ACTHA? ACTHA stands for American Competitive Trail Horse Association. It is the new trail riding association featuring a creative way to promote adopting and saving unwanted horses, the America’s Favorite Trail Horse competition. Last year, a smart and bright mustang won this association’s first competition and this year? America gets to vote. I recently traveled to Pipe Creek, Texas, to try my hand at this fun and challenging sport. We, my horse and I, arrived the night before at the L Cinco Ranch, outside of the Texas Hill Country town of Pipe Creek. There was plenty of room for all sizes of living quarters trailers to pull in but no hook ups, so please bring a generator. Large water troughs are provided and I dipped buckets in them to bring back to the trailer. Many people brought portable pens for their horse and some tied to the trailer for the night.
The next morning, breakfast was served for an additional $5 and there was a rider’s meeting explaining all of the 6 obstacles. They were all made from natural materials and some used the terrain as an obstacle. Groups were assigned to leave in waves so that all of the riders were not leaving at the same time. There was a 100 rider limit to this ride. It was fun to ride along the six mile trail with new acquaintances and watch fellow competitors. Everyone cheered each other and the group was very welcoming and helpful. The whole ride took about 2 hours, lunch was served for another $5. There was an awards ceremony at the end after all of the points for each horse and rider team were tallied.
On a whole, this was a fun, family oriented horse trip and I plan on going again in February. There is a ride every month at different locations. I would recommend this activity to any level of rider as long as a beginner was accompanied by a more experienced person. Click on this website for more information.http://www.actha.us/afth
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