ABOUT ACTRA
The Atlantic Canada Trail Riding Association (ACTRA) was formed in 1980 to promote distance riding, standardize the judging of same, encourage good horsemanship, promote the use of sound and sensible riding mounts, and above all to enjoy your mount in the company of people with the same interest.
ACTRA presently recognizes five forms of distance riding; Competitive Trail Ride (CTR), Introductory Distance Ride (IDR), Judged Pleasure Rides (JP), Ride and Tie, and Endurance Rides.
ACTRA's History
It was January 27, 1980 when a group of people with the common interest of competitive distance riding met at the home of Deiter Helmsmuller of Sussex, New Brunswick. With some initial plans in place, the first regular meeting of the Atlantic Canada Trail Riding Association occurred on March 2. By then interest had increased enough that 35 people attended this first meeting at the Brookdale Community Hall in Nova Scotia.
The first order of business was to elect a board of directors. In these early stages, much emphasis was placed on having equal representation throughout the Provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Regions were mapped out with Nova Scotia divided into 3 zones. New Brunswick would have 2 zones and Prince Edward Island became one zone. While there was not any one present from Newfoundland, it too would be considered as a region.
There are quite a few people who we can thank for starting the seeds of distance riding in Atlantic Canada. The first board of directors consisted of Hayden Bowles, Robin Burke, Elizabeth Burton, Garnet Gallant, Deiter Helmsmueller, Ellen von Kintzel, Larry McKim, Dr. Tom Miller, Charlene Nelson, Jerry Randall and Jack Watson. Others volunteered to serve on committees, such as Mark Boon and Julie Watson.
While organization is important, lets not forget that most of these people were interested in the actual riding. The first organized ACTRA ride dates were planned for May 10 at Frolic N� Acres in Amherst; August 23 or 24, Town & Country Ride in Kentville or Wolfville; September 27, Mount Pisgah in Sussex; October 11, Frolic N� Acres in Amherst; and October 18, Bonshaw, Prince Edward Island.
To get the riders prepared for these upcoming rides a clinic was planned for April 26 & 27, to be given by Louise Leister, an experienced competitive trail rider from Maine. Several of these distance riding enthusiasts made plans of attending a clinic in Vermont on April 5, to be presented by Dr. Mathew McKay-Smith. He was, and still is, a highly respected expert on distance riding.
In this first year the ACTRA directors held no less than 6 meetings. Today, we have the luxury of depending on the ground work these early ACTRA members accomplished and we can usually take acre of club business with one general meeting and 2 director�s meetings.
The 1980 directors held an April meeting in Sussex to take care of the establishment of many of the club rules that we can now take for granted. A system of horse registration and record keeping was set up that our statistician still uses. The directors present at this 6-hour marathon planning meeting must be commended for their show of endurance. Much was accomplished most notably the adoption of the club�s first set of rules, regulations and guidelines for ACTRA sanctioned rides. Even in the first year of existence ACTRA directors had plans for an Awards Banquet.
ACTRA�s second general meeting was held on April 26, again at the Brookdale Community Hall near Amherst, Nova Scotia. Business accomplished was the adoption of a crest and a review of items covered at the meeting held in March. The words �lively discussion� appear quite often in the minutes of these early ACTRA meetings. Which leads one to imagine that the meetings were much more interesting than the diplomatic secretary allowed to be saved on paper.
By May of 1980, there were 44 individual members and 22 family memberships. An individual membership cost $10. We certainly can�t complain about an excessive increase in membership costs because today a membership is just &17.50.
ACTRA�s first annual meeting and awards banquet was held on November 8, 1980 in Amherst, Nova Scotia. It seems fitting that the 21st annual meeting will also be held in Amherst, in this our 20th anniversary year.
c)2001
by Karen Murray. All rights reserved.
Do not reproduce or redistribute any material
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ACTRA Horsemanship
One of the objectives of ACTRA is the encouragement and promotion of good horsemanship with respect to long distance Riding.
ACTRA has a separate category on Competitive Trail Rides and Judged Pleasure Rides for Horsemanship. It is scored out of 100 points and points are deducted for infractions. Judging is equal for Junior and Senior riders and placings are awarded to the top six in each division.
It is not mandatory for ride management to offer horsemanship at a Competitive Trail Ride. If over 50% of CTR rides are not offering Horsemanship for a given year, then there will not be a year end award for Horsemanship for that year.
It must be remembered that distance riding is a different entity than the show ring, pony club, 4-H, eventing, dressage or rodeo, but good basic horsemanship is similar to all
The basic principle in judging horsemanship is that we are looking for the person who best practices the fine art of trail horse care and riding. Competitive riding requires certain special riding techniques which may not be seen in other disciplines, i.e., standing in the stirrups and leaning forward on steep climbs, using the mane as a hand hold. Other things long distance riders do that other riders consider incorrect is to allow a horse to drink all they want as long as they are continuing, to allow it to drink a bucket at the finish and be watered out in an hour or less. Allow it to trot on hard top (paved road) and to trot over footing that would not be considered by non-distance riders.
The prime responsibility of a good horseman is to bring his/her mount through the ride in the best possible condition and to aid the horse in obtaining the best possible P&R recoveries. They must see to it that their horse would be able to carry them mile after mile should the need arise. In order to assist the competitor to help their horse as much as possible, management provides a vehicle so that the rider may send buckets, grooming equipment, feed, blankets, etc., to the halfway or compulsory P&R stops. Weather conditions may change drastically while one is on the trail, and the use of certain equipment is vital to the welfare of the horse at compulsory stops.
The ACTRA score sheet has several categories to assist in judging the overall performance of the horseman; a) grooming, b) in-hand presentation, c) tack & equipment, d) trail care, e) trail equitation, f) trail safety & courtesy, g) stabling.
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