Kanopolis CTR

October 22-24, 2010

Last week, I was preparing for the Kanopolis CTR. Located near Marquette, Kansas, just north of Salina, the park is a beautiful place to ride. The pictures don’t do it justice. With a mixture of canyons, river views, and prairie, it is a breathtaking place to ride.

We had fantastic weather and a fantastic ride! It looked like it could have rained at times on Friday, but it went around us, and we stayed dry all weekend.


Both Saturday and Sunday started out a little chilly, but you only needed a light jacket if you had other layers on. By the end of the ride, we were down to short sleeves. The ride is beautiful, but I didn't take as many pics as I wanted to. I rode with Shari, and as always, she is awesome to ride with. Wiley was a calming influence for Savannah, and we had a near perfect ride by Sunday. The stony hills are a challenge, and this is a great place to ride if you are thinking of going to the mountains. This is a tough ride, as I think 5 horses were pulled due to lameness on Sat, and another 2 on Sunday.I was very pleased with Savannah. I didn't think I would have a good ride, because she was very uptight on Friday afternoon. Even after an hour pre-ride, she was ready to go! I was ready to sell her or give her away.We ended up placing really well. Savannah was 3rd and I was 2nd out of 7 riders in my division. Now, I may just keep her!

Shari placed 5th in CP (Competitive Pleasure) and Wiley placed 2nd. And, they achieved a 1000 miles of NATRC Competitive Trail Riding with this ride. Congrats, Shari and Wiley.

My friend, Virginia, placed 3rd in both Horse and Horsemanship! YEA! I got to visit with Jonni from Trot on Hank, and she placed 2nd on Horse and 5th on Rider in her Open Division and with this ride, achieved the National Championship! I had a great time talking with her about her Tevis Ride this year!

Saturday obstacles started with a rocky decline with both judges watching. We had to open and move through a very heavy gate, that swung open away from the rider and downhill. As soon as you opened it, it swung open fast. I only had to open and go through, but even with watching other riders, the gate swung away from me fast and I left go of the gate. CP and open had to open and close the gate.

We had a judged mount after a P&R, and Savannah stood still. We had to lead the horse up to a mounting block and mount. After another P&R, we had to walk to the judges and back between 2 trees. Savannah did well at this, but wouldn’t come forward between the trees, which wasn’t part of the obstacle, so I just backed her a little more and walked around the trees. I don’t think I lost any points for doing that. CP and Open had to back between brush.


On Sunday, we had to take a detour off the trail to a rocky area. We had to walk down a steep rocky hill, while CP and Open had to step down from a large rocky area. At another obstacle, we had to continue walking down the path, and walk over a very large log. Savannah, with her long legs, had no problem. CP and Open had to side pass a smaller log, while stepping over a branch on the log at the same time.


After the last P&R, we came upon the last obstacle with the vet judge. We had to step up on a large rock, about 2’ high, with the horse's two front feet only, and settle. Savannah stepped up and stepped back down instantly. I asked her to do it the 2nd time, but she backed off again instantly. We’ll have to work on standing still longer. After we left this obstacle, the Horsemanship judge was hiding. As we walked up a hill, he was watching to see if we were riding heavy or off the cantle. I only saw him because there was a hiker at the top of the hill. As I looked back to tell Shari there was a hiker, I saw the judge up behind the rocky ledge, and waved at him! Lol


All of Savannah’s P&R’s were great. She made all of her metabolic points. When we checked in on Friday, she started loping and acted up a little, getting her a 4 for attitude. We were to check out on Sunday with the same attitude, and anything less would mean missing points. She actually started loping again on Sunday, but I don’t know if we lost points. I didn’t stay for awards, as the trip home was almost 4 hours. I was thinking of staying with Shari, and following her home, but decided to leave. The cards will show up in the mail soon.


My thighs were sore on Monday! I think I hold with my thighs going up hills, to help hold me off the horse. I think I better start keeping more weight in the stirrups, and hold less with my thighs. I better keep moving , as it hurts a little to sit down and stand up. By the end of the day, my legs were almost back to normal.


I was only able to ride 2 CTR’s this year, but I can’t wait for next year’s schedule! I’m ready to keep riding the trails and competing!

“Embrace the Journey!” Come along on the ride with me!

Last CTR of the Year

Terrain at Kanopolis CTR, Kansas

Kanopolis CTR was 2 weeks ago. The Last CTR for the 2008 year was the Hill & Dale CTR at Hillsdale, Kansas was the last CTR for the year. We rode this past weekend and we were cold, at least most of Saturday morning! We even had a little ice in the buckets on Sunday morning. The sun didn't show at all on Saturday, and it was brisk. We rode near the lake, and the breeze off the lake was cold! We did have sun on Sunday morning! By the time we got back to the trailers at 1, we could take off coats. But when we left to come home about 3, truck temp only showed 42, but it felt like a heat wave when you weren't in the wind!

Everyone did well. Shari got 2nd in CP and 6th in horse. Taylor, Shari's daughter, did well in the youth division. Robin got 2, 3 or 4 (I can't remember exact placings for her and her horse, but I think they both placed), and I'm not sure if David placed. I got 1st and Finny got 3rd in Novice Lightweight. Virginia, who I ride with, got 2nd and her horse got 3rd in Novice Heavyweight. Shari is bringing our cards home for us since we had to leave early and couldn't stay for awards.

Shari at Kanopolis, KS CTR

The ride was fun! We did have some rocky trails, and most were negotiable, but there were a few places where you were going up and down a trail that was solid stone and few areas to step. This ride taught both me and my horse to work on individual foot placing! We had some boggy areas - I like those the least as it could put a lot of strain on the horse's legs. The obstacles were fun, except Robin did NOT have one fun obstacle and she can share that. We had a lot of log obstacles, standing over big logs (glad Finny has long legs), walking down a steep incline into a muddy/boggy area, then back up (that was not fun - Finny backed up, 1 step and that leg sinks in, next step the other leg sinks in, and when he tried to lift his leg, he almost sat down. Luckily, the judges said that was good enough, and to walk forward, which was easier than backing up!) Finny stayed quiet, but he still chomps the bit at obstacles. I'm working on slowing his mind down so he doesn't have to anticipate anything. He stayed really quiet for the ride, and had great P&R's, so I'm really happy about his conditioning. I'm sure that if it was a hot weekend, that would be different. The previous ride 2 weeks ago was good, but he did have higher P&R's after rest time, even though they were still below the maximum numbers without losing points. My goal for next year is to condition a little harder and continue working to have good P&R's. We'll work a little harder on maneuvers over the winter, as I think a lot of the scoring is how well you, and your horse, perform the obstacles. Riders need to ride centered and up off the horse, and the horse needs to perform trail obstacles quietly and slow. Lots to work on and I'm just as excited to continue as I was to start!

Finny has learned to stay very quiet at the hitching posts. I definitely prefer hitching posts to tying at the trailers. The hitching posts are permanent and well built. The horses are tied long so they can lay down and rest. The posts are high enough that the horse won’t try to jump over it. There is a higher line above the hitching post to tie hang bags from. I have learned to strap, and tape, the water bucket to the upright post. No banging at night. On the trailer, the horse, hay and water buckets are tied to the trailer! Finny lets me know when he runs out of hay during the night. He has a full bag late at night, but he is resting. It appears that he gets his second wind after we go to bed and eats his hay. Then he must get his third wind at 2:30, AM! Very early morning! He has learned to bang his water bucket. I can’t sleep. The neighbors told me that they heard him too! So, I’m up feeding my horse at 3 AM! I have learned to hang 2 hay bags if he is on the trailer at night!

Now, it's time for more coffee. My face was red last night, like I was sun burned, but I know it's wind burned! I am starting to feel really tired! I am going to do a little paperwork today and maybe work on my store website! I need to get my specials on it!!! Have a great day, and drink some coffee - it's Monday! :-)))

I’m taking a week off before the next ride! Come along on the ride with me!
Brenda