how do you begin and where do you find ideas?
This might
be a harder project that you would think as there are few resources
for this information. For the past ten years I’ve kept
a notebook with photos of obstacles taken at various shows as
well as those clipped from magazines. I also ask my friends
to send me copies of trail classes from their local shows. Still,
my resource book is rather small. I recently went through over
70 western horse magazines and came up with about four trail
class articles and a dozen photos. Not very much considering
the popularity of today’s trail classes, but I did find
several interesting sites on the internet simply by typing in
“Trail Class Patterns” in the search box. My favorite
one is from the Pottowatomie County 4-H Horse Club in Oklahoma.
They have several patterns and provide information on various
spacing and layout styles. The site can be found at www.geocities.com/pchorseclub/TrailClass.html
. Just remember that most of the sites are copywrited and
you need permission to reprint or use the courses.
Chatting
with trail riders and trail class exhibitors is always productive
since they get around to a variety of places and see different
things. Recently I heard from a fellow that put on a Trail Trial,
a trail class out on the actual trail. He mentioned that a bunch
of horses had a problem dealing with tight switchbacks. So,
I made some simulated switchbacks out of closely spaced logs,
about 24 inches apart in a very tight “Z” pattern.
It worked well and I plan to incorporate it in an up-coming
trail class I’m designing. He also said one of the obstacles
was for the rider to rest his stirrup on a tree stump and back
around it. That’s really fun! It sounds simple but is very
challenging.
Another
great source of ideas is to go on a trail ride and simply observe
what’s out there, then get the creative juices flowing.
Last year, a friend’s horse spooked at a rabbit in a metal
pipe culvert. So now I’ve added a culvert with a stuffed
bunny to my course idea list. This year, after doing some volunteer
trail marking, I’ll add tying a trail marker ribbon on
to an artificial Christmas tree. There are all kinds of neat
ideas right in front of us. We just need to look at things from
a different point of view. Next time you go to a yard sale or
dollar store, think Trail class and see what kind of fun goodies
you can find, especially now that the fall holiday seasons are
approaching. There are all kinds of neat Halloween goodies that
can be used as trail obstacles, from spookie lawn ornaments
to leaf bags with pumpkin faces. They also make great markers
to do transitions at, such as trot to pumpkin and stop or continue
loping and at the stuffed bunny, drop to a trot. I’ve also
made “traffic” signs out of poster board that says,
“trot to here”, and “reduce speed” and “loping
zone. These help immensely with youngsters trying to do their
gait transitions.
When designing
a course, keep in mind the age and skills of both horse and
rider. If you’re just starting, don’t expect your
horse to be able to do a backthrough raised “Z” pattern
spaced at only 28 inches wide. That’s a majorly advanced
maneuver. Start simple with two poles about 4 feet apart and
work from there.
Creating
courses and patterns can be a challenging hobby, but whatever
you come up with, be sure it’s safe and not over the edge.
You want to test your horse’s willingness, not terrify
him. If you set something up and your horse falls apart at the
sight of it, back off. You want your horse to trust you, not
just blindly go near something because he’s been forced
to. A well designed course should be practical, safe, creative,
challenging and most of all, fun.
Here’s
a copy of a course I designed for the 2002 Eastern Idaho State
4-H Trail Class. I used the story approach to give the youngsters
a practical reason for why they are asked to back through an
“L”.
1. Welcome
to the 4-H Trail class. For this event, we are going to take
an imaginary trail ride so the first thing you must do is LEAD
YOUR HORSE THROUGH THE GATE.
2. Since
you will be in the woods, you next need to GIVE YOUR HORSE ONE
QUICK SPRAY WITH FLYSPRAY.
3. Then,
LEAD YOUR HORSE TO THE BALE OF HAY AND USE IT TO GET ON.
4. Once
in the saddle, WALK YOUR HORSE OVER THE BRIDGE. Be careful you
don’t spook the swans.
5. After
the bridge, PICK UP THE TROT AND TROT TO THE END OF THE ‘L’.
Be careful. STOP! The trail has been washed out so you will
have to BACK OUT OF THE “L”. Watch out for the inside
poles; if you hit them, it’s a long way to the bottom of
the mountain. That was close. Now TROT TO THE SIGN.
6. There’s
a fork in the road ahead. As you choose to WALK DOWN THE RIGHT-HAND
PATH, be aware of the furry animal sleeping in the culvert.
7. AT THE
NEXT SIGN, ask your horse to LOPE ON THE LEFT LEAD to the next
sign.
8. RIGHT
AT THE SIGN, DROP TO A TROT AND TROT OVER THE POLES.
9. CONTINUE
TROTTING INTO THE BOX. Watch out, the trail is getting narrow.
STOP, a branch just fell in front of you. You TURN YOUR HORSE
AROUND IN A FULL CIRCLE, (you can go either direction) but decide
it’s easier to go forward than back, so you WALK OVER THE
POLE.
10. Next
you WALK TOWARD THE MAILBOX AND STEP OVER THE LOG, then decide
to check for mail, so you have to SIDEPASS TO THE BOX. Surprise,
there’s some goodies in the box. TAKE ONE AND PUT IT IN
ANY OF YOUR POCKETS.
11. Well,
you’re almost back to camp so RIDE YOUR HORSE THROUGH THE
CAMPSITE TO THE END MARKER. Hope you had a good ride!
Photos by
SUSAN DUDASIK
SPACING
OF OBSTACLES
Although
the actual spacing of various obstacles may differ from show
to show, here's a basic guide to work from. Remember that when
first introducing a horse to an obstacle it should be set wide
and low. Make it narrower and higher as he gains confidence.
Backthroughs:
Start at 4' feet wide for a green horse and work down. A finished
trail
horse should
be able to handle poles spaced 28" to 30" inches apart.
Walk-overs:
Poles can be placed 18", 20" 22", or 24"
inches apart. A more challenging
obstacle
can be created by combining the spacing.
Trot-overs:
For a slow jog, place poles 2 1/2 feet apart. For an extended
trot place
them 3
1/2 feet apart.
Lope-overs:
Place poles 6', 7', or 8' feet apart.
Jumps: Jumps
should be no higher than 2' feet high.
archives
Susan Dudasik
Shadow Rider Equine News
srider@salmoninternet.com
Member: Idaho Press Club
North American Saddle Mule Association
