I'm on a boat, and you'd better believe it

And the journey are officially begun. Well, it probably began yestereve when the horses happily jumped on the bandwagon and set off betwix the gateposts of adventure and victory, but currently I am on a boat cruising the vast ocean, navigating the treacherous waters that are the English Channel, and being accosted by pirates hiding beneath the guise of giving most shapely balloons to unsuspecting small children....the journey is just beginning.

But back to times past and yesterdays happenings is where I shall go, so after an uneventful three hours of road rage, I arrived at destinations unknown in the form of ETA Stables, the horse transporter that we're using for this trip, where I was welcomed by settled horses (my mother had driven them down earlier) munching contentedly on various fibrous comestibles and by most of the Senior Team, and one other Young Rider, Sarah Pollard. The packing of the horse lorry was initiated, and the faffing commenced to a large degree. 

The hour of seven o'clock was awaited eagerly for whence the hour struck the arrival of Oriental Cuisine was due, and so the banquet table was laid, this consisted of Julians ramp being lowered onto a shavings bale to produce the optimum dining experience. 1900 hours occurred, but alas, no food! So we waited patiently, and upon the horizon a fruitful sight was spied, however our hopes were raised for no useful cause, as it was only the veterinary inspector coming to secure our passage upon the ferry, we all have our priorities right with the needs of our stomachs. But lo and behold, a better visual and tasteful experience occurred with the arrival of our delicious take away, consumed with much vigor and delight by all.

The delights of China from a ramp

Nine o'clock then approached, and departed, as we waited for the Irish to prepare their equine beasts for departure. A little later without much ado, all the horses were loaded, and happily munching on their hay and irritating each other...well this is applicable to Harvey anyway...and they set off upon the Voyager of Fortune.

And now I wait for the approaching shore to engulf me in it's welcoming land and take me to pastures new.

TTFN England

Err...well I don't know what TREC is...

You're back! I knew you would be, and now I shall attempt to describe, explain, inform and relieve you of the mystery that is TREC, and indirectly encourage you to partake in the enlightening experience, I would apologise if you are already aware of the details, but who knows, you might learn something...or you could just skip the next few paragraphs...

So, I do TREC. "My, my! What could this possibly entail?!" I hear you cry. In theory, I ride a horse, preferably my own, and try to follow the route on my map. I believe that the History of TREC (Technique de Randonee Equestre de Competition) is a good a place to start as any, so from there the story shall commence. It originated in France, hence the French names, and was primarily a test for professional trail guides to prove that they had the ability to read a map, control their horse, and be able to tackle any natural obstacles that they may encounter upon their travels. Therefore it now consists of three phases, the Parcours d'Orientation et de Regularite, the POR to us natives, the Control of Paces, and the PTV, Parcours en Terrain Varie.

Lets start with the POR. Riders get up to 20 minutes in the map room, depending on what level they are doing, and in that time you have to copy the route that you will be riding from the master map, onto your own map. The route gets longer, up to 45km for Level 4 and more technical as you go up the Levels, so detail on copying the route is essential, (this was reiterated unto me when a vital couple of millimetres to the right would have seen me not lose 80 points...all in good fun...right?). You will also get given a speed to ride at, this means you have to calculate how fast/slow you should ride each kilometre to ensure you get to the checkpoints  on time, oh and you don't know where the checkpoints are. The speeds also go up for each Level, putting you under more pressure to read your map accurately. For Levels 3 and 4, the more difficult Levels, there are also two other elements included, these are the bearings and the grid references. Sound easy? Didn't think so. It can definitely be a challenging day.

The second phase, the control of paces, is designed to show how well you can influence your horses leg momentum. There is marked 150 metre corridor that will be between 2 and 4 metres wide, it may be on a slope, and may include some bends to negotiate. First you do your canter, so to score maximum points of 30 it must be slower than 33.8 seconds, points decrease as speed increases, the walk must be faster than 66 seconds to score any points.

And the final phase is the PTV, this is effectively a cross-country obstacle course, and the one part of the competition that is generally more spectator friendly. It consists of 16 obstacles and may include some cross-country style jumps, the height of these will be set according to each Level, the approach to each obstacle may also be made more tricky for the higher Levels. There are a variety of different obstacles which can be chosen from a list of 36, some test obedience and calmness, others, the flexibility of the horse and other such things, they could be anything from low branches, s-bend, corridor, step up, ride down, rein back and many more exciting and challenging items. The course may include some obstacles that must be negotiated whilst dismounted, such as immobility and lead up, to test the versatility of both you and the horse, the obstacles also give a good indication of how the horse and rider are suited to any difficulties and obstacles that may be encountered en route.

                            Rebecca Harris completing the s-bend, Italy 2009

TREC is a great way to give a slightly more competitive edge to your riding, and is fantastic in enabling you to challenge both you and your horse and to introduce you to new things to try with your horse. It is a brilliant way to get out and about, and meet lots of lovely people, and see some beautiful views along the way.

Simple.

Any questions? No? Good.

And so it begins...

Well hello there, and welcome to my space. I hope you enjoy your hopefully not too brief a stay in the vicinity. I just thought I'd welcome you all here, and just pretty much say why I'm writing this lovely passage for you folks.

As you may know, (I expect you do, as I doubt that you perchanced upon this delightful page on your internet travels) that I am a Young Rider on the TREC GB Team, and I shall endeavor to tell you all about this wonderfulness in my up and coming blogging habits. I may even tell you about some recent competitions I did (don't count on anything though), just so you can hear even more about this joyful sport. Oh what a treat!

I hope you find this insightful and informative, may be not yet, but in the next few weeks and days. You'd better be back as well, other wise there will be words with no one to read them.

Have a nice day.