Name  Lynne Mabbitt

Junior or senior Rider Senior

Occupation   Semi retired

Horse’s name, age and breed    Jigsaw 19 years Crossbred

Alaska 7 years Appaloosa cross

Horses history, how did they end up being a superstar TREC horse!

Jigsaw was taken into possession via the RSPCA as a 3 year old with a yearling foal at foot.  Neither her foal nor a 3^rd horse taken at the same time survived. Jigsaw came to me as an unbroken 4 year old a year later and it was clear after the first couple of TRECs that I did with her that she had the potential to be a really good TREC horse. She`s generally very well behaved,  chilled, good at looking after herself (and me) and careful where she puts her feet

Alaska bought via Preloved as a 5 year old, still very much a work in progress!

How did you get into the sport of TREC?  Officiated at the English Championships local to me back in 2002 and amazed at the antics of the various competitors but impressed with how well behaved most of the horses were. Did one competition as a pair the following year and loved it so much signed up the following weekend for another.  I`ve been hooked ever since.

What do you love about the sport? That we get to go to some amazing places and ride some wonderful routes, combined with the technical challenge of getting the POR route correct.

What is your favourite phase and why? Has to be the POR, the more technical the better even if my score decimated as a result.

What advice would you give someone wanting to get into the sport? Go for it. It`s very addictive

And the one moment of TREC you will never forget!  Switching my brain off at the end of a European Cup Competition in Germany.  Consequently I failed to take a right turn and ended up wandering around a German town that was off the edge of my map,  leading my hired horse and  trying to find my route back to the venue!

Occupation

Computer programming

Horse’s name, age and breed.

Lily Langtree, 13 Irish Draught Sports Horse

Horses history, how did they end up being a superstar TREC horse!

I went to see a locally bred thorough-bred horse for sale at a farm a couple of miles from home. It ditched me in less than 30 seconds with violent bucks (I heard later that it had an abscess in his hoof), meanwhile Lily was watching the episode, wide-eyed and innocently over the stable door. I loved her beautiful white spots set against dark steel grey, a little rocking horse that I thought I could never hope to own; 30 minutes later I was loading her into my horsebox and taking her on her first trip towards TREC. Actually, she was beyond my price range, so I had agreed with the farmer to ‘ride her on’ as she was 4 years old and had just returned from being backed. Several months later it was obvious I should buy her and soon took her to her first TREC competition; I was appalled by her silly behaviour, spooking at every coloured thing available and so I returned to riding club, dressage, show-jumping and eventing, but several years later when we both ‘grew-up ‘ a bit (not much), I decided to return to TREC and so here we are today, 7 or so, years later.

How did you get into the sport of TREC?

It was mentioned in Riding Club AGM as a new sport in UK and described as “games for grown-ups”, “you gallop flat out beneath low branches and there is bending”. I was awoken from my reverie, happy memories of riding as a child in the Prince Phillip Cup team in Pony Club, always trying for the elusive Wembley, came flooding back. Games, a new sport, I was already forming ideas of getting into the team and re-living childhood fun.

What do you love about the sport?

In actual fact, although the games are what appealed to my early imagination, it is the riding across new landscapes, the exploration and the journey that I most enjoy. I love the connection and dependency that is built between horse and rider and the long weekends away together.

What is your favourite Phase and why?

Orienteering, as stated above, I love riding across new landscapes and visiting new places around our beautiful country; plodding down ancient by-ways, fleeting across hillside and mountain, listening in silent old woodlands. On the ancient tracks I think about all the many people who have ridden or walked the route over the years, the many footsteps, how the rocks are worn and what their stories are.

And the one moment of TREC you will never forget!

The first weekend away with Lily, it was a warm night and I had slept in the horse box with the top flap above the side ramp open. In the morning I was able to walk out from my “bedroom” by simply pushing down the ramp into Lily’s coral. I shall never forget the look of total astonishment and wonder on Lily’s face, she just seemed so bowled over by the fact that I was in her ‘horsebox’ and so close at hand. She is such a sweetie.

Occupation

Retired

Horse`s name, age and breed

Indy 18 years Welsh/TB

Horse`s history, how did they end up being a superstar TREC horse

We have tried lots of different riding disciplines. In 2009 we tried TREC and the rest is history!

How did you get into the sport of TREC?

Bowland TREC group`s “Cartmel Camp” great riding out, training and fun 2009

What do you love about the sport?

It`s a friendly sport

Riding and exploring lots of new places

“A weekend away” I love watching all the different types of horses that take part, it`s such an inclusive sport

What is your favourite phase and why?

Difficult to choose…  POR – spending a “few” hours riding and exploring

PTV – exciting stuff and interesting challenges

What advice would you give someone wanting to get into the sport?

“Give it a go” – try a TREC camp or training day, help judge at a competition and watch what goes on.

And the one moment of TREC you will never forget?

Lots of great TREC moments – White Horse TREC Group Woodhouse Farm TREC 2015 competition – challenging POR with amazing views, great social and BBQ, challenging PTV and our first L4 competition

Occupation  Hospital Porter

Horse’s name, age and breed  Adamfield Flashlight, 10 y.o. Dales Pony

Horse`s history, how did they end up being a superstar TREC horse!
We bought Flash as a 4yo from his breeder, where he had been returned after becoming unmanageable in his previous home. He was my first proper pony as a 13 year old, and he has always needed a job to occupy his mind- TREC seems to be that perfect job! We entered our first TREC competition as a L1 pair with my riding instructor in 2010. We then competed 2 seasons as a Level 2 pair, and have been riding as an individual at level 3 and 4 for 4 years now. Flash is a very chilled out pony who takes everything in his stride, but there is nothing he loves more than exploring new places at speed!

How did you get into the sport of TREC?
My instructor has competed in TREC for many years and thought it would be a good education for both me and my young pony to enter a competition. It was especially helpful because I worked for her as an assistant ride leader and a lot of the skills learnt through TREC are transferrable to this. I was hooked on the sport from then on and haven’t missed a season since.

What do you love about the sport?
I think the independence of the sport is fantastic, it allows both you and your horse to show off ability across a wide range of skills, and demands a good partnership between horse and rider, something I have always been interested in. The people who compete in TREC are generally very friendly and encouraging, and the competitions become like a little holiday, where you meet the same people all over the country.

What is your favorite Phase and why?
My favourite phase is the POR because it allows you to ride in places around the country which you wouldn’t otherwise visit or be allowed to ride across. I prefer POR to the other two phases as it allows me to spend a lot of time on my pony, which I love, but also time to think through decisions without so much time pressure.

What advice would you give some one wanting to get into the sport?

Start riding TREC as a pair so that the POR and map reading isn’t daunting. I would also recommend arriving at the venue with time to take an OS map and go for a walk around the area to get your bearings, if you know where home is on the map its much more comforting when you are out on the POR!

And the one moment of TREC you will never forget!

When competing in the European Young Riders Championships in
Holland this year I was determined not to knock off any branches on the low branches…I therefore went very low down Flash’s neck…so low in fact that I ended up on the floor!

Name Caroline Brammer

Occupation. Clinical Oncologist

Horse’s name, age and breed

Maisie : 10 yo Welsh cob section D

Jingo: 12 yo Highland/Connemara Cross

Horses history, how did they end up being a superstar TREC horse!

Maisie was bred by a good friend, but unfortunately shortly after Maisie was broken-in, my friend had a nasty accident which led to her decision to give up riding. Maisie then had a comfortable life as a companion horse for a few years but her breeder realised that Maisie was too special not to be worked, so Maisie came to live with me to be brought on, initially with the intention of being trained as a pony club horse for my daughter. Maisie needed to be rebroken after her extended holiday and it soon became apparent that she was a little too spirited for Louisa, but was great fun for me so she joined our family. I was looking for a horse for TREC and Maisie seemed perfect. She is sure footed and sound for the POR and has a great jump being bold but careful . She learns quickly and progresses month by month in her training.

Jingo is Louisa’s my daughter’s horse. He is solid as a rock if rather cheeky and a highly skilled escapologist (not so great for corals as he can jump out from a standstill ). He is very bold having evented at BE 100 and cannot be overfaced when jumping. He is not built for speed but has stamina in bucketfuls . I’m allowed to borrow Jingo when Louisa is working for her GCSEs.

How did you get into the sport of TREC?

We moved to Telford in 2000 and was lucky enough to get to know Heather Lucas ( who we miss greatly) who was in the process of founding the Mercia TREC club. I have always enjoyed orienteering as well as horse-riding so TREC was a natural fit for me.

What do you love about the sport?

I love TREC because it is all inclusive. You can compete with any horse as long as it is sound. All breeds have strengths and weaknesses so any horse can be a TREC horse. For some you need to concentrate on the endurance elements, others on the technical obstacles, but all can excel with a bit of training.

Plus my fellow competitors are a great crowd which always means a fun weekend away when at competition.

What is your favourite phase and why?

I’m a map geek so I love the POR. As well as the orienteering challenge I love being out experiencing the countryside in partnership with my horse.

What advice would you give some one wanting to get into the sport?

Don’t be afraid of the map. Go out of your regular rides with a map to familiarize yourself the features and then take it from there, also join your regional TREC club for friendly encouragement and advice.

And the one moment of TREC you will never forget!

The dew forming while dawn was breaking in the woods on the Centaure in France (night-time POR) – Magical. Followed by actually coming in to a ticket