Carrie's Blog

As the holiday approaches I think of the great souls that have touched this earth. Jesus in a manger surrounded by guess what …Animals! I do believe, as I’m sure many of you do to, that not every great soul is human. Sometimes we are touched by a great soul, who just happens to be an animal. I believe animals have a lot to teach us, and with their ability to love unconditionally, open our hearts. An open heart shows compassion, and I for one believe compassion must be a quality of the divine creator. When we show compassion we are acting in concert with the divine, as Martha Stewart would say “and that’s a good thing”. We have wonderful dogs and horses (no cats since allergies do not permit one). Angelo is certainly a very special soul. The picture I’ve posted today is of Angelo and our precious granddaughter. This summer I rescued an unlikely pet, who I believe he had much to teach. We were trail riding about 100 miles from anything, and out pops this little pink pig. He was a baby show pig, who came bounding out of the woods at about 9,000 feet. He was determined to be with us and followed us to the top of a mountain (about 11,000 ft.) and all the way back down to the trailers. He was the bravest animal I have ever encountered. We named him Sir Edmond Hilary (who climbed Everest). He was very sunburned and cut up when he found us, but Vetericyn to the rescue! Our home owners association frowned on a pet pig, so alas, he now resides at a Horse Rescue, in New Mexico. I think of Sir Edmond (Eddie) quite often, but I know he is in good hands and has the run of the place. Horses, dogs, goats and a pig… He was a great teacher in striving for what you want just like The Little Engine that Could he just never gave up. Some days when running ACTHA is a little too much, I think of Eddie, and we strive on. Happy Holidays to all, Ride on, Carrie

We are currently revving up for the Holiday Season. It’s 17 degrees at our home in Colorado, and 71 degrees at our Texas abode. Most of our Christmas cash has been eaten up (literally) by the damage mice have done to our cars. I know what you are thinking we should get just get a cat! Well, let me tell you these mice are like the mice on Star Trek. They go “where no mouse has gone before”. (Tom’s car had a nest in the engine). We’ll just call that mouse Scotty! And the rest of our Christmas cash well…let’s just say it has been donated to vet bills. I’m not joking. This Christmas, I am asking Santa for Vetericyn in my stocking. And our wonderful friends at Kensington were generous enough to give my 3 horses Bug Eye fly masks for their stockings, complete with a pen to draw on their faces. I think I’ll make Peterbilt look like Antonio Banderas. I wonder, will Larkin even notice? Actually, they say that if you draw face markings on the fly masks other horses won’t rip them off. (This gives a new meaning to the phrase, “I’m going to rip your face off”. LOL! Truly, do you think that will work? I’m going to try the Antonio thing! Angelo, Tom’s proud steed, tried to give himself a third nostril by gouging a huge hole in his nose. I wonder should I draw that on his face mask? Peterbilt, my special pony, is taking 6 weeks off for the Holidays after doing in both his front suspensory ligaments. (Well, at least no art work is needed on his wraps). Happy Holidays to all our friends, Tally Ho, Carrie

Speaking of bits, I’d like to mention that ACTHA is changing the ruling regarding two hands on a shank bit. Henceforth, there will be no longer be a mandatory deduction for riding with two hands on any bit. We realize that the severity of a bit is in the hands of the rider. So, Judges will now have complete discretion on this matter. If a horse appears to be uncomfortable or resistant, the judge may deduct points from that rider. Heavy hands are never a pleasure to watch! But let’s talk about “good hands”. Good hands are developed from a good seat. If a rider is well balanced in the saddle, and is able to develop good supportive leg strength, then they should never find themselves balancing off the horse’s mouth. This is akin to riding the clutch of a standard transmission. Your clutch will go out, and so will your horse’s mouth. I can’t tell you of the horror stories I have heard of people saying their horse flipped over backwards with them. I have never seen a horse flip over backwards in nature, and it usually has something to do with a human. When we are riding trail, we are on uneven and steep terrain. Your horse will appreciate a balanced ride, with no interference to his mouth and head. Let him do HIS JOB! When a horse is struggling to maintain his balance, and a rider interferes with his efforts, he will often fill trapped and panic. Can you imagine, a backpack on your back, and sitting in that backpack is a monkey, and that monkey is holding a wire in your mouth, and you are trying to do something athletic. What would you have that monkey do? So, this New Year, let’s make every effort to be the best rider you can be. Ride on, Carrie

Some of you may wonder how ACTHA came to be. Well, I was a successful competitor in the Hunter/jumper world. I received my early training in NCY at the “hands” and “hoofs” of retired NYC mounted patrol horses and officers. When we moved to Colorado, I purchased a wonderful but high strung ready to run Arabian. I spent many days riding in ever decreasing concentric circles to keep from ending up in the next county. I was just married and we could not afford both a horse and a saddle so I rode “Wart” bareback, which did not help with the control issue. It seemed like endurance riding might be the ticket, since I was still up for competition. But I eventually ended up competing in NATRC. My love of trail riding was an outcome of living in Colorado surrounded by so much land and natural beauty. In my later years, I was over the show ring stuff, but still loved to trail ride. However, distance riding was just not where it was at for me, so I conjured up the ACTHA format of 6 miles with 6 obstacles and 6 judges. Six is my lucky number. My dear friend Karen Van Getson was my trail riding buddy and she agreed to help me with the ACTHA idea. I am not a computer type person. I have said “if I can’t reason with it, or fondle it, I want nothing to do with it! However, Karen (my Mr. Spock) was a computer type, and so we started out together putting on rides. Karen has both beauty and brains (I have neither) but somehow we made up a pretty good team. When Karen’s son Luke was struck by a car in the summer of 2009, it looked like ACTHA’s future was doomed, as I could never have done this by myself. However, my hero husband came to the rescue of these damsels in distress. Yes, he came riding in on his hansom white charger Angelo, and saved the day! He took up the reins of ACTHA
and took over Karen’s duties plus some, until she could return to work. Today, Karen is back to work, and Luke is on the road to recovery. ACTHA is growing, as is our company family, and our many friends in the trail riding world. Our personal horses are all rescues, as are our dogs. I guess this is where the idea of helping horses in need came from, but more about this is the future. I think it is so wonderful to give a real purpose to our rides. Just think, some horse is not going hungry tonight because ACTHA exists. RIDE ON! Carrie

Well, this past week-end was a big one for ACTHA. We started off on Friday at Bastrop filming about the benefits of having your horse go barefoot. Carol Herder (founder of Cavallo) joined me as we discussed having and maintaining a barefoot horse. I am personally a BIG Believer in the benefits of having a barefoot horse. Carol also chimed in on the humorous side, on how she counsels women on how to break up with your farrier! The problem I always had was getting my farrier to call me back! My personal horses (Angelo, Peterbilt, and Larkin) are all barefoot, and have been for several years. I also LOVE MY CAVALLO BOOTS, Larkin wears the Pink ones! Since my horses have been barefoot for several years, I use my Cavallo boots only when I am on rocky terrain. But they wear like iron and I have never had one come off on trail! I used to hate riding with people whose boots kept coming off, and we would have to stop and back track to look for their lost boot, and then get off and put it back on. I thought of training my dogs (Kramer and Shorty) to search for lost hoof boots. Truly guys, Cavallo boots are easy to put on and they stay on. We put allot of fun information on the video, soon to be on ACTHA TV, coming on our website. Stuff like the history of why people put shoes on horses in the first place, and why it’s worth it to take them off! On Saturday, my barefoot trimmer, came and trimmed my horses. Yippy!! We rode with friends from ACTHA Sharon and Jerry Bowden on Sat. Afternoon along the banks of Lake Travis, it was a beautiful day, and riding along on the banks of the lake was like riding on the Moors of England. Sunday, Tom left for Las Vegas and a trade Show where we will be sharing a booth with a new sponsor Kensington Blankets. I know what I want for Christmas; Kensington makes a new slow feeder hay bag. You can put as many four flakes of hay in these bags and it will take horses all day to eat it, so it’s much more like natural grazing. Peterbilt, my Percheron/Pony cross will probably not be as happy with this, as he loves to gobble down his food, and then go steal Larkin’s. Karen (my partner) and I went for a cool and crisp ride early Sunday morning, and then it’s off to do some Christmas shopping with my daughter. Happy Trails, Carrie

We at ACTHA, (The American Competitive Trail Horse Association) want you, our members, to feel supported and safe while riding. Although the ACTHA CTCs (Competitive Trail Challenges) are conducted as judged events we don’t want you to feel judged. Our goal is to provide you with a fun competitive environment where you will feel safer trail riding, and to support the bond between you, your horse, and other horse enthusiasts. Our goal is for you to come ride the trail with ACTHA and feel confident that you are riding with a TRUSTED FRIEND, YOUR HORSE. We also want you to share your adventure with old and new friends and their horses. My blog (Carries’ Bit) will include stories, thoughts, lessons, guidance, and advice compiled from many years of riding, competing, rescuing and living with horses. I’m looking forward to making this journey with you.

Happy Trails, Carrie