My First Ride: The North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC) by Kathy Busch
I was in my mid-to-late thirties in the early 1980s when I met Suzanne Bidwell, and oh my, she had horses!!! Three to be exact! They were all rideable and, yes, she wanted me to ride with her. I had gone to heaven! It had always been a dream of mine to have a horse one day. So, we rode and as we rode, I found out about competitive trail riding and NATRC. I would ride as much as she did. As it turned out, I was learning to condition the horse, and she was teaching me everything I had to know in order to compete. When Suzi was convinced that I knew enough, we found a ride in southern Missouri at the Mark Twain National Forest. She would ride Open; I would be a first-time rider in the Novice devision. I had been riding and conditioning Katama, a black half Arab mare. She was riding Miska Prince, a dark bay three-quarter Arab gelding that my husband was later to own.
after trailering.)
ate, organized the tack, feed, buckets, water (fresh water is always provided, but not always close, so we would stock up on Friday for the evening and morning) and generally got ready for an early Saturday morning wake-up call. Suzi and I then took the horses for a relaxing walk, greeted people, and played in the river. (Sometimes we would go for a short ride to give them a stretch
The ride meeting was held at 8pm for all the information about the ride, introductions of the Judges, timers, ride administrators, farrier, safety riders, getting maps of the trail, and mileage as well as timing of the ride divisions, Saturday and Sunday lunch stops (45 minutes), number of P&Rs (pulse and respiration checks), and available water on the trail. They announced wake-up time at 5:00am and start times. Obviously, you need a great watch! At 10pm, all horses must be properly tied to the trailer, with plenty to eat and drink and you may not untie or disturb the horse (other than water and feed) until after the morning check by the judges.
Suzi had the trailer and an old station wagon that we would be using to pull. At the time, we both worked, so in the evenings before we left on Friday, we packed the car with all we would need to camp and cook and sleep. The trailer was packed with feed, hay, buckets, saddles and all the accoutrements for a weekend of serious riding and horse caretaking. We had a map that took us to the campground next to a lovely 70-foot wide, relatively shallow river. It was a beautiful venue, and there were approximately 60 riders arriving to compete.We found a space large enough to park the rig and set up camp. We unloaded the horses, tied them to each side of the trailer, and made sure they had water and hay. We then headed to the meeting area to check in with our entry forms, coggins and health certificates, pick up our numbered vests, and say hello to soon-to-be new friends. This meeting area was at the top of a high hill adjacent to the valley where we were camping.
It was 5:00am when a bull horn woke us up. We got up and immediately attended to the horses with feed, hay and water. Then dress for the ride, eat breakfast, prepare saddle bags with what we wanted to take with us on the horse, the map in a plastic bag with a pen and paper, water bottles for sponging, sponge, drinks, hoof pick, leadrope and halter, and snacks for ourselves. We also organized the horse’s feed and our lunches in buckets to be taken to the lunch location. All of this while waiting for the judges to appear. They come to your camp and the first thing they want you to do is to untie and trot your horse out to check for lameness and stocking up in the fetlock area. They check the horse’s back for any soreness, the safety of the stabling area and the tie and length of the lead rope. When they leave you can relax. Start time is usually between 6:30 and 8am, as each horse is timed out individually. Open Class leaves first as their ride is the longest. Then the other classes start timing into the ride. Suzi and Miska were already competing and now it was Katama’s and my turn to get into the waiting line, mount on request of timer and start.
There was a lot to do that evening. After check-in, we were on the clock and needed to groom the horses for an initial vet check which entailed recording all of the rates of the heart, respiration, hydration, hooves’ condition, way of going and the demeanor of the horse. Back at camp, we set up our tent, a make-shift kitchen, 12
