I just signed up to try out for the US TREC team.

TREC is a multi-discipline equestrian competition that began in France and is quite popular throughout Europe; it's just begun to filter in to the US. It involves orienteering, endurance riding, controlled riding, and navigating an obstacle course.

The US is putting together a team to compete in the world championship in Portugal next September.

Frankly, I'd suspect that they'll get a lot of people with a lot more experience that I have, but I'm going to give it a shot.

Maybe I'll be selected as team magician, in charge of entertainment, morale, and camaraderie.

 

Sounds interesting... I've never heard of it before but good luck!

 

Good luck, Bill!

 

...and grammar.

Seriously though, good luck on the tryouts. It seems like it would be a lot of fun.

 

Sorry, had to

Good luck.

 

Whoa Billlll, that's a big deal!

Best of luck on making the team. I know you will put a huge amount into making it and have fun doing it. Enjoy the ride!

 

There's a 5-minute video here (middle of the page) that gives a good feel for the sport. They interview the gentleman who built the obstacle course: in 2000 he took a horse that he'd rescued, half-dead, from a knacker and won the World Championship. (The story's amazing: this horse was some grungy Cob mix, so emaciated that it couldn't even walk up the hill to get to his farm, had blue eyes ("never buy a horse with blue eyes"), that he put out to pasture for over a year, then trained for TREC. They got booed in the opening parade next to the Throrughbreds and Arabs and other flashy horses (a Cob is a small workhorse), but won with a combination of cleverness and boldness.)

 

That video makes it look like fun! I can just see our 17 hand 7th level jumper coming up to the thing you're supposed to duck under and just going over it instead.

 

Methinks you'd lose points.

 

Not to mention my seat...