TREC and how to get into it

LHIS

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Hi All,

I need something to aim for with my young lad, for next summer. I've never competed, have always been a pleasure rider, but equally have never had a horse that's as willing as the one I have now.

I saw a video on facebook of someone doing a TREC course with their pony, and I'd like to know more about it as I haven't a clue! It looks fun, but relaxed, and I noticed the riders and ponies weren't kitted out to the eyeballs either, which appeals to me as I'm quite sure I'd stick out like a sore thumb trying to dress myself up for Dressage (which is what I originally thought I might like to do with my boy now that there's plenty of cobby coloureds having a bash).

I think it would teach me to ride better, and my boy would enjoy it, and the obstacles would be great for making him bombproof.

Any advice, experiences, etc would be most welcome! :) x
 

molly7886

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They have all the dates for competitions and training and the rulebook available on the Trecgb website. Basically over winter they have indoor competitions involving an obstacle course and control of paces (fast walk slow canter). In the summer the 'full' competitions involve the above 2 phases and the most fun bit the orienteering. There are different levels depending how far you want to go and get technically more difficult.
trec is very friendly and has lots of opportunities to ride in lovely countryside with the chance of winning fab rosette, gaining league points or qualification to championships if you want to be competitive. Not too much equipment involved but a compass and basic map reading skills are an advantage!!
 

molly7886

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Also tack wise it's quite unrestrictive...a variety of conventional, western, treeless.. more or less anything goes as long as it's safe. All sorts of people and horses. I do it on my TB who now can't event any more and you see cobs, heavies, Icelandic ponies, Arabs and everything in between ☺
 

LHIS

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Thank you - I will have a nosey at their website. Is it a spectator welcome type of thing too? I'd want to go along and sit and watch as part of my research :)
 

Orangehorse

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Spectators are more than welcome and even more so if you want to lend a hand and help. Try and do some training sessions and/or judges days so you know what they are looking for. It would be a very good idea to enter some Winter Indoor Trec if you can so you can try out all the different obstacles. The rule book shows what each obstacle is and what the judge is looking for.

Sadly I haven't been able to get to any competitions lately, but I really enjoyed training for them. Although it is obviously a tremendous help if your horse is well schooled in the conventional sense (canter change of leg through the bending poles, anyone?) just practicing gives a whole new interest and objective to home schooling and the horses seem to really enjoy it too.

The dismounted Horse Agility uses similar types of obstacle, so look out for those as well.
 

stimpy

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TREC is a great sport to get into if you enjoy activities with your horse that are primarily about partnership. I've done a handful and I really enjoy the orienteering bit, I love the challenge and the fact that you get to ride in interesting places. The obstacles are a lot of fun and it is much more difficult than you think to do them well!

It's nice that you see all sorts of horses and riders too, for some things having a bigger horse is an advantage whereas for others small is better so you get a good cross section of competitors and no-one has a significant advantage over anyone else so everyone can give it a go.

If you have a good hacking buddy then maybe try to enter a pairs class, at least there will be two heads to tackle the map reading and it's less daunting if there are two of you ;)
 

molly7886

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The winter series should be ok to watch...from my experience most people only too happy to talk you through what's going on (there's an explanation of the requirements for all of the possible obstacles in the rule book) obviously the orienteering bit of summer comps ia not spectator friendly as riders disappear over the horizon for varying lengths of time.
what part of the country are you in as there are area groups too that sometimes do informal training sessions?
 

LHIS

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Thanks all this is all very helpful! Definitely sounds fun! My boy is 5 at the moment and we're just getting going together. I like the idea of something that would strengthen our partnership as we already have a great bond. More schooling on my part would definitely be required, but this will give me something to aim for and give my schooling a bit of purpose.
 

Elbie

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I had my first go at Trec this weekend loved it! Definitely enjoyed less stress than when I do dressage! Was a bit overwhelmed at first as each obstacle has do's and don'ts (i.e. need to remember to go between the red and white flags on entering and exiting, if led obstacles need to make sure stirrups are not left flapping etc) but after learning the course and watching people do it I was ok. I would definitely recommend going along to watch a winter trec competition. The class I did was for newcomers and the steward/judges were really helpful. They explained everything before I started and helped those out that got stuck if they forgot the course.

Scoring for each obstacle varies and you can play it to what suits you best. I.e. you can chose the pace that suits you best. It doesn't have to all be done in trot or canter.

The rule book online provides lists of the obstacles in the appendix so it may be worth having a nose and trying to recreate some of these at home for practice.

Came second which I'm rather chuffed with! (actually joint first based on total score).
 

LHIS

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I've just had a quick look at upcoming events and there is nothing near me :( - in fact there is a load within maybe 100 miles, but it seems where I am is a bit of a black hole. I will keep an eye on the website though.
 

Holliehope

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if your any where near essex we have a le trec winter series starting up with beginner have a go sessions where you get given help and advice about it all
A few of our liveries have got right into it they enjoy that it has different levels and gives them an aim for the every day riding ie schooling
They really enjoy it and it's has helped them no end
 

LHIS

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Cheshire I'm afraid, my closest are north wales, Shropshire way, lancs, and Derbyshire. Basically everywhere surrounding Cheshire, but not Cheshire itself. I will have fun practising though and hopefully when I get a trailer of my own I can go to these further away venues.
 

stimpy

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Ah yes, that's the other thing about TREC, you have to be prepared to travel further than for many other disciplines unless you are lucky enough to live in an area with an active TREC group.
 

JFTDWS

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if your any where near essex we have a le trec winter series starting up with beginner have a go sessions where you get given help and advice about it all
A few of our liveries have got right into it they enjoy that it has different levels and gives them an aim for the every day riding ie schooling
They really enjoy it and it's has helped them no end

Runningwell, I presume? It's not affiliated is it?

Hi All,

I need something to aim for with my young lad, for next summer. I've never competed, have always been a pleasure rider, but equally have never had a horse that's as willing as the one I have now.

I saw a video on facebook of someone doing a TREC course with their pony, and I'd like to know more about it as I haven't a clue! It looks fun, but relaxed, and I noticed the riders and ponies weren't kitted out to the eyeballs either, which appeals to me as I'm quite sure I'd stick out like a sore thumb trying to dress myself up for Dressage (which is what I originally thought I might like to do with my boy now that there's plenty of cobby coloureds having a bash).

I think it would teach me to ride better, and my boy would enjoy it, and the obstacles would be great for making him bombproof.

Any advice, experiences, etc would be most welcome! :) x

Did you indeed... Would that've been mine?

It's not a bad sport for those who don't want to worry about "convention" - pretty much anything goes. There are folk competing in western saddles, treeless, bitless and in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways. Nobody rightly cares about turnout - except me, because I like a nice photo. Folk are fairly laid back, and happy to help when you're new to it. It's not very competitive, at lower levels at least.

The video, if it was mine, was an open course. Newcomers / unaff novice classes are generally more straightforwards, and it's all stuff a basically well schooled hack should do anyway :)

I know there's an active TREC group in the south west, but not sure who covers the north west / chesire way. The Wales group are pretty active but not necessarily anywhere near the border!
 

TRECtastic

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Are you on Facebook ?
There are Cheshire TREC group and bowland TREC group who have pages , maybe worth joining to see if any training or comps been organised locally to you .
What about TREC camp ? central TREC group are running one at somerford park next year , these are great fun & good for learning TREC without the added pressure of it been a comp .
If you have poles you can make some of the obstacles at home to practice, eg S bend , corridor , rein back , jump , cones are good for bending .
Also get the 1:25 OS map of your local area and take it out when riding or walking your usual routes to see what the features look like on a map , what roads , rivers , pylons etc appear as as they will help you navigate at summer comps on the POR , don't forget maps are not a photo of the terrain/area , trees can be cut down, fences built , paths changed .
I love TREC but as others have said you do have to travel further for comps , it was the making of my silly , spooky , shocked at everything horse , we have been all over England , Wales & Scotland competing in beautiful places with stunning scenery .
I started off doing a winter indoor comp then got the bug , they are a great way to get going at TREC
 
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