We finally got to the Oregon Horse Center this year for the 2023 National Mountain Trail Championships. This is the incredible facility the sport of Mountain Trail began. This facility is in Eugene Oregon and this year was the 22 year for the National Mountain Trail Championships. It takes them close to 3 weeks to make 2 indoor areas into a mountain trail setting. It is incredible the time and effort they put into getting these arenas to look as real as possible to a mountain trail , with Sagebrush, trees, waterfalls, rocky streams, ditches, tenches, bridges and big water holes. They now have 4 divisions so something for everyone. Greenie divisions- Green Horse ( has not shown MT prior to this year) and Green rider ( has not shown MT prior to this year). Explorer Divisions- The Horse and rider combo has not won any 1st place ribbons in any Mountain Trail Competitions. Novice Division- The Horse/Rider combo has not won more then 5 first place ribbons. Advanced Division- This is the most challenging of the 4 divisions. Now how to pick what division we should go in. Well Ron and I do not show at our own shows but do have a course to work on all the time so we kind of picked the Explorer division ( Which ended up being the largest division with 27 to 44 entries). The 2 indoor rings both start at 7am. This means getting up early to walk your course. We started in the Logan ring at 7am. The Logan ring doesn’t have the big water falls and water features but it does have a water box and a water ditch. It is a little more technical with more puzzles. Not quite as hilly. The ring is smaller then the big Silverado ring so there are only 3 judges in that ring. Below is the first course we rode in the Logan to give you an idea of what it is like showing in Oregon. We started horses in hand first and Ron showed all 3 in the Logan in hand. Then we both rode in the Explorer Select class for 50 and over in both rings. We did not do the Amateur or the Open as you repeat the same pattern in the Logan and then another pattern in the Silverado and that would be maybe a little too much for some horses. After we finished the Logan ring we headed over in the Silverado mid day. This ring is way bigger more like a real Mountain trail. It has a 40’ waterfall into a pond down a stream to a bigger pond or water feature. There are bridges that go over the one pond. And yes greenies go in the water. You have to back through trenches, do 180, 270, and 360 turns on different platforms. I will post the first days course below like I posted the Logan course above. You can go on to the Oregon Horse Center web site and look at all the maps for the show as well. This gives you an idea what to practice at home before you come down. Also to help you with what divisions you should go in. Do not let anyone tell you ,that you can not show here. I was told by a judge and a director of BC Mountain Trail I was not ready for this show. (Not True) everyone is ready for it because they have something for everyone. BELOW IS THE SILVERADO RING AND FIRST COURSE MAP FOR EXPLORER I was also lucky enough to be chosen to do the National Mountain Trail Boss Shoot out on my 4 year old Dusty. What a fun class but it is at a Advanced level so make sure you know your horse can do most obstacles and manoeuvres. Dusty did a incredible job for the first 2 nights but I had to scratch the 3rd night as it got so warm and the rain was coming down so the barns turned into a sauna and Dusty was sweating big time. Even though this was a big money class all the one in the world can't replace a horse so I scratched. Dusty had two great rounds that I am going to be every so proud of. Well showing in hand in the Silverado ring the water features are very deep so make sure you get yourself some tall rubber boots or hip-waiters. Unlike some of our shows here in British Columbia no one takes their horse on course before show. They will put a few obstacles in the warmup ring for you only. You get no walk through with judges only a walk Question and Answer walk though with course designer. Normally the pattern is available the night before and you can walk both courses once show is finished or you get up real early and walk the course you are entered in first. The Silverado Ring has 5 judges going all day and the Logan has 3. Make sure you acknowledge and thank ever judge as you go through the course. Know where your holds are for each judge. Walk your course as often as you can. I normally record it on my phone and then go over it and over it to make sure I have it right. This was one of the most educating , fun shows I had been too. Everyone was willing to help you. Everyone was so friendly. I meet some incredible people, it was such a great experience. Below I am posting a walk through of the Silverado ring of the Explorer division on day two. Each day they maps got a little more Technical but still fun! For our first time we are so happy with our boys. We came away with some good placings in both rings. There wasn't much they didn't do. Cowboy did not like the dry box with a little water in it but once there was water he was fine. Dusty plowed throw anything. Now we just need to work on tweaking the prefect ride. Try to keep your hands quiet and use your legs more to move horse to make a better picture. This was such a great experience for us. If you go to our Tiktok page you will see some great videos of walking the course and some videos of us riding the course. Our tiktok is canoafarms and we are also on instagram as well. Anyone interested in coming down to Oregon in 2024 let us know. Come up and practice at Canoa Farms this next spring and summer. Thank you Lori and Jason for some incredible photos.... FOR THE LOVE OF MOUNTAIN TRAIL..... Looking forward to 2024
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Thank you everyone that came to our 2023 clinic's and our July Buckle series show. We are looking forward to our 2024 season. Our show date has been set, July 19th to 21st 2024
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Kelly Allen owner of Canoa Farms, is a rider, a writer and an artist. Archives
November 2023
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