CDCTA Fall Horse Trials Recap
We had a lovely and successful day at our CDCTA Fall Horse Trials on the first weekend of September. An amazing group of competitors, volunteers, and officials made the day run smoothly and made sure that everyone had a wonderful time. I’m always looking for ways to improve the layout and running of the event so do not hesitate to send me suggestions for improvements.
We continue to play with the location of the dressage rings. This year we placed the dressage rings along the flat area next to the road and put the warmup back where the old SJ area was. The area along the road is the flattest that we have (besides what is used for the show jumping) so I have been looking for a way to best use that space. It was dressage warm-up the last two shows, but I think it works well for the rings to be along the fence, both for level ground and ease of getting back to the trailers after the tests.
The show jumper remained in the same spot as the last two shows. It now sits right next to the secretary’s stand and next to trailer parking (for those who have not been to the show since we made the change). Kathy White always builds challenging but fair courses and we appreciate that she can help us at our event. The competitors enjoy the show jumping being closer to the trailers and it gives our secretary more exciting things to watch when she is in the tent all day.
David Taylor, our course designer, changed the cross-country courses around this year to run the tracks backwards from how they have run in previous years. The courses started behind the tree line next to show jumping and ran behind the trailers to tackle the down banks as the first major question. Then the riders looped back towards the water before heading back to the back field to catch the ditches. Finally crossing the road for the last few jumps before the finish. This gave the course a fresh new feeling and we got nothing but positive feedback from the competitors.
Sunday of the following week we held our cross-country schooling day. Our primary aim in running the schooling day is to reward all our volunteers. We allow free schooling for one horse for anyone who volunteers for the horse trials. We also pass out discount coupons to all our competitors. The schooling day was well attended with multiple volunteers and competitors using their passes and additional riders coming out as well. The profits from the schooling day go towards the funding of the horse trials.
A huge thank you goes to Scott Nelson for continuing to host our horse trials on his beautiful farm. Also, a massive thank you to all the volunteers who give up their time and support this amazing sport in general and our show in particular. We cannot do it without you.