What is orienteering?

A few people have asked me about mounted orienteering lately and I want to be sure to let people know about it so they can try it.

It really is a competitive treasure hunt on horseback. You have 6 hours to find 10 hidden things in the woods. The first rider to find all 10 wins.



The things we're looking for are simple paper plates (cunningly hidden) with codes written on them that we have to write down to prove we found them. I was fiercely competitive for 7 years despite mostly very poor performances (*giggle*). It's so freaking amazingly fun, I can't even begin to describe how fun, you have to try it.

It's like an endurance ride in that you have your ride camp, your potluck, your campfires and some very fit horses on highlines or in paddocks. But you normally have a much smaller turnout so it's much more intimate. All types of riders do it, and all types of horses - not just Arabs. They call it the "Thinking Horse Sport" cuz you have to know how to use a map and a compass. Entry fee is only $8. The ride distance is usually between 8 and 25 miles.

At the start you get a map showing the trails/roads, with 10 circles drawn on it, indicating where you will be looking for the 10 objectives. One the back of the map is a list of clues, 3 or 4 clues per objective. You use your compass to locate the objective based on the clues. The clues are things like "Red ribbon tied on a 15 foot maple" and you take your compass reading from that ribbon to find your goal. It really helps if your horse stands still for that part, so the horses have to have a degree of discipline. Riders go out separately at 10 minute intervals. You can ride by yourself or with a team. I used to ride alone, but then hooked up with a couple of ladies and realized I never laughed so much in my life as when we competed together. My team was called "Best of the Last." (or was that Best of the Lost?)

There is also a "short course" offered for beginners or less-fit horses, where you only have to find 5 objectives. The short course is also good if you bring young children along. I enjoyed seeing entire families out there searching together.

Before any ride there is a clinic so we can all test our compasses and make sure they're working correctly, and new people can find an objective in camp so they know what to do out there.

Absolutely the best part of this sport is the element of stealth involved. Often you run into other competitors out there at a particularly difficult objective, and whoever finds it first has to be very very tricksey to not let anyone else know that he found it. That means you pretend to keep looking, when in reality you have already found it. Then when you're far enough away from it to really confuse people, you dash away down the trail laughing. Everyone still there tries to figure out where you saw it. I could never master this part. Something about me changes when I've found it, and faking is not one of my skills. Good competitors not only look for the target, they keep an eye on every other person so they have an idea where to look if anyone disappears. My husband rode with me once, and he was really good at being tricksey and saying things loudly that would purposefully mislead everyone else. Now not everyone is out there trying to be stealthy - if someone is honestly in need of help, people will help.

It's so funny cuz any communication I would hear between riders, I had no idea if they're trying to trick me, or if they're being honest. Some riders are masters of deception, and really cannot be trusted! In general you don't try to trick a newbie, you ask that person if you can help in some way.

At the end of the day, we sit around the campfire and exchange stories about which objective was the roughest to find, or how our horses either made us proud or the opposite - and are subsequently for sale! (were they joking about that?). It's a time for laughing at our mistakes and appreciating the help others gave us during the day.

I've only had the pleasure of winning twice, to everyone's shock, and it's great fun to saddle up again later on and go back out and observe people. Conversely, I've been overtime and lost so often, the search parties were accustomed to resaddling to go get me for dinner. Embarrassing.

Orienteering isn't played everywhere, only a few states, it would seem, but those lucky people who have it! I'd really like to get the sport started over here in Europe, but usually the objectives are placed off-trail, and riding off trails is not allowed here. But I love this sport so much I may have to just keep looking for a suitable location, and then trying to meet other riders who would rather be out in the woods than indoors with their horses. Wish me luck.

For more info, see the orienteering website.

***UPDATE*** For those in the Pacific Northwest, I just got an email that my former mentor is hosting an introductory ride on Mt. Baldie (Enumclaw) for his Backcountry Horsemen group. Here's the invite:

06/14/2009 Our very own Ross Tillotson is sponsoring a CMO clinic for the BCH members in the Enumclaw area. He has approx. 30 BCH members signed upand he would appreciate any NACMO members that are able to help out and coach the "newbies" through a limited 5 objective ride. The clinic will be at Mt. Baldie.

If anyone local is interested, I'll give you his number for driving directions and details. That's this Sunday and I know someone who reads my blog and likes to ride her horses in that area - I hope she gets this!