In the past couple of years ONSW clubs have thought outside the box to conduct Ski-O and wheelchair O - and now one of our members has put on a horse orienteering event.
Dean Williamson, club captain at SHOO, reports...
"I'm not a horse person and I didn't know that horseback orienteering was a thing. After I was asked to set an orienteering activity for the Oaks Horse and Pony Club at Camden Bicentennial Equestrian Centre, I looked it up and found out there's even a horseback orienteering association in the US (Competitive Mounted Orienteering).
"The Pony Club was holding a two-day camp, and wanted orienteering to be one of five activities that up to 50 attendees rotated through.
"I always find it tough setting a course for beginners, and planning for the speed that horses could introduce made it even more interesting.
"We settled on 3 courses - one for children being led by adults, one for independent early teens, and one for late teens and adults who would likely gallop their way through the course. My aim was for the two longer courses to feel like riders were on a back-country adventure, with some longer legs for them to 'open up' their horses and enjoy the ride, while still being challenged at having to find points of easy-to-moderate difficulty. To assist with navigation and the comfort of orienteering for the first time, riders participated in pairs.
"To simplify the event, each control displayed the name of a famous horse which riders wrote on an answer sheet. With nearly 20 controls, I was surprised how quickly I ran out of famous horses. Pegasus, Unicorn (not really horses, technically), The Trojan Horse and the Horse from Snowy River (did he have a name?) all made an appearance. The children's course had a horse-themed sticker sheet, with stickers collected at each control point.
"To my surprise, two senior riders sped through the difficult course in 20 minutes, horses all a-lather. The impressive sight of the horses in full gallop down the Northern hill, map flapping in the lead rider's hand, was a rewarding experience, and really captured how exciting horseback orienteering could be as a sport. The day was a success, with the independent 'roaming' experience of orienteering making it the highlight event for many. The Club is already planning the next event - winning!"
Thanks Dean for this great initiative.
