D&S Trails~R~Us

WHAT IS A COMPETITIVE TRAIL RIDE- It is a timed ride over a marked trail through

natural terrain. Horses all travel at about the same speed and over the same terrain. You are

judged as a team on your ability to negotiate the trail, overall condition and your ability to work

together as a team.

DIVISIONS- We have 3 divisions. Open, Competitive Pleasure (CP) and Novice. Open and

Novice are further broken down into Heavyweight, Lightweight and Junior. CP has no Weight

or age division.

Open Division - for the experienced CTR horse & rider. Horse must be at least 5 years

old. Average pace is 5-6 MPH depending on terrain. May be asked to cover more difficult trail

or perform more difficult observations. Usually will cover 20-30 miles/day.

Novice Division- For the horse & rider team who are just beginning in distance/trail

competitions. Horse must be at least 4 years old to compete. Rider may not have won more than

5 first place awards in CTR. Usual pace is walk/trot at 3-4 mph depending on terrain. Usual

distance is 10-15 miles/day.

Competitive Pleasure Division (CP)- For the experienced CTR rider who may be starting

a new CTR horse or rehabbing an older horse (or themselves) who may not want to go the pace

or distance of the Open Division. Usually paced the same as Novice Division over the Novice

trail. Horse must be at least 4 years old to compete.

PRE-RIDE JUDGING- Preferably done the night before the ride. Horses are evaluated on

condition, soundness and manners.

THE TRAIL- This is the best part. Enjoying the sights and sounds of our Washington trails.

Facing the challenges of the trail on your best equine friend. (Well, sometimes he’s your best

equine friend)

P & R’s- (What the heck is a Pee N are anyway?) Pulse & Respiration Checks- You will

usually encounter at least 2 of these out on the trail. P & R’s help the judges to determine who is

most fit. When you come to a P&R, you will be timed in. Your horse has exactly 10 minutes to

rest. Then his Pulse & Respiration will be checked by an awesome P&R volunteer (don’t forget

to thank them). You must meet minimum criteria to continue on the ride (usually 16 in 15

seconds) If you are less than minimum then your pulse is scored and you continue on down the

trail. Remember, the lower the pulse- the better the score. If your horse is above the minimum

he will be held 10 minutes and rechecked. He can be held for 30 minutes but then must be

pulled from the ride if he remains above minimum criteria.

FINISH- Whew! You made it! But your work is not done yet. You have at least 1 hour to cool

out your horse and brush him up for his after ride judging. Lot’s of brushing will help him trot

out smartly for the judges and go a long way at making a good impression.

AWARDS- Yes, they always take longer than anyone wants to finish all the scoring. This is the

time when you can go rest and eat and start to pack up your campsite if you will be leaving after

awards.

QUESTIONS- ?????? Take a minute to examine your score card and ask any questions you

might have. The judges love to answer your questions and explain further what they saw while

you were out on the trail.

RIDE SCHEDULE- Be sure and check the Canter and the WSH website for scheduled rides.

Unfortunately we only have a couple of ride managers so we have limited Washington rides.

Hopefully we will have more rides in the future. You only need 2 rides to qualify for year end

high point awards. Be sure and check with the Division Director if you would be willing to put

on a ride in your area. You can also use rides from out of state and from Canada to qualify for

year end awards. We try and set the seasons schedule at our Spring meeting held in March.

Watch the Canter for the date, time and place!

    * Location: Washington