Arena Obstacle Challenge - September 2015

I have received many requests for ideas and videos on arena obstacles for training horses to be better trail horses. Most of the ideas for obstacles I use come from what I have seen Craig Cameron use in his clinics, or from the Extreme Cowboy Association (EXCA) races, or obstacles from American Competitive Trail Horse Association (ACTHA) events, which are Competitive Trail Challenges (CTC's) or Arena Obstacle Challenges (AOC's).

ACTHA provides a governing body for CTC's and AOC's, approved obstacles and evaluation criteria, awards, and a point system for regional and national awards. Competing in ACTHA events is a good way to meet new horse people and get a horse gentled - making a better trail horse - in a pretty informal type of competition. ACTHA has several divisions to cover the skills of the rider and experience of the horse, from novice to advanced riders.  

Competitive Trail Challenges or CTC's are a six mile or longer trail course where riders encounter an obstacle each mile and negotiate that obstacle for a score. An example of an obstacle is a rope gate - see picture at right - a simple gate is made from rope running through PVC pipe and anchored on one end to a T post and to the other end with a loop or something that allows the rider to open/un-latch it and move the horse through, then re-latching the gate.  You can imagine the coordination and support needed to mark trails, build obstacles and provide transportation for judges to and from.

Arena Obstacle Challenges (AOC's) are conducted in an arena where a horse and rider enter and complete 6 to 10 obstacles. If you have seen an EXCA event, then you can imagine an ACTHA AOC as a much slower race where while there are time limits to complete an obstacle, time in not factored into the score.

You can go to the ACTHA obstacle page to see the list of approved obstacles.   

Because of the lack of local ACTHA or other obstacle type events in my area, I am hosting an Arena Obstacle Challenge on Saturday 26 September - I'll be posting an article and video in early October on this event. We going to try a slightly different format with a obstacles clinic on one ACTHA approved obstacle in the morning prior to the the AOC competition. This will be an obstacle that the rider's will not encounter during the subsequent AOC. After the last rider competes, the arena and obstacles will be open for riders to work on any obstacles they and their horses need to work on. I'm doing it this way so competitors can get more of a training value out of the AOC.

All ACTHA events give back to a charity. ACTHA give 20% of their proceeds to the designated charity picked by the ride host and the ride host (that would be me) gives a percentage of the entry fees to the charity. Our designated charity for the September AOC is Perfect Harmony Horse Rescue and Sanctuary, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization based out of Chaparral, New Mexico.

There is also an ACTHA blog with articles on ACTHA competitors and ideas for obstacles and training.


You have to be a ACTHA member to sign up for and ride in an AOC or CTC, ACTHA has a 30 day trial membership for basically $10 per person.  Otherwise annual membership is $35 per year for an individual, $50 for a family of two, or $85 for a family of four.  ACTHA membership information can be found here.