Untacked

FEATURE 68 JA N UA R Y/ F E B R UA R Y 2 017 U N TAC K E D What Is TREC? e acronym TREC stands for Techniques de Randonnée Equestre en Compétition, which translates roughly to Horseback Riding Techniques in Competition. e French designed this three-phase sport to test the skills of equestrian tourism guides. Its signature phase, the mounted orienteering phase (POR), involves navigating almost 30 miles of unfamiliar territory using a route copied from a master map. A rider heads out at a designated speed with a watch, map, compass and required safety gear in saddlebags, but no GPS permitted. ere are checkpoints along the way, where judges check time and direction before the rider takes off at the next directed speed. e goal is to navigate the course accurately and to hit the optimum time. e second phase is Control of Paces (COP or MA), which involves cantering a 200-meter path as quickly as possible, and then returning at the walk as fast as possible, without breaking gait. is demonstrates communication between horse and rider, adjustability of gait and finesse. e final phase, the Trail Obstacle Course (PTV), is a hybrid of a training- to preliminary-level cross-country course and a trail class on steroids. It's a timed course with 16 obstacles selected from a list of 32. e horse-and-rider pairs go over traditional cross-country jump combinations in addition to challenges such as ducking under "low branches," a series of poles set 20 centimeters higher than your horse's withers, or stopping in a chalk-marked circle, taking your hands off the reins, and keeping a horse immobile with only voice and core, seat and leg. e sport is popular and the riders competitive, in Europe. People ride TREC over there the way eventers, dressage riders or hunter/jumpers do here. So how on earth did I end up riding among the elite of the sport? It's a tale of being in the right place at the right time. Navigating cross-country obstacles as part of the TREC Trail Obstacle Course was the final challenge for Stephanie Church and Marinus at the world championships. He was tall and handsome, and as we stood together in line for the closing ceremony parade of countries, he turned to glance at me—and sank his teeth into the American flag beside us. Marinus was not a man with a quirky sense of humor, but rather a cheeky 6-year-old rose gray oroughbred-cross- looking sport horse. He was my leased mount for the world championships of a sport called TREC. Marinus was the bravest and most willing young horse I'd been paired with in decades. He was no stranger to the show jumping arena or the arid, rocky terrain around Segovia, Spain, but there were aspects of TREC that were new to him. And there were also gaps in my knowledge and experience, so we'd worked hard together in the previous week to prepare ourselves for one of the more challenging experiences of our lives. EDDI WABNITZ PHOTO

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