Trec is a 3-phase sport that tests rider navigation and the horse’s ability to tackle various terrain and natural obstacles.   There are 4 competitive levels in Trec, from the easy and encouraging mini Trec’s to the more demanding events at international level.

The 1st phase is orienteering on horseback (POR), where riders follow a route on a map at speeds predetermined by the organisers.   The timed control of paces (CoP) phase calls for solid flat work foundations, as competitors must canter as slowly as possible along a narrow track before returning at the fastest possible walk.

Finally, an obstacle section (PTV) recreates natural hazards you might encounter out hacking — such as a gate, steps up, a river crossing or a jump. All obstacles are optional, but you’ll lose points for missing one.

I am 21 years old and I am a second year veterinary student at the University of Liverpool. I am hoping to become an equine vet when I qualify, and have been around horses my whole life. I got Flash, my current competition horse, in 2009 as a four year old. He is a 14.2hh Dales Pony, and we have come a long way together. We did our first TREC competition in the summer of 2010 as a pair with my instructor Zana Jackson. Since then I rode TREC for a few years as a pair and level 2, and then I was spotted for the junior GBR TREC team when I was 15. We began to compete individually after that, and attended Belgium for our first European Championships when I was 16. We have been to 4 international competitions across Europe. The most recent one was in Paris 2016 where we placed 4^th in Europe as an individual, which is our biggest achievement to date. We work hard year round, and I am hoping that we can do even better in Rome 2017- I would so love to stand on that podium!

After arriving home from our adventures in France at the European Championships of TREC, things gradually went back to normal. I did a gruelling month of placement (4 of the 36 weeks we have to do over the period of the vet course), and Flash enjoyed going back to being a hairy Dales pony. Whilst I am at university in Liverpool, my hero Mum takes care of Flash, and even drives him up to Somerford Park in Cheshire occasionally so that we can cross country school on a weekend. The most recent time we went we met up with Jackie and Liz, who both ride for the senior team of GBR TREC. With us all living scattered across the UK meeting for training is challenging, so when we can meet in smaller groups it helps to build team spirit and encourage us all to work towards our goals, even in the rainy and windy months. Now that the chaos of Christmas is over, I have a chance to start to bring Flash back into proper work, to prepare him for the season beginning in May. We do a lot of work in the school during the winter, especially focusing on collection and extension to help with our MA scores in the summer. We work hard on balance, and quick canter lead change transitions, as all of these skills are required to ride a high scoring PTV course. Even Dales ponies don’t like the winter weather in the Yorkshire Dales, and so when we can we treat ourselves by hiring an indoor school to work over some show jumps and do a bit of flatwork without bracing against the elements!