EMRHA Ranch Horse Show

By Maddy B. Gray

Ranch work is hard to come by around here. Most New England cattle don’t get moved from one range to another, over thousands of acres. They don’t get rounded up much either.
So to see ranch work on display is a real treat. That’s what we got at the Eastern Mountain Ranch Horse Association competition held at Gelinas Farm, in Pembroke, New Hampshire.
I competed in one of the few classes open to any horse, the ranch trail class. Most classes require a registered stock horse (quarter horse, paint, etc.)
In the ranch trail class, Shea and I had to open and close a gate, sidepass over a rail, cross a bridge, lope on different leads, do a 360 degree circle in a tight box, “rope” a dummie calf, and load up into a trailer.
We did pretty well, but it was baby stuff compared to most of the other classes where roping and moving cattle are key components.

And some folks were fantastic. What I appreciated most was the time many took with their horses. You could watch as they made sure their mounts saw what laid ahead.
“See the bridge, let’s go cross it,” they seemed to say.
“See that cow, let’s move it,” they said. The judge, an American Ranch Horse Association judge from the south (North Carolina, I believe), emphasized the importance of the horse-rider rapport when gathering us before the show.
I miss seeing the teamwork at some horse events. It was front and center here.
The rain put a damper on some of the competition. Fortunately, Gelinas Farm has a marvelous indoor arena where one can warm  up and wait out the rain.

Here are some winners!
 

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